My son was diagnosed over a year ago and will be going into 1st grade in the fall. He is still honeymooning on a regular basis and I am so scared to send him to school. It was easier last year, he was only in 1/2 day kindergarten. Now, I need to write a 504 and describe the honeymoon to the school staff, knowing that he will have lunch and then recess, with the chance for his pancreas to be working after his injection for lunch. How do you direct the school staff about the honeymoon and that if you give an injection and the pancreas decides to work that day, that for the next 2 hours until the injected insulin peaks, he will need to be tested and given snacks almost every 20-30 minutes. Also, he would not let the school nurse give him his shots last year, so if he needed one, I would have to go to the school. I don't mind going to the school, as I don't work right now, but any advice on sending a child that is honeymooning to school would be appreciated.
I would definitely be working with your endo or your son's diabetes clinic on how to handle this but here are some of my thoughts.
I have understood 'honeymooning' to be talking about weeks, months, or even years of the pancreas still having some function, not referring to it seeming to work better at one time of day vs. another. That said, it is very real to have different insulin demands at different times of day. For instance my son could be 250 at 9 am and be 65 at 11 with no insullin given. That is one reason why we put our son (4 yo) on a pump because you can tailor the basal rate to what his body needs at different times of day, but that is a subject for a different post..
If your son consistently goes low after lunch, you could ask your clinic about
1. Splitting his Lantus (or Levemir) dose to morning and evening - I have heard that can lead to less peaking. He might get more at night than in the morning or vice versa. Or maybe he just needs his long-acting insulin dose dialed back to keep from going low in the afternoon. This might mean more corrections or higher insuling to carb ratios at other meals, but it could save you some worry.
2. Adjusting his lunch carb ratio so he is getting very little insulin at that time or maybe have the school wait until after the lunch recess to retest and then give him his insulin if it is needed.
I would get to talking with your clinic now so that you can make the changes and fine tune them before school starts.
Get him used to having other people give him shots by having other adults your son knows (grandparents, aunts. uncles, friends) give him shots (as long as they are willing). Explain that it is important that other people know how to take care of him.
My son was diagnosed the end of January of this year. I went to school to give him his shots. My son is in his honeymoon too. He has a different ratio for every meal. In the morning he gets no insulin unless he exceeds 50 carbs then he gets a half unit. After lunch either recess would follow or gym. He would get a half unit less b/c of the activity that would follow. Which usually meant he did not get any insulin. The teacher would send me a text of what my sons number was before lunch and his carbs he ate. Then I would reply with what needed to be done. Either no action b/c of intake and activity to follow or I was on my way to the school to give him insulin. The teacher would text me before recess to let me know his number and his number before getting on the bus. The teacher eventually learned what I would do. Of course she knew what range was his target area. She was awesome and a blessing.
Hello. Unfortunately, I don't have any great advice to give, but wanted to say I'm going through the same thing and the same feelings as you are. My daughter was diagnosed in February and was in 1/2 day kindergarten and didn't need insulin at school, so even though it was stressful sending her to school, it was much easier then now. We just moved to AZ and they have year round school here, so she's starting on Wednesday! And like your son, she's still in the honeymoon phase, lots of ups and downs. I'm very stressed about sending her to school as well. Some of the things that have made me feel better is what was said in the other posts, talking with the doctor about the school plan and having everything in writing for the school. I also have met with the school nurse a couple of times so we're both on the same page and feel comfortable with the plan. I also figured out what her eating schedule will be at school, what time she'll need to eat breakfast and what time they eat lunch. We started doing this schedule about a month before so we could get a little better feel of what her needs will be. Everything is still nerve-racking but getting better!
So take care and talk to the doctor/school/nurse as much as you can until you're as comfortable as you can be. Hope all goes smoothly. Good luck to you in the fall and me this week!!