Diabetes Gets Ready for the First Day of School-Nothing like a deadline to motivate you!

Hey ya’ll!  Sorry it’s been so long-it’s crazy as usual.  I have been getting the kids ready to go back to school (thought I was ready...), and I had more to do than I thought.  : )

To start, I had to work on Mary Claire’s diabetes care notebooks.  I update them every year with all our current information (emergency numbers, ratios, corrections, how to operate the pump, etc.).  I have three notebooks: mine (of course!), the nurse’s, and the teacher’s.  I also made some new tabs and changed up the Table of Contents to add our glucagon instructions and to make things easier.

Here are some pictures of my notebooks if you want to see! : )

(and I hyperlinked them with my 4shared account if you want to see them larger or download them for free!)

We're up to...three notebooks! : ) We buy the white notebooks with clear overlay..and scrapbook the outside and decorate the inside with stickers!

Her Table of Contents

Glucagon Instructions..page two was fuzzy : (

I have three (for each blood check), but this is her Lunchtime Blood Sugar Chart-takes the thought/human error out of "What to do if..?"  It has her bg in the first column, then tells what to do.  No error. ; )

And this is her Afternoon Chart (2pm check)

Her current Bolus Ratio Chart

Her current Correction Ratio Chart

This is just an extra page on what to do if she's below 70 (technical Low), above 123 (upper level of our target range), and over 240 (ketone level)

A few snacks in case they have snack in the classroom together.

These are little 4x6 cards I make (9 altogether-with her picture!) for her grade level, substitute and special teachers, offices, etc. with her low and high warning signs and our contact info on the back.  Here is the large one you can shrink.

I also updated her tub of snacks, and her drawers for the nurse’s office.  I got the plastic set of drawers when she was going into kindergarten at Wal-Mart..and they’ve been so handy! (I think they were meant to hold scrapbook paper and cardstock) : )  There are three drawers: one for lows, one for highs, and one with supplies.  The “Low” drawer has stuff for lows: glucose tabs, fruit snacks, cake gels (can be rubbed between their teeth and gums if they have a low and pass out-it absorbs into their cheek-no swallowing required!), and glucagon.  The “High” drawer has mixes for water bottles: Propel, Crystal Light, and she likes Splenda in water too!  The “Supply” drawer has extra meter and pump batteries, extra strips, lancets, alcohol pads, and ketone strips.

The tub of snacks (not an accurate name, BTW) is full of stuff for highs and preventing lows.  (Too long to write on the tub!)  There are water bottles, 15g and 17g juice boxes, applesauce, more fruit snacks, peanut butter crackers, goldfish, Cheez-it snack mix, and Teddy Grahams.

I usually print (address) labels with the name of the food, the carbs, and the bolus (during school hours) for each..but every time I have to reload the tub, I make all new stickers, and I’ve decided that’s a lot of work! : )  So, this time I made a 4x6 card that shows through the front of the tub, shows all the foods in there, and the carb counts and bolus for each.  Much easier!

And..for the first time I wrote out the instructions for the glucagon.  I think I thought that by not reading it or touching it, I was denying it would ever need to be used.  I like that it’s never been opened when I throw each one away on it’s expiration date.  But...it could happen.  And if it happened at school...I’d want them to be prepared.  So, I read and typed, and cried, and got it done.  Now there are two pages (BIG print for shaky hands!) with exact instructions.

I went back to my 4shared account to add all of these files.  If you can't read the pictures, you can go to the site, enlarge, and/or download the file to make it really big!  Bonus! ; )

I hope this helps at least one person. ; )  I'll get back to life in a few days..I have so much to tell you about!  We've had some fun... 

**Edited on 8/8/15 (with some of Clay's stuff too, and new pictures, so ratios are a bit different!)  Let me know if you have trouble with any of the links : )