John Webb

Special to the Clarion Ledger

Reading and ’riting and ’rithmetic, counting carbs to the tune of a finger stick . . .

Or so the song might go for schoolchildren living with diabetes. But for some those “dear old Golden Rule days” seem long gone.

According to the Diabetes Foundation of Mississippi, type 1 children already facing lifetimes of glucose testing, carbohydrate counting and insulin injections or pumps have been turned away from several of the state’s best known federally and privately funded schools and early-learning programs.

“When a family gets a diagnosis of type 1, finding a school that will take care of your child should not be the hardest thing you have to do, especially since that is where kids spend most of their time,” said Jameskia Lacey, a pharmacist whose daughter Taylar, 6, was diagnosed with type 1 in March.

“That was the hardest part for our family.”

Taylar was rejected by two religiously affiliated schools, despite intervention by the Diabetes Foundation, which often acts as a liaison between parents and schools. “One cited insurance liability concerns and abruptly left it at that,” Lacey said. (Apparently, “Do unto others” has its limitations.)

The risks and inconveniences that accompany type 1 diabetes are real. And educators’ fears may be compounded by the way it is treated today, with multiple injections and finger sticks as opposed to the single morning shot of yore.

Nevertheless, Taylar was welcomed by the Jackson Public Schools’ McLeod Elementary.

“JPS was wonderful, and McLeod embraced Taylar,” Lacey said. “At first they were a little nervous, but they did everything they could to help us, and the principal made sure at least four staff members knew how to take care of Taylar.”

The foundation did its part too, meeting with McLeod’s teachers and principal, and conducting its Sweet Subject training program for school personnel.

“We went over how to recognize the signs and symptoms of low blood glucose and how to respond,” said Irena McClain, associate director of the Diabetes Foundation. “I brought our glucagon demo kit and told them how to use it appropriately — and to call 911 and the parents if it was ever used.” (Glucagon is an injectable hormone that quickly raises glucose levels.)

To show their appreciation for the foundation, Taylar Lacey and her family will be among those taking part in Mississippi’s Walk for Diabetes-Metro Jackson on Oct. 7 at Southern Farm Bureau Life Insurance Co.

In August of last year, 30 Mississippi children were diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, reportedly double the number diagnosed in a single month the previous year.

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Their families should not have to negotiate a bureaucratic jungle gym to enroll them in school, said Mary Fortune, executive vice president of the Diabetes Foundation.

“Our message has always been that our children can do anything they want with their lives,” said Fortune, who has had type 1 for more than 50 years and counts many Mississippi children living with diabetes as her own. “Full participation in school activities is part of that.”

Out of that conviction came the Diabetes Foundation’s Sweet Subject program. As Fortune’s protege, McClain trains school personnel all over the state in how to use blood glucose meters, how to interpret the numbers, how to recognize and respond to signs of high and low blood sugar, and how to handle lockdowns, field trips, parties and classroom testing.

“I’ve put 250,000 miles on my Honda Pilot in 15 years of crisscrossing Mississippi for the DFM,” she said.

“I mentored Irena upon her arrival here, but she didn’t need much with her background in diabetes research at Stanford and the University of California, San Diego,” Fortune said. “She caught on quickly.”

McClain is a tireless advocate, especially for children. For instance, during a field trip to a local museum Taylar Lacey was abruptly told by security officials to throw away her emergency snack.

“I wrote a letter to the head of the museum detailing what had happened and the importance of fast-acting sugar for someone with diabetes,” McClain said. “I also sent them copies of our low and high blood glucose protocols and talked to the head of the museum and the security agency to ensure this mistake was never made again for any child or adult with diabetes.”

Even in the best cases, when a school is more than willing to admit the child, parents must file complex forms prescribing insulin dosages, low blood sugar treatments and other procedures.

Said Tracie Riggin of Brandon, whose 6-year-old daughter Sophie was diagnosed with type 1 at age 3: “That is the most challenging aspect of all this. But you need to have these in place to ensure that your child has the best opportunity to excel at school, and that the teacher has ample resources to treat both high and low blood sugar.”

Before transferring to Rankin County School District’s Rouse Elementary, Sophie was enrolled in Miss Mandy’s Christian Daycare in Brandon, and she was met with enthusiastic acceptance at both.

Mandy Still, director of Miss Mandy’s, brought in the Diabetes Foundation to conduct a Sweet Subject program with her entire staff. “Every time she changed grades she would need a new teacher, so we all got educated,” Still said, adding that she had given Sophie many blood sugar tests.

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Calculating carbohydrates is critical to managing diabetes, and Still said she had logged the carb content of the food in her pantry “down to every Saltine.”

Tracie Riggin is grateful.

“Sophie has a great support system that ranges from us, her parents and grandparents, all the way to Miss Mandy’s Daycare and her school, school nurse and teachers at Rouse Elementary,” she said. “They have accommodated Sophie’s extra requirements with complete understanding, empathy and changes to their routines to ensure that she is taken care of and her diabetes monitored.”

Riggin said she hopes the diabetes walk will allow Sophie to see “how many other children are just like her.”

“The walk makes her feel a part of a group of children who have to face the day-to-day issues of their diabetes management.”

Meanwhile, McClain said, those schools that still create barriers to type 1 kids are adding a generous serving of insult to injury.

And how do you count the carbs in that?

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IF YOU GO

What: Mississippi’s Walk for Diabetes-Metro Jackson

Where: Southern Farm Bureau Life Insurance Co.

When: Sunday, Oct. 7, with registration at 1 p.m. and ribbon-cutting at 2

Theme: “We are Family”—honoring all Mississippi kids and adults living with diabetes, and in memory of John Reed and Mary Turner

There is a $25 suggested minimum donation. Every dollar raised stays in the state to support the programs and services of the Diabetes Foundation of Mississippi, including Camp Kandu for children with diabetes and their families.

For information on corporate sponsorships, forming a team or individual participation, call the Diabetes Foundation of Mississippi at (601) 957-7878 or visit msdiabetes.org.