With our son being eight years old and having been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes just last summer, we were obviously extremely hesitant as we thought about summer camps for him this year. Not only has he never spent any significant time away from home, but with the added stress of worrying about his health, we were resigned to the fact that he would likely not be able to experience the joys of summer camp until later in life.

But then we were told of camps that specialize in adventures for kids with Type 1 diabetes. I did a little research, finding two camps within a relatively short distance from our home, and reached out. The camp we eventually chose was Camp Conrad Chinnock, located in the San Bernadino Mountains in Southern California.

The camp was excellent and completely inspiring. Being our first time, we chose to go to their ‘transition camp’ which allowed both parents and the child to stay for the weekend before setting the child free for the next week. During the weekend not only did our son immediately gain a sense of independence (“see ya!”) but we enjoyed a series of discussions with the camp staff, counselors, doctors and the other parents learning not only about how the camp is run but also what it is like to live with diabetes (note: almost all the staff and counselors have Type 1 themselves).

Of course the experience was valuable to us as parents, being able to ask young adults about their own lives with this disease and being able to learn about other parents’ experiences, but it was tremendous for our son on two levels.

First he got the great camp experience – staying in a cabin with friends, rock climbing, swimming, archery, hiking, all the great outdoors stuff. That alone was worth the money. By the end of the week he was completely exhausted.

But more importantly (and this may not have dawned on him given his age) but he got to meet a lot of other kids going through the same exact issues he goes through. He no longer was the odd kid out. There was no awkward moments where he had to excuse himself to go to the nurses office to get a shot – his whole cabin did this together. He didn’t need to feel shy about feeling ‘low’ – all his friends at one time or another did and all the counselors had testers and glucose tablets on them at all times to help out.

He also got to learn how other kids manage their diabetes. About half the kids his age were on the pump and the others were taking shots. He got to learn about the pump and see how to operate one. And they all learned about carb counting and bolus and insulin calculations.

We are so happy we found this place and so relieved to know that kids with Type 1 diabetes can not only experience a camp just like every other kid, but that they can grow up to be responsible and inspirational people – all the counselors were perfect models of this.

Our son was so enamored by the experience that he asked to go back, so we’re going to send him again in a couple weeks.

By: EatSmart Website or Amazon

Review: Highly Useful!

We’ve been really pleased with our EatSmart Nutritional scale.  As we begun to learn about carb counting we really had no basis for understanding portions and carbs within different foods.  The EatSmart Nutritional scale came to our rescue.

It is one of the only scales out in the market that provides detailed nutritional information for various foods.  It comes preset with 999 foods already stored into the scale’s memorty but you can also program your own using the nutritional labels available to you.

The scale is good looking and quite easy to use.  The informational booklet that comes along with it enabled us to use the scale within minutes of taking it out of the box.  You are able adjust the scale based on the weight of the plate or container you are using and the accuracy appears to be spot on.

We’ve used the scale daily now for months and have not had a single problem with it except for the booklet that came with it that lists all the codes for the pre-programed foods.  It is not put together well and pages have already begun to fall out.

Overall, for anyone looking to really get an accurate understanding of the carbohydrates associated with their foods and what portions really look like, this scale is fantastic.

Author: James Hirsch

Review: Very good

James Hirsch has been surrounded by diabetes his entire life.  He was diagnosed with Type 1 at age 11, his older brother is a leading diabetologist, and as he was researching this book, his 3-year-old son was diagnosed with Type 1 as well.  It would be very easy to expect him to write a passionate portrayal of life with diabetes.  But Mr. Hirsch is also a well known and respected journalist for the New York Times and Wall Street Journal and as such he is able to combine his own life experience with well documented and researched thoughts and information about the state of diabetes in our society.

Mr. Hirsch’s personal journey was a comfort as I read his book on the plane flying to join my newly diagnosed son in the hospital.   At the time I knew very little about diabetes and held all the typical fears associated with knowing your child is suffering from a lifelong and potentially debilitating disease.  Mr. Hirsch’s ability to convey his own emotions associated with tending to his son as well as his ability to place the disease within the larger aspects of his own successful life (it just becomes another aspect of you), helped to calm my fears and set me down a path with a set of principles that I too hope will help my child excel.

Along with his inside story however was Mr. Hirsch’s excellent detailing of the history and research behind the disease.   I had no idea how brutal this disease was just a half century ago and had no idea the endurance exhibited by my previous generation.  In detailing the history, Mr. Hirsch also provides a very straightforward explanation of the causes and management of diabetes.  By the time I had landed I was well armed to question the doctors that were looking after my son.

The final few chapters of Cheating Destiny start to take on more of Mr. Hirsch’s own views and personality as they explore the current research and politics surrounding the disease.  Science and academia are rife with political behavior and I commend the fact that Mr. Hirsch did not shy away from stating his own views of the issues.  Not everyone will agree with those views, but I feel it’s always better to have the viewpoints of the author be explicit so you’re sure where they are coming from.

For a parent of a child with diabetes or anyone who wants to learn more about it, this is a book that will enable you to get emotionally drawn in while at the same time gaining a true understanding of the magnitude and manageability of this disease.

One of the first things you’ll want to do when your child has been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes is to order a medical id. There are a couple of different forms of ids but the most common are bracelets and necklaces.

In searching around, we found the site www.stickyj.com to be very useful. They have a lot of different options for the id as well as the chain used to attach it. The ordering system was quite straight forward and the id arrived faster than I had expected.

For ids, they allow you to create an inscription on the back. I wasn’t too sure what to do here so I simply had my son’s name inscribed on top and “Type 1″ inscribed below.

One hint, their inscription form has a couple of different lines. I found that placing the name on line 1 and the “Type 1″ on line 3 (instead of line 2) helped to make it more aesthetically pleasing.

One downside: we ordered the leather necklace for our id. After only a couple of months the clasp kept on falling off. Luckily our son didn’t lose the id. We’re now giving the rubber necklaces a try.

Also, as of Sept 2008, I found the following coupon code to work and give us 20% off: DAD2008.

Click here for medical id bracelets, medical charms, pendant medical id, and medical dog tag ids from Sticky Jewelry