Injecting understanding into school diabetes issues
Injecting understanding into school diabetes issues
Thursday, Feb 26, 2009
By MARK ANDERSEN
Lincoln Journal Star

Michelle Hildenbrand believes she’s mostly reined in her overprotective instincts when it comes to her son, diabetes and school, but there was the instance in fifth grade.

Shane was feeling ill in class, which might have meant he was sick, but it also might have meant he was verging on seizures, on life-threatening low blood sugar.

Shane’s teacher sent him to the nurse — alone. No one was there if he crumpled over stone steps, or for other reasons never reached his destination.

The school nurse, who told Michelle about it, also said Shane’s blood sugar was a dangerously low 32 — normal is near 100.

“I freaked out,” said Michelle. “I made sure the message got to the teacher.”

The Lincoln Chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation is distributing a new 60-page handbook that Director Deborah Gokie hopes will dampen the escalation of wills that can occur when teachers, facing heavy demands, clash with parents whose children’s conditions “can turn life threatening at the drop of a hat.”

The new School Advisory Toolkit for Families includes an example of such explosive chemistry.

To gain perspective over her own anger, Michelle said, she needed to imagine the teacher taking care of more than just her child.

In the long run, she added, it’s not a good idea to anger the school.

“They’re in charge of your child.”

The difficulty for parents of diabetic children, Gokie said, is getting others to understand how quickly the disease can become life threatening; the constant need for balancing insulin, diet and exercise; the fatigue and sleepless nights; constantly having to confront prejudice based on ignorance, even of such basics as failure of pancreas islet cells is not contagious.

The second most common chronic childhood disease after asthma, juvenile diabetes — now called Type 1 diabetes — affects 35 million people worldwide. The Lincoln juvenile diabetes chapter assists more than 300 students in the city and areas to the west of it.

Michelle Hildenbrand said she has empathy for educators. It’s been seven years since Shane was diagnosed, and she still feels challenged by the disease.

“The minute I say I’ve got it figured out, something else comes into play.”

Lately, it’s been the mix of independence with the potentially fatal disease. Diabetes gets in Shane’s way.

“He has all the difficulties of a teenage boy, mixed with those of a disease that can quickly get out of hand without careful attention to detail,” Michelle said.

Judy Zabel, supervisor of health services for Lincoln Public Schools, said the district has historically worked closely with parents of diabetics. It’s never 100 percent successful with all families, she said.

Zabel sees the toolkit as a tool for staff and families, a common reference point, “so we’re all looking at the same issues.”

The kit spells out responsibilities of administrators, teachers, school nurses, bus drivers, physical education teachers, food service staff, school counselors, parents and coaches.

Rule No. 1: Don’t send a student to the nurse’s office alone; No. 2: When in doubt — have the student eat; and No. 3: If they are convulsing or losing consciousness, lay them on the floor on their side to prevent injury and choking.

It includes sample letters to a variety of school workers and explains the federal requirement for schools to accommodate students with special needs. There’s even a chapter on pre-school and the college years.

For a copy, call the foundation at 484-8300 or visit www.jdrf.org.

Reach Mark Andersen at 473-7238 or mandersen@journalstar.com.

Copyright © 2002-2009, Lincoln Journal Star. All rights reserved.