CD-ROM Aktief 1995 #3/CDA3.iso/cooking/dfan9503.zip/DFAN9503.TXT

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Diabetic Friends Action Network
Online Newsletter - March Edition (Children's Special)
(Delphi Custom Forum 255)

This document (c) Copyright 1995, all rights reserved.
Redistribution of this document is hereby freely granted so long
as the document is redistributed in its entirety (here
interpreted as all text which was not automatically generated by
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with attributions and this copyright notice.


This issue of The DFAN Diabetes Newsletter is devoted to
children.  I recently reached my tenth year of being a diabetic
and when I think back to all the experiences I've had during that
time I have to wonder what it would be like to have experienced
those same years as a child.  To be taken to the hospital and
told that you were almost in a coma because your blood glucose
levels were too high.  To be placed in the intensive care unit of
the hospital with all the machines and nurses watching over you.
Facing a lifetime of taking insulin injections and sticking your
finger four or more times a day.  It's a lot for an adult to deal
with.  Imagine what it's like for a child.

Today children with diabetes have a lot more resources and
supplies available to them than at any other time in history.
They might be on an insulin pump instead of taking injections
with a needle.  There are new lancets available that don't hurt
as much when they pierce the skin.  There are better insulins
available for them to use.  Needles are finer which makes it hurt
less when insulin has to be taken.

Although the "tools" of managing diabetes have gotten better,
diabetes also brings along a myriad of psychological issues.  A
child might blame themselves for having diabetes and have low
self esteem.  Or they might feel uneasy about letting their
friends know they have diabetes because they fear being treated
differently.  A child might not want to follow their diet plan
because they don't want people to know they're on a special diet.

All of this can lead to stress.  Yes, even children can get
stress.  It's important for the parent or guardian of a child
with diabetes to recognize that diabetes is a tough disease for
anyone who has it, including children.  It's no longer prudent to
thing that just because someone is under 18 they don't have
feelings and the same pain that adults have.

If you have a child with diabetes try to find a support group in
your area.  Having a group of peers their own age to speak with
might be very beneficial to a child with diabetes.  Knowing
they're not the only one with diabetes can also help the child.
To know they're not alone with their confusion and fear can be

comforting.  If you can't find a support group for your child
you'll have to be a substitute.  Read as much as you can about
diabetes so you can have the correct information for them when
they come to you with a question.

The stories in this newsletter are for, by, or about children
with diabetes.  If you have a child with diabetes please read the
stories to or with them.  It might lead to a conversation that
you and your child might prosper from and enjoy.

Remember, this newsletter can't be produced without your stories.
So please don't hesitate to send them to us.  No matter how
short, how long, how happy, or how angry they may be, we want to
see them and publish them in this newsletter.  We want to be
"real" and we can't do that without your story contributions.


******************ARTICLE************************
This is an interview I had with a young member of the DFAN Forum
on the Delphi Internet Service.  Dana is one of the youngest
members of our forum and agreed to tell us about her life with
diabetes.

What's your full name Dana?
Dana> Dana Leigh McCall Boltuch

And you're ten years old?
Dana> Yes.

How long have you had diabetes?
Dana> I had been sick for quite a few weeks before my fifth
birthday, but showed no ketones. Then a few days after my
birthday we tested again. Still no ketones. The next day we did
another test. Ketones. I was hospitalized that day. I've had
diabetes for 5 years.

Do you have any brothers and/or sisters?
Dana> I have a 6 year old brother.

Does he have diabetes?
Dana> No, so far as we know. Maybe he will, later in life.

What grade are you in Dana?
Dana> I just started fifth grade at the Upper Merion Area Middle
School. This is my first year at Middle School.

Are you the only child in your class with diabetes?
Dana> Yes, I am.

Do all your teachers know you have diabetes?
Dana> Yes, they do.

What about your friends?
Dana> Most of them already know, or if they don't, they notice my
bracelet and then ask what it is for.

Do you take anything special with you to school because of your
diabetes?
Dana> I carry glucose tablets in my bookbag, and drink a juice
box before gym, and I have juice in the nurse's office. I also
carry crackers in my backpack.

Do you have to inject insulin while you're in school?
Dana> No. Lunch is the one meal where I do not take a shot. If my
sugar is high, I either exercise or my Mom brings som6e insulin.

Have you ever had an insulin reaction while you were in school?
Dana> Yes, but I rarely display symptoms until I'm very low. And
the reactions are only occasional. I mean severe reactions are
occasional.

Is the food you eat for lunch different from everyone else's?
Dana> The answer would be no, except I am a picky eater. If it
weren't for that problem, I wouldn't eat much differently than
everyone else.

What's the biggest hassle your diabetes gives you while you're in
school?
Dana> Hmmmm... I guess if I have a low sugar in class, that is a
pain in the neck, because I have to interrupt class, have someone
else come with me to my locker, so they miss class, and i also
miss class.

Does it bother you when your schoolmates ask you about your
diabetes?
Dana> No, not really. I just explain, and they accept the answer
and surprisingly know something about it, if they did not know I
had it. For instance a girl in my gym class asked me about my
bracelet, and i told her I had diabetes. She said "You mean you
can't have any sugar!? "I said "yes, not much"...etc.

How do you think your Mom and Dad have accepted that you have
diabetes?
Dana> mmmmmmmm....toughie!   I think that they have taken it very
well, although sometimes I worry my Mom a little bit with my
sugars, I think.

There might be a lot of kids who read this interview and need
help with coping with their diabetes...what advice would you give
them?

Dana> The advice that I would give them is to make sure that
people know that you have diabetes, and know how to care for you
in an emergency, but don't draw attention to it. If asked about
it, I just answer the questions with out confusing people too
much. If I am asked to go into detail, I do, but not every single
little thing. I also will give this advise: Deal with the
diabetes, but once you have it under control, go on living and
don't let it get you down!

********************ARTICLE********************
D* at School, The Time of Diagnosis
by Rebecca Stanley

    I am a teacher at a small private school in San
Francisco, and I'd like to tell you about a very special
girl, Allison, and how we dealt with the diagnosis of
Diabetes at school.

    It was the end of October when she was suddenly absent
from school.  On Nov 1st, she came in late with her mother.
When I saw her, I picked her up, and gave her a hug, and
asked why she had been absent.  She told me she had been in
the hospital.  One of the other teachers then said to me
"Allison has diabetes." All I could do was hug her hard as
the tears sprung to my eyes and I envisioned the difficult
times ahead.

     Her Mom left her Halloween candy at school, for me to
share with her classmates.  I sat them down, and explained
that Allison was sharing her candy with them because she has
diabetes and couldn't eat all that candy.  I told them that
it was a disease she would always have, but that they