It was August of 2010 and I was days away from dropping my daughter with diabetes off at a college 500 miles away. I was putting up a good front but, truth…
Tag: College
As College Diabetes Week comes to a close, the final blog prompt is two interesting questions: What is the most important advice you would give to…
This week, I will be posting responses to prompts provided by the College Diabetes Network (CDN) in honor of College Diabetes Week. I may not be in…
It wasn’t easy, but after many email exchanges, document compilations, and meetings, the UMass Amherst chapter of the College Diabetes Network was officially established. I was elated!
I remember it like it was a minute ago: that moment I pulled away from the college dorm, leaving my daughter with diabetes in Washington DC, 500 miles from home. I’d spent hours helping her arrange her room, and her diabetes supplies were tucked back under her bed in the cool containers I’d purchased just for them.
As your teen with Type 1 diabetes transitions to high school, it's hard to balance letting go and keeping a watchful eye. Remember that all parents, with Type 1 diabetes in their lives or not, are doing the same balancing act. We just have one more thing to try to fit in. As a high school teacher, I’ve helped kids make the leap from immature freshman to graduating senior. And last year, I had the experience of sending my Type 1 daughter, Kate, into that world.
If someone asked me what my least favorite part of college was, I would say it’s the exams.
I understand they’re a necessary evil to evaluate my knowledge,…
The College Diabetes Network (CDN) started here at UMass five years ago. It was created by Christina Roth who has Type 1 diabetes, and was then a UMass student searching for peer support. Her first meeting was attended by just a few people, but she understood how great the need was for diabetes peer support in college. She turned CDN from a little group on one campus into a national program.
you’re in a lecture hall with 100+ people, taking a final exam. Not a sound can be heard except for pencils scratching on paper, the occasional cough, and BEEPBEEPBEEP or BUZZ! BUZZ! from your CGM or pump. It’s absolutely mortifying! Not only do you have to deal with subsequent stares and glares from your neighbors, but you also have to figure out which diabetes problem is causing the device disturbance in the first place – all while taking an exam that you spent the past week studying for. Can it get more overwhelming?
Her adult endo introduced her to the “What About Bob” method (I call it that – not him!): baby steps. Clearly, she wasn’t heading off to college with an ideal daily plan. So, he suggested taking little steps she was willing to try. He opened her up to a world where “success” wasn’t seemingly unreachable; where she didn’t have a million chances a day to “fail.” From that came a new sense of being “good” about her diabetes.