I live out here in California where there really is no such thing as a school nurse anymore. Even though our 5 year old cannot draw her own insulin, let alone inject, there is no money this year to provide the support our daughter needs. As two stay at home parents, we're willing to trade off sitting around the office during the day to provide the care she needs, but that's not going to be feasible for any long period.
We're open to moving to just about any State in the US so that our daughter can get the support she needs when attending public school. Does anyone out there have recommendations for what state?
I have my eye on North Carolina, that state has a whole system set up to educate and train school personnel if a child with Type 1 Diabetes attends their campus. Although my folks aren't all that keen on us going that far away from California.
My mom had this problem when i started public school and i live in california aswell, you just have to push them because under law if she needs to get checked they have to be trained to do it etc. through al of my school years they just kept on hhaving to hire RN's because its the law, but if you can train even a regular nurse that would probably be okay.
Well, part of the problem lies in the fact I actually want to leave California and am finding the lack of funding here in this state to be a really good reason to pull up roots an leave. It just bothers me that I'm finding better State run/funded programs elsewhere in the nation to tackle Type 1 Diabetes than here in the great state of California. There also seems to be a shortage of pediatric specialists here in the Sacramento region which my daughter needs. While in a city like Raleigh, NC, the number is relatively plentiful.
Come to Massachusetts! It is an amazing state, and at least where I live, we have plenty of school nurses (but also a LOT of diabetics). I have relatives in Raleigh/Cary, NC, though, and it's not a bad place :)
Thanks for the input. Would you suggest one city or area over another in Massachusetts? My husband and I are quite serious about getting our daughter to a state that is Pro-Diabetes. Don't get me wrong I love California and will miss it here, I just don't want to be the one to always be pushing the school for nurses and to be telling them something to the effect of "I know you don't have the funding... legally you need to do this.... you'll need to cut from somewhere..."
I could understand though the large number of diabetics in Massachusetts, as I recall there is a lot of research going on there in Boston.
Thanks for the input. Would you suggest one city or area over another in Massachusetts? My husband and I are quite serious about getting our daughter to a state that is Pro-Diabetes. Don't get me wrong I love California and will miss it here, I just don't want to be the one to always be pushing the school for nurses and to be telling them something to the effect of "I know you don't have the funding... legally you need to do this.... you'll need to cut from somewhere..."
I could understand though the large number of diabetics in Massachusetts, as I recall there is a lot of research going on there in Boston.
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Aren't there a lot of T1's in the Newton area? I think a "T1 cluster" was found there. It's a suburb of Boston.
When I lived in Mass, I went to the Joslin clinic. I highly recommend it for their D care!
P.S. When you look for a state, I'd look at each school district. They are the ones who would have to get the nurses -- it may differ within a state.
There is a large cluster in the Wellesley/Weston area, and probably Newton as well, though I haven't heard about that as much. I go to Children's Hospital, and a lot of my friends go to Joslin.
There is a large cluster in the Wellesley/Weston area, and probably Newton as well, though I haven't heard about that as much. I go to Children's Hospital, and a lot of my friends go to Joslin.
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Maybe I'm getting my western suburbs confused? (I used to live in Somerville...) But all of those towns are great places to live!
I thing I liked about Joslin is that they had additional support only for people w/ D -- trainings, mental health care, exercise physiologists, nutritionists, retinal specialists ... I WISH I could get care like that down here in DC!!
I live in Delaware, and here, all schools are required by State law to have a school nurse. In addition, the cost of living is low, especially compared to California and Massachusetts. AI DuPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington has an excellent endocronology department. If you are interested in coming east, and possibly to Delaware, I'd be glad to talk to you. Most of Delaware is somewhat rural and/or suburban. We have ocean and bay beaches, and we're a short distance from NYC, Baltimore and DC. I often say that we're two hours away from everywhere you want to be :-)