Starting school

Hello,

My little girl starts school in September and I will see the teachers next week and will discuss ITP with them. I have already told them what it is and when to phone me, ie if she hits her head, but I want to talk to them about any precautions to take. At the school they have a new adventure playground with the highest monkey bars I have ever seen! They are much higher than any park I've been to. Do you think I should say that she has to be supervised on there or is that being over precautious? Her count is 16K at the moment and since October (when she was diagnosed) it has been anywhere between 13K and 21K. They have scooters at school so I will say she has to have a helmet for these. Can anyone think of any other things I need to say?

Also, I have posted a while ago about medical bracelets and still can't decide whether to get one. Medical bracelets seem to be to help medical staff, but I also want something that other people will see who are looking after my daughter. I'm just worried that if there is a new member of staff at school or at a club and they are not told or for example, if my daughter goes to play somewhere and she is left with a different parent to who I have told. Am I just worrying too much? Has anyone else got a medical bracelet for this reason? Can you put info for medics and non medics on the bracelet and if you have done this what did you put on it?

Grasshopper, make sure that the school writes a care plan for your daughter. They should do anyway, but I think sometimes they forget It would cover basic information about ITP, the symptoms, when you should be contacted, when they should ring the hospital, any precautions they should take etc. Its probably worth getting the school to tell the other children so that they treat her gently etc. I also think its probably useful to have a chat with whoever does first aid at the school too. It might be worth talking to the hospital where your daughter goes - my son's had a nurse who went and talked to the school about ITP and what he could and couldn't do, when they should worry etc. It was really useful.

I think an medical bracelet or something is probably useful in an emergency, but day to day, the answer is probably a mixture of you telling as many parents as possible about your daughters ITP, and making sure that she is absolutely clear about what she should and shouldn't be doing. Its difficult because she is so little, so you maybe need to stick to simple rules; I think we were initially told that if an activity involved feet going off the floor then it probably wasn't safe, and that seems pretty easy to understand.

Good luck with the school visit. It doesn't seem very long since my kids started school, but even the youngest is almost as tall as me now!

Ali