Its 9:50 am and has already been a busy morning, starting
with a 7:10 am meeting. The speech pathologist has stopped by my office to
discuss a case. My cell phone rings. I now keep it with me at all times and
answer immediately, no matter what I have going on. It’s the school nurse. She
is asking if Blaine had insulin this morning and how many carbs he had for
breakfast. We now have a nice folder that I put together with a new log and a
typed list of his frequent carbs for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. The
problem is we have to write in the notebook in order for the communication
process to work effectively.
I left the house at 6:50 am this morning. It was not a good
sign that Brent and the kids were still sleeping. But to be fair, Brent had a
long night. Last Thursday I called the
endocrinologist to let them know we would be out of test strips for his glucose
monitor sooner than they had anticipated. I had tried calling in a refill at
CVS. When I spoke with the tech at CVS they indicated we had to have a new
script for another refill.
So, I call and leave a message on Thursday with his new
pediatric endocrinologists office. I don’t hear back, I call again on Good
Friday and leave another message. Someone calls me at the end of the day, but
unfortunately all the doctors have gone home and there is no one that can
refill it. Seriously?! They tell me
they’ll leave a message for the doctor.
Monday, I hear nothing.
Yesterday, Tuesday, I called CVS to see if they had received
the new authorization. They had not. We have all of five test strips left.
We must know his BG level. It’s not just a fun fact to know
how he’s doing throughout the day. It’s how we keep him alive. I call the
endocrinologist immediately and go through the emergency line. I very clearly
explain the fact that I’ve now called their office twice and nobody has
addressed the issue I’m having. They promise to get it taken care of immediately.
By 5 pm a nurse calls to let me know the new script is being faxed over. As Brent is on his way home a few hours later, I relay to him the drama of getting new test strips. He asks me if they are ready and tells me he’ll swing through the drive thru to pick them up on his way home. I tell him I need to call CVS to make sure they’ve filled it. I call. They’ve been slammed; they tell me it will be ready in 30 minutes. Brent decides to get gas and then get some more juice boxes from Kroger. He goes back to CVS, it’s not ready. He waits, and waits. And then is told they are out. No test strips available. They help by sending the script down the road to Walgreens. He waits again. There is an issue with insurance. Finally, after over an hour of inconvenience, not to count my time on the phone prior to the endocrinologist, he has the test strips. By the time he gets home it’s late and I’ve already had my now nightly glass of wine.
The nurse is asking me what Blaine ate for breakfast this
morning, I told her I was gone before they got up and that I had no idea. She
asks Blaine what he has eaten. With the SLP standing nearby to hear our
conversation, he states that he consumed, for breakfast, a chocolate bunny and
a wheat tortilla.
Great. I tell her to ask if he ate ¼ the chocolate bunny. Yes, he indicated he had eaten ¼ the bunny. I tell her that ¼ the bunny was 20 grams and the tortilla was 24 g. She decides she will give him a correcting dose for his BG level and some to cover his breakfast. She asks what I think about giving him 3 units. I still don’t know. But, I do know that I trust her judgment. It was the right call. According to his log, which she writes in each day, his numbers looked good the rest of the day. I’m still shaking my head that he had a chocolate bunny and wheat tortilla for breakfast.
We’ve quit track. He’s not felt well enough the past several
weeks to participate so we withdrew this season... I just want him to feel
better and be active again. He’s never
been one to love sports. I don’t want him to use his diabetes as an excuse for
not participating anymore. I need him to be active, although he’s told me that
since his diagnosis he just doesn’t feel like doing anything other than xbox.
Baby steps for now.
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