Luke went to Six Flags last weekend. He’s only been to a major amusement park once before, on a family vacation years ago and long before he was diagnosed with Type 1. This time it was a field trip with the orchestra. And this mama wasn’t going along. Yes, Joel was a chaperone, which I was so grateful for… but I wasn’t there.

Needless to say, I kind of went into crazy mode the day before they left, preparing for every situation possible.

What if he pulls out his site – the tubing gets stuck on a seatbelt or it gets caught on the bars that you weave in and out of while you wait in line?

I packed twice the site change supplies.

What if his pump malfunctions? Or falls off and breaks?

I packed extra insulin and five syringes.

What if he goes low because of the adrenaline?

I packed two different flavors of glucose tabs.

What if he goes high because of the adrenaline?

I packed plenty of water bottles.

What if he gets hungry? They aren’t stopping at all on the way!

I packed all kinds of snacks- pretzels & cheese, granola bars, Nutrigrain bars, Slim Jims, string cheese.

The morning of the field trip, they had to be at school no later than 6:10 a.m. I was up at 4:30, making sure they not only have everything, but it makes it into one of their bags.

Poor Joel. I probably asked him about Luke’s extra supplies twenty times.

Will you carry them around in your bag? Or will Luke carry them? What if the insulin gets too hot? What if you forget the extra supplies on the bus and you can’t get to them? 

It’s probably good – very good – that I wasn’t there. Joel assured me that everything would be okay. He and Luke both totally knew what they were doing, which I knew. I texted mid-day and asked how his sugar has been. It was currently 131. When they got home, I asked Joel how his sugars were throughout the day. His sugar checks were 89, 131, 66, and 94. The 66 was only because he had been walking around so long without eating.

Take that, Six Flags!