Going Solo

The birthday party/sleepover was last Friday. At snack time at school Riley’s teacher called to tell me that everything was fine but that Riley didn’t want to eat his snack. It is VERY unusual for Riley not to want to eat, so I asked her what was going on with him. She said she thought he was just excited about the party. Since the party was right after school, I told her to tell him he had to eat snack since I didn’t know when he’d be eating again.

I picked Riley up right after school and took him to his friend’s house. The friend only lives about 10 minutes away. On the way there I asked Riley why he didn’t want to eat snack. He said that it was his stomach. I asked if his stomach hurt, to which he replied: “No, it just kind of feels like it does before a soccer game.”

I told him that just meant he was excited about the party. Then he said he was excited, but he was nervous too. I quickly went into, “Everything will be fine. You are a big boy and you know what to do to take care of yourself. And, I’ve talked to Mrs. B. about everything and she knows what to do for you too.” It upset me a little to know that he was nervous about “going solo” for the first time. But, it also made me proud that he cared. He could have just had the mindset that he wouldn’t bother with his diabetes while he was there.

When he got to the friend’s house all of the kids where playing in the long driveway. I dropped Riley off to play with them and checked one last time to make sure he had the cell phone in his pocket.

When I got to the house the mom and I chatted for a while. Then, I took a deep breath and handed her Riley’s bag with his juice and machine in it. Once again, I found myself reassuring yet another person that everything would be fine, when I wasn’t so sure of it myself.

As I left I saw Riley running around the yard playing with his classmates. Right then I felt a peace about it. I knew I had made the right decision to let him go to the party and to let him try it on his own.

Not only did I leave him at the party alone, but then I left to go shopping an hour away. Of course, my mom and Holden where only a few minutes away from Riley if anything were to arise that Riley couldn’t handle on his own.

Fortunately, nothing like that ever happened.

Riley called at around 5:30. “Hey, Mom, my sugar is 190 and I’m getting ready to eat pizza and some chips.” I told him to call me back as soon as he was done and tell me how much of everything he had eaten.

About 15 minutes later he called again. “Hey. I ate one piece of pizza, 3 cheese doodles, a cookie, and a piece of cake.”

I asked him if he ate the pizza crust too so I’d have a better guess of the carb count. I did the best I could estimating carbs without actually seeing the food. He bolused while on the phone with me and then, he was off to play some more.

At around 9:15 I hadn’t heard anything else from him. I knew he probably needed to eat a snack soon so I called him.

“We’re outside starting a fire to roast marshmallows.” I told him to call me when he was done.

A little while later, “I ate 2 marshmallows and my sugar is 180.” Since I didn’t know the carb count right off hand I asked him to ask the mom to read out the serving size and the amount of carbs. Once again, he bolused while on the phone with me.

A few minutes later the phone rang again, “We’re having weenies too.” I made sure they were not putting them on buns before I told him not to worry about the carbs for the weenies.

I didn’t hear from him anymore that night. Michael went to pick him up at the designated time, 1 AM. He said they were lying in the floor watching a movie and that most of the kids were already asleep.

I was sitting on the couch waiting when they pulled into the driveway at about 1:15. The smile on Riley’s face was priceless. A check of his sugar before tucking him in reveled that it was 71. He drank a juice and got a basal decrease and drifted off to sleep.

The night was a complete success. I am so proud of my little man for doing such a great job at the party. He did everything just like he should. It’s just another assurance that he really is going to be OK and that this disease does not hinder him, it only makes him stronger.