Diabetes + Summer from a T1DMom's Perspective

Note from Anne ~ This post was written by my lovely mother who was more than happy to share some of her experience of parenting a T1Diabetic teen with an active lifestyle in summer. Many thanks to her and please enjoy!

We are two and a half years into this adventure, now, and we have just begun our third summer of fun with type 1! Now, I can only speak to our own specific experiences in dealing with the extra activity, the effects of heat, and the excitement of more time with friends that summer brings because every person’s response to these factors is different. I will focus not on specific advice but rather the guiding principles I use to make sure we continue to follow our golden rule – kid first, diabetes second.

Anne is one busy person, in general, but summer brings new opportunities to be out in the world, and she takes advantage of as many as she can - volunteering at different camps, going out with friends, camping out in the “boonies” of Haliburton with her Scout troop, taking summer courses, speaking at JDRF fundraising events … yup, she keeps busy!

Note from Anne ~ (*sheepish grin*)

One of the main “lifelines” that make Anne being out and about in the world - on her own - safe, possible, and as worry-free as you’re gonna get with Type 1, is Anne’s Dexcom (continuous glucose monitor, or “CGM”). She has a great attitude towards sharing her blood glucose data with her dad and me, so we can be her “back-up” in case she is too busy (or having too much fun) to notice imminent lows, or skyrocketing highs. We have an agreement not to hover, with low and high thresholds agreed upon together, within which Anne manages things on her own; that makes it less intrusive for her, and allows us all to communicate freely, secure in the knowledge that we aren’t stepping on her toes when we do have to check in.

Note from Anne ~ I can confirm that this “not-hovering-back-up” system works well. Additionally, if you want more information about continuous glucose monitors, click here to read my post that talks all about it.

It is still frustrating and upsetting to Anne and us that CGM’s are not covered as part of a national health care plan. These devices are not only life-saving, but also life-enabling. They enable a level of freedom that would be much more difficult to achieve without the continuous stream of blood sugar numbers that tell Anne, and us, if she is in range or not. That knowledge not only tells her if she is safe, but also gives her the chance to proactively manage her diabetes, so she stays safe - both now and in the future. Well-managed diabetes leads to better health outcomes, and it saves the health-care system money - it just makes “dollars and cents” sense! We know how lucky Anne is to have her CGM, and it is not fair that every kid (and parent) who would choose to have the same freedom and health benefits that CGM’s afford may not get that choice, because they are just SO expensive!

Note from Anne ~ Say it louder for the people in the back! (*fist bump*)

Anne has joined JDRF in advocating for CGM’s to be covered under our provincial health-care plan in JDRF’s #AccessForAll campaign. She is not alone, and the fight for such coverage is strong in our T1community. We have great hope that we will see this happen in the near future.

Note from Anne ~ To find out more about JDRF’s #AccessForAll campaign, click here and here to read my posts that talk about my experience with advocating for CGM and FGM provincial funding, and here to see JDRF’s web page and find out how you can get involved.

So, back to Anne, summer, fun and all that. The main guiding thought we try our best to keep in mind is always “kid first, diabetes second”. So, with summer here, there are a lot more ice creams and fudgsicles - it is hot, after all - and while there may be some more highs than she and we would like, those treats do come in handy when swimming and splashing around lead to lows! At the end of the day, her smile, the animation in her voice, her laughter and satisfaction with life - all those wonderful things make all the monitoring of sugars, all the extra things that we must do because diabetes says so, not as big a thing. For Anne, there is still more good in life than bad, and for us, that is enough. We will continue to fight for better, but because she is happy, we are happy.

Summer, fall, winter, spring – every season brings its own opportunities and hurdles. We have found that looking at the bigger picture gives us better insight to guide daily decisions. Ice cream sandwiches, pumpkin pie, Halloween candy, Christmas cookies - these are supposed to be some of the “good things” in life. We don’t really want any of our kids eating junky sweets and treats all the time, but we work diligently on not letting those treats become the thing that ruins the day. Overlooking climbing sugars is not easy – especially when it was on the tip of your tongue to say, “Just don’t eat that cookie, it’ll send you high” - but that’s what insulin is for! If friends are over, or the whole camp is having Freezies, to us (and this is just us – we feel that everyone should do what they feel best for their kid) it is more important that diabetes doesn’t take away Anne’s ability to be just like her friends than for her to have perfect sugars that day. Who are we kidding anyway? Perfect sugars - you didn’t know I was a comedian, did you?!

Note from Anne ~ (*slowly shaking head*) Mother, there is a slight possibility that you are not a comedian. Sorry. Want to hear a joke, though?

A blood test strip walks into a bar with a ketone strip. They start talking about their jobs and their bosses. The blood test strip says to the ketone strip, “So, if they don’t use blood to test, what does your boss put on you?” Shaking his head shamefully, the ketone strip replies, “You don’t want to know.”

…I guess I’m not a comedian either. Oh, well!

Well, those are my two cents’ worth. Thanks to Anne for the invitation to write this blog post - here are some pics of her having fun so far this summer!

And here is a picture of my mother and me:

Thanks for reading this post of That Stupid Pancreas!

If there are any questions/comments/concerns, please don't hesitate to email me about them here.

Don't forget to check us out on Instagram by clicking here!

And check us out on Facebook by clicking here!

Do you want to receive email notifications each time I post something new? Then become part of the family by clicking the subscribe button at the top of the page.

Till next time, Type 1 Warriors!