To have rushed to the school or am I a neurotic parent??

[WanderingAroundandAround]

DS is 13 and was diagnosed with Type I diabetes 18 months ago. He manages it well in general but regularly ignores low blood sugars until he’s in a hypo. He has a blood sugar monitor and we try to drill into him to treat (with glucose) if he’s going towards a low rather than wait until he’s in one as obviously he feels like crap and it can cause long term effects if he regularly hypos.

Today I got a notification from his monitor that he was in a low and going further down, he also still had a couple of units of insulin onboard. I normally keep checking to make sure he’s treated it and is starting to go up again but he continued going down to 2.7 which is dangerously low. Lowest should be 4. I called the school to ask them to check he’s treated it and make sure he eats a decent amount to counteract the insulin he still had inside him.

They said they’d get him. He continued going down to 2.2 15 minutes later (lowest he’s ever been) at which point I panicked, jumped into car and drive to school with his glycogen injection (school have one but have had it since diagnosis and didn’t know if it was mislaid or whatever), ready to inject as expecting to have to call 999 and DS unconscious!

Got to Reception and said why I was there. The monitor was registering DS as off the scale low at that point. DH had called in as well from work as we were both panicking! Receptionist clearly raised her eyebrows as if to say that I was overreacting. I said she didn’t need to raise her eyebrows as it was a life threatening emergency. She denied doing it and said she was sorry if I thought she had. Kind of thinking now was I was rude but I was very stressed and know how serious it is, a lot of people don’t.

DS then came out with medical lady, who was a bit WTF, and he was laughing and saying I’m fine and very embarrassed saying why did you come to school! Looks like his monitor was wrong which is rare. Medical lady said it was natural that I was a bit anxious as still getting to grips with diagnosis. We have got to grips with it but he was in a life threatening hypo according to his monitor! I think I was right to be extremely worried.

Left feeling rather embarrassed and like I will judged as a neurotic mother and as if I caused a bit of an unnecessary kerfuffle with the receptionist.

I have never gone into school before because DS has gone into a low. Only called once before as he was very high for a long period.

Was I being neurotic? WWYD in that situation.

You did the right thing. I always remember my friend with t1 collapsing on a school trip and being rushed to hospital. We were hiking and the stupid teacher ignored her saying she was feeling like she was getting low blood sugar and made her continue on. I did more at 11 to help her than the responsible adult but it is etched in my mind waiting for the paramedics on a coastal path in the middle of no-where. Not everyone in schools gets diabetes and you reacted to what you thought was an emergency.

Your reaction was totally justified, as you say 2.7 would be a life threatening emergency, most loving parents would have been exactly the same.

Always pack a regular glucose monitor. My arm one regularly says I'm hypo - it usually saves it as a treat for two am. How you feel is far more important. If he didn't feel hypo that's a much better indicator of his blood sugar levels (unless he doesn't get symptoms).

I'm old-school and was taught that anything above 3.0 was fine and only to worry if it dropped below 2.5. I've only had it drop once below 2.5 and I felt weird but I didn't go unconscious.

These days they encourage sugars over 4.0. If your monitor is reading low you could be as high as 6.5 and have it drop below 4 on the monitor.

Your son needs to start taking responsibility for his diabetes management. You can't be checking up on him and his school should be supporting him in his independence. The school nurse should be fully trained to support a hypo.

As another type 1 parent I totally understand!!
School staff (and people in general) seem to think ‘oh diabetes - just eat a Mars bar and all is well’….. people don’t have a clue!
We raced up school too once because DD was low all day, (below 5) and then we had urgent low alarms going off, she’d go up slightly then drop again…. I called school who flippantly said “oh she’s in PE….. she’s had a juice and gone back into PE”….. I said “so shes
doing PE when her BG is only 2.2mmol?!?! ……
suddenly we had readings of LOW and double dropping and we got in car with a can of full sugar coke, pulled her out of school and gave her the can…. The receptionist said ‘oh she’ll shoot up drinking that!!!’ (Kinda the point!!!)….. anyway it took us an hour and 100grams of carbs to get her BG to 6 and not drop again!!!!

