My child just turned three and has had diabetes for 14 months. She will be starting pre-school in a year and to think about that is like a nightmare for me. I’m still very uneasy with her diabetes. She takes 15 units of Lantus and is on a sliding scale with NovoLog. Her blood sugar still goes up and down so much. I check her sugar anywhere from 20 to 25 times daily. Her A1c is always good. The last time we went to her doctor in January, her A1c was 6.4.

I am just very uneasy with this whole situation and I want her to go to school and be with her friends, but, at the same time, I want to home school her. I have thought about an insulin pump, but I don’t know if it will be more stress in my life. As it is, I barely sleep. I get up at least six times at night to check her sugar in her sleep. I want to take care of her the best way possible, but I want her to have a life. I never let her out of my sight because I’m still so scared. Do you think the pump may make our lives easier?

I have my daughter on herbal things like DHA, bitter melon, alpha lipoic acid, and primrose oil. Do you think this is okay?

These are all questions for you to ask your diabetes team. I know school is frightening for every parent. The ADA and Children with Diabetes web site have extensive information on schools. The ADA has a safe at schools task force. You are not alone. Become informed and you can safely have a child at school.

As to the pump, again, you should talk to your child’s diabetes team. They know you and your child best.

We, as doctors, need to have some way to give advice. All of the listed are medicines…really medicines. Penicillin comes from mold. Our cholesterol drugs started out as extracts of certain plants. The standard today is a randomized clinical trial. Without one, a doctor is on a slippery ground to recommend drugs…again to stress, these are drugs.

LD

[Editor’s comment: Please review our previous questions to find information about the herbal supplements you are giving you daughter.

My daughter was diagnosed when she was 24 months old, so my husband and I faced the same concerns you are now facing when she first went to school many years ago. The best thing you can do is to work with your school’s staff to ensure that they understand the symptoms of both low and high blood sugar and how to respond. For some parents it is extremely difficult to let go, even a little, but it is essential for your daughter’s growth that you do so. You might want to see if your daughter’s diabetes team has a counselor or social worker with whom you could speak about your fears.

BH]