The Living with Diabetes Assignment

One of my jobs is Camp Director for our local American Diabetes Association. It is a fun and sometimes stressful job but so rewarding! I have the opportunity to meet some amazing, dedicated and passionate people from the camper family side to the volunteer medical side. Last year we were approached by our local University College of Pharmacy to volunteer at camp and also bring some PharmD students that could receive class credit for their participation. It worked brilliantly! The Professors who organized it where fantastic...especially given that they had no idea what to expect. The PharmD students loved helping as well and gained valuable insight about type 1 diabetes and how it affects kids differently. 

This year the Professors offered an advanced diabetes course elective and invited our camp nurses, psychologists and myself to talk about our experiences at camp and in some cases living or caring for people with diabetes. In preparation for the class the students had a Living with Diabetes assignment they had to complete. This entailed living with Type 1 for two days and then Type 2 for two days. The students were required to purchase a glucometer, testing supplies, alcohol swabs and sharps container. They were provided with metformin (in this case candy) and and insulin (in this case saline), syringes and log books. 

For their submersion days they acted as either type live. Counting carbohydrates, testing and logging blood sugars, administering insulin, taking Metformin, they even had to insert and maintain an insulin infusion site and constantly think about diabetes 24/7! 

I was invited  on the day they shared their experiences. All the students were shocked at the constant thought that went into being diabetic. The logging, the counting, the worrying. It opened their eyes to what it must be like. Many of these students already work in a pharmacy and shared they have dealt with diabetic patients and felt more empathy towards them now as they had walked a day in their shoes. They were happy for the understanding of what the burden of diabetes feels like for patients. They also understood the complexity of the disease and how it varies from person to person and why it's not always that easy to be compliant with their care. 

They listened as I shared my frustrations about going into the pharmacy and fighting with insurance and correct coding for billing and I did let with them know that we hate to hear, "do you know how much this insulin costs?!?" every January as we wait for our deductible to be met. It was cool to give them my perspective as a parent on caring for kids with Type 1 diabetes. We talked about camp and the opportunity to see kids age beyond their years because this illness steals their childhood but camp offers them that week of acceptance and to feel normal. 

I believe each student was able to have some understanding and empathy towards those living with diabetes and it will help them be better pharmacists because of the experience. As written in the purpose of the assignment: "the insight you will gain by doing this assignment will be just as valuable, if not more valuable, than any information you will learn out of a textbook or in a lecture."

The next phase is applying to work under the Professors at camp. The applicants undergo an interview process and background check before a position is offered to them. It will be such a hard decision as they were all eager and excited for the chance to volunteer and we can only choose a few of them. As a parent to two type 1 daughters, I can't thank these beloved Professors enough for the experience they have offered these students. They are making a difference in the world! 

Our Pharmacy Team from 2016! 

Celebrating Friendship

Today I woke up to a post on Facebook from a very special friend. You know those posts on Facebook that say "Today you are celebrating xx years of friendship with insert name of person here"? 

My special friend is my diabetes mentor, Lora. While Facebook says today is our 8th year of friendship, this June we will celebrate 12 years of actual friendship. Back in 2005 when our then 4 year old daughter was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes our family was in a state of shock. I was given a stack of papers from a social worker at our local Children's hospital with instructions to read them and fill out if necessary. In my desire to do and learn as much as I could, I did. 

One of those papers was a flier advertising a mentor program. Perfect! Someone who could talk me through this crazy new life of ours. I filled out the paperwork and within a week or two my phone rings. It was another mom, Lora, who also had a daughter the same age as mine who had Type 1 diabetes too. 

I know we must have talked for a while (we both are talkers!). But there are a few things that still stick out in my mind as to what she shared. 

1. A1C results = do NOT sweat

2. Cheetos 

3. Local support group

For those of you in the non-diabetes world an A1C is a test result that measures the average blood sugar over the past three months. AKA: the parent report card. Many parents have great anxiety over this number. Because of Lora, I do not. I didn't even understand what an A1C was 12 years ago when I first talked to her but I remember her telling me not to stress out about it. It is a number. A snapshot. It's information that will help your endocrinologist determine insulin adjustments. It is NOT a report card on how well you take care of your child with diabetes. As a parent you do the best you can in stepping in as a pseudo pancreas! I didn't even know what a pancreas was until diabetes! However, I am so thankful for her words. She set the tone of how I handle this information and in turn how I serve as a mentor to others. 

 

Cheetos. Yes, Cheetos. Let me explain. For those with diabetes we must count carbohydrates in order to determine how much insulin to give for food. You can do this several ways. You can measure with a food scale or measuring cups. You can purchase single serve food or you can hand count your food item. If you decided to hand count your food item imagine counting out 21 Cheetos. Have you seen Cheetos?! They come in all different lengths and sizes. What constitutes 21 Cheetos?! OMG! And if you get to the crumbs at the bottom of a Cheetos bag...what to do!?! I didn't truly understand what Lora was talking about until I bought a bag of Cheetos and decided snack bags were the way to go. Seriously...you'll never look at Cheetos the same way again! 

I was lucky enough that Lora happened to organize a monthly support group for kids and their families dealing with diabetes. She came up with the content, speakers and locations each month and it was life changing. Walking into the group the first time was intimidating. They were talking about things that I didn't understand but throughout the months and years of meetings they were a source of knowledge for when our daughter was ready to try something new in her diabetes care. 

Over the years Lora and I worked on many committees together and have watched our girls grow up. Then in 2012 when our then almost 18 year old daughter was diagnosed there she was again, calling to check on me.  While I don't get to see her or talk to her as much as I would like we are able to pick up where we left off. 

Lora, thank you for your encouragement, support and understanding all these years. Your friendship means the world to me and my family. I hope that each of you who read this post have that someone you can remember back to and thank for their support.