Also @WanderingAroundandAround I’m not sure if you’re aware but school staff won’t administer the orange pen, they’re apparently not insured too!! So raving up the school is 100 % the right thing to do because staff would call 999 and wait for the paramedics to inject him! I literally stood in school reception crying when I was told they wouldn’t inject my DD if she went unconscious!!

Education and research over the years has led to this insistence that below 4 is a medical emergency… some children have seizures at 3.9mmol… plus need to take into account that the libre/dexcom can be out / behind so child could actually be a lot lower than the CGM is reading.
My DD feels crap at 4.4 and actually starts to shake at 3 and sweat.
The saying now is ‘below 4 - on the floor’…
This child has only been diagnosed 18 months…. Still a huge thing for him and mum to adjust to - and independence comes in time, let him just enjoy being a child! Our children deal with more everyday than most deal with during their whole childhood!
My DD used to check with me at bedtime and ask ‘you will check on me won’t you? You will finger prick me in the night?! Because I don’t want to die!!!!’ I used to have 2 hourly alarms set and check on her, then if she was below 5 I’d check again in an hour… sometimes she’d have risen on her own and sometimes I’d be feeding her while she was asleep.. it was horrendous… but she’s got CGM now and we are both less anxious now we are 3 years in.

Actually if a child goes into a diabetic coma the schools policy is to call 999 and then parent and whichever arrive first inject the child!….. school won’t inject as they’re not insured and I’ve argued this and been told that training isn’t even given for this scenario because they won’t/can’t administer the necessary jab!
so driving up the school is absolutely not over reacting. A lady posted on a diabetes page I’m on that a little girl died at her daughters school and teachers ignored her low and by the time ambulance arrived she’d passed away! Bloody dreadful!

Fuck me! I didn’t know the school wouldn’t inject! They asked me for one to keep in school so I assumed they would! How fucking stupid of me! Why didn’t I know that!

That has sent shivers down my spine! I don’t know what made me pick one up yesterday but was thinking just to jab him when I got there as he’d been low for ages and was still going down and didn’t want to have to wait for them to go and get the one they had. Luckily I didn’t need to but thank god I took one just in case I had needed to.

Thank you so so much for saying that. I will confirm with school tomorrow and definitely will be racing up there if something like this happens again giving no fucks at all what they think of me!

That poor, poor little girl!

I actually hate DS being at school as he’s either high for ages or goes into lows, he hates school anyway so stress affects his levels too, his levels are much better when he’s not at school, so had been seriously considering home ed but I don’t want to muck up his education as he’s a very intelligent kid. Puberty is a bitch with T1 as I’m sure you know which is why we’ve been told his levels are all over the shop. Hoping it’s be easier to manage when he’s out of it, so that’s further food for thought. Better for him to catch up later on than end up like that poor little girl. Terrifying!

It's not 'true'. It's one school refusing and they're on very dodgy legal grounds, never mind moral ones.

We have a visit from the school diabetes nurse each time there's a new child joining or is diagnosed with T1 to train people to administer the glucagon and refresher training offered each year for staff changes.

You 100000% did the right thing

You weren't being unreasonable, you did the best thing to make sure your child was safe , I've known someone go in a diabetic coma the outcome wasn't good.😢 A lot of receptionists I've come across think they know everything, it's quite likely she did roll her eyes.
What should have happened was the school or your son contact you to let you know he was OK and they were sorting the problem it would have saved you so much worry and embarrassment. But if you have to do it again then do so it's always better to be safe than sorry

He’s a child… T1 can be difficult to manage and hypo can can happen quickly. No need for that comment🙄

I would have done the same as you. You can't take chances with a child's health.

You’re not being unreasonable for going to the school.

you are being unreasonable for this:

Receptionist clearly raised her eyebrows as if to say that I was overreacting. I said she didn’t need to raise her eyebrows as it was a life threatening emergency. She denied doing it and said she was sorry if I thought she had.

id steer clear of accusing anyone of judging you when they haven’t actually said anything when you are in a panic. There is no way you would be reading people in the same way as if you were not in a panic.

