by Maureen Pekosh

Created on: October 25, 2009

When my daughter was first diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes at age six, I was not sure what it meant to live with diabetes or what we would need to do to take care of her. We as a family had a lot to learn. It took some time, but we learned that the best way to learn is from people who live with diabetes day in and day out. Diabetes camp offers a unique opportunity for this education and safe entertainment at the same time.

Our endocrinologist's office had Certified Diabetes Educators who taught us to count carbohydrates, calculate insulin dosages, and administer shots. It was a textbook education lacking in compassion. It was trial by fire; we learned while doing. We made some mistakes and learned some things the hard way, my six year old daughter a necessarily compliant guinea pig. I learned how to give insulin shots, but I didn't know what it really felt like to take insulin shots. I learned how to treat low blood sugar, but I didn't know what it felt like to have low blood sugar. I sat with her on the sidelines when she was too high to play in her soccer game. I watched her struggle to keep the tears welling up in her eyes from rolling down her cheeks. I could feel her disappointment, but I didn't know if having high blood sugar magnified or dulled her feelings.

We found out about a local diabetes camp. It was a little scary because we didn't know anyone attending. It was a day camp that was farther than any day camp my kids had previously attended. It was also more of a financial investment than the other camps my kids usually attended. We had heard from other families that it would be an investment that more than paid for itself. We enrolled our daughter and looked at it as an adventure.

We drove into a wooded forest preserve on the first day and saw small groups of kids playing. They could have been any youngsters just wanting to run around and have fun outside. Watching the energetic kids, it was not obvious that diabetes brought them together. Watching the parents was a different story. There were a lot of parents standing on the side tentatively watching, wanting but not totally willing to trust the care of their diabetic child to a total stranger. The camp administrators were prepared. They had sessions each day for parents to attend.

My child played tag, swam, and acted just like a normal six year old girl at camp. It was not a big deal to prick her finger and test her blood sugar before snack time, lunch time, and swimming because everyone there

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