For five summers in a row, I spent two weeks in Massachusetts at diabetes camp. At the time, the camp was called Clara Barton Camp for Diabetic Girls…
Tag: Diabetes Camp
Last summer, when I picked my nine year old son up from diabetes camp, his eyes, like those of the counselors and other campers, were bloodshot…
Ever since he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes four years ago, my eight-year-old son has begged for my husband and me to let him go to diabetes summer camp. But it wasn’t until a couple of months ago, when my son’s endocrinologist pulled me aside during a routine appointment, that I got the push we all needed. “It’ll be so good for him,” she said, as though she were handing me a prescription.
It’s important for parents to make a list for themselves and the rest of their family and then stick to it during diabetes camp weeks. It’s just too easy for diabetes to remain front and center in our lives, even when our kids are away. A little work at tucking it away isn’t just not selfish, it might just be semi selfless, since it makes us both physically and emotionally stronger, and helps bolster the entire family.
There is very little to get excited about when it comes to growing up with diabetes. Blood sugar tests before gym class, counting carbs at the lunch table, and evading questions about insulin pumps are par for the course when you’re a child with diabetes. But there is one enviable quality of a childhood with diabetes: diabetes camp!