Speaking as a diabetic - You did the right thing!

I wish more people like yourself would take how serious diabetes is. I feel, if he were that low, an ambulance should have been called/111/or take him to A&E. I've always been advised to go straight to A&E once it drops below 3 and if I cannot get it back up quickly enough - Even moreso for a child.

Do not feel guilty for being a fantastic parent. You were a lioness looking after her poorly cub. Also, knock the receptionist out and wax her eyebrows while she's out cold, next time.

Gosh you must have been so worried! I'm so glad he was ok. And I absolutely would have done the same thing.
I don't think you were in the wrong at all, but I'm the kind of person who hates awkwardness and if it was me I would probably speak to the receptionist to try and smooth things over but also try to make them realise why it was important e.g. say I was sorry if I came across as (insert appropriate word) but I was just so concerned for my son as it can be so dangerous when their levels get that low.
I've been known to make up stories about 'someone I know' who went through something similar to illustrate the point when it might just be info I've read about what can happen - and in this case I am good friends with someone who was very lucky in that a colleague recognised the signs when no one else around noticed anything wrong with her and called a family member straight away who called an ambulance and thank god because she was very close to going into a coma.
Don't feel bad, you were in a high stress situation and it's just great that all turned out to be ok. There was no way for you to know that the monitor was giving faulty readings. And imagine if that wasn't the case and you hadn't acted upon it! You did the right thing.
And maybe if your son is embarrassed by you turning to it will inspire him to keep a better eye on it! 🌸🌺🌸

Absolutely this ✊

I wouldn’t be apologising. She’s done nothing wrong. For all OP knew her son could have collapsed in a toilet and the busy teacher may not have realised. No apology needed at all, her response was proportionate and the receptionist likely did raise her eyebrows as they can be arsey in my experience (secondary teacher but visit primaries a lot)

Why apologies if you didn't do anything wrong? Normal reaction OP in those circumstances. Glad he's ok

Just adding to the consensus that you reacted totally correctly without any doubt and also to voice my sympathy over the stress and worry this all brings - that sounds awful. I have a 13 year old and know how random they can be. People telling him to grow up are showing such ignorance - he's dealing with a massive situation when only a child. Fitting in is everything for them at this age. I'm so sorry you have this to deal with, I would feel exactly as you do.

I would be complaining to the school for that tbh. This lady clearly thinks she is superior but has no knowledge. How dare she!

You reacted as you should.

He needs to wear his watch!

You absolutely did the right thing - I would have been exactly the same! He's your child & it IS life threatening!

I'm a teacher & we've had several diabetic children in recent years - we always take it super seriously & would NEVER make a parent feel like that Receptionist did to you.

It may have been a technical glitch this time but they can't be complacent about it.

Hypos are funny things. DS can be 3.8 and look pale and shaky and yet at 2.0 he can be lying on the floor playing. 🤷🏻‍♀️

You poor lovely. So so hard with type 1 especially for children.

Not sure if you are aware but the monitors can give false lows in the first 12 hours for some reason. They seem to need to settle.

I'd try to put one in early morning so you have the daylight to monitor them and they are awake.

If still giving false lows (double check with finger prick) then change the unit.

Also, I don't know if you are aware, but laying on it can give false lows too. So sleeping on the arm that has it can set off the alarm.

The manufacturer have phone help lines and are really knowledgable.

You acted exactly as you should. You will be far more educated in this than the teachers and staff at school, simply because this affects your child and it's so important.

It's quite difficult for someone who isn't directly affected by type 1 to understand. There is so much type 2, which is not immediately life threatening and people generally do not understand the difference.

Never be afraid to go into school to make sure he's ok if you are getting low warnings.

Does he have an Education Health Care Plan (EHCP)? The health part on this plan sounds as though it's needed.
You can talk this through with his diabetes team and apply for one yourself via the council.