Type 1 daughter college bound

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Debbie Butler replied on Thu, Jul 16 2009 4:49 PM

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It is normal to be worried and have concerns about how she will do at college.  Have you spoken to your child about this?  For example, your child might say that she would prefer that you e-mail her or text message her to see how she is doing instead of calling.  Also there are some other things you may want to discuss.  You may want to make sure that your daughter knows how to contact her diabetes health care team in case she has any problems.   You both may also want to problem solve how your daughter will make sure that she has enough diabetes supplies and how she will order new supplies at school.  You may want to help your child figure out how she will dispose of her diabetes supplies at school (needles, etc).  You may want to discuss who your daughter is going to tell that she has diabetes (ex. roommate, resident advisor, the health clinic on campus, etc) and what she will tell them.  Finally you may also want to schedule an appointment with your daughter's health care team before she leaves for college in preparation for her departure. I hope that other parents reply to your posting as well.  Good luck!

 -Debbie Butler, LICSW, CDE

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Spirit replied on Thu, Jul 16 2009 5:14 PM

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Another thing you may want to discuss with your daughter is patient confidentiality.  If she wants any of her health records forwarded on to the college's health services she must sign an authorization for this.  And many college health services are severely restricted in what they can discuss even with a parent unless there is an authorization for this signed by your daughter.  If she is agreeable, perhaps having all of these forms done so that the college can communicate with her home health team and vice versa might be a good idea.  Bringing with her a patient history of her treatment for inclusion in her college health records might save a great deal of problems down the road. 

Has she made a "get acquainted" appointment at the health services at the college?  Might be a good idea for her to meet the staff there right off the bat so they get to know your daughter and she learns to feel comfortable with them. 

Spirit

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smachado31 replied on Mon, Jul 20 2009 3:07 PM

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As a type 1 who is now 2 years out of college, I can tell you that your daughter's world is going to change.  Especially if she will be living on campus and meeting new roommates, etc.  It becomes very easy to "forget" that you have diabetes in such an environment.  And by that I mean that no one knows of her condition at school unless she tells them.  Mom won't physically be there to remind her to monitor her blood sugar, or to eat properly, or to take her insulin.  But don't worry!  She will be fine.  It might take a few ups and downs, but she' will get a rhythm going at school to balance her new experiences with her existing condition. 

And no offense, but you may only push her away from you if you get on her case about her blood sugar every night.  She's going to be at a computer for most of her college career, so shoot her an email once a week to catch up on everything.  Dont ask exclusively about the diabetes, because that will be the last thing she wants to tell you about.  Slip it in there easily. "How's the dining hall food?  Are you able to count the carbs ok?"  or "how are your blood sugars lately with your stressfull class schedule?"  She knows in the back of her head that she has to take care of herself...But she also probably wants to be a regular 18 year old...which is probably what you are MOST worried about.

You can drill it into her head all you want that she shouldn't, but I can almost guarantee that she's going to experiment with alcohol.  That is unless the whole campus is dry.  This is where it gets tricky, because high or low blood sugars have similar symptoms to drunkenness.  Just make her aware that she's got to prepared for highs or lows while she's out and about.  She just needs to use her common sense.  a few candies and insulin fits perfectly in even very small, very fabulous purses.  Dont go out with people you dont trust!  Wear an ID bracelet.  ALL THE TIME.  It is just so important to have if you are in an unfamiliar place.  And when you drink, keep this in mind:  dont take insulin if you are drinking beer-  it lowers your blood sugar.  Wine raises it (quite a bit).  Hard liquor drinks dont do much but that depends on what you are mixing them with.

Of course, I've taken the guess work out of some of it for you both because I learned all of this the hard way.  But I survived.  My mom survived. 

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MMM1 replied on Mon, Sep 21 2009 7:36 PM

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Read Transitions in Care by Dr. Howard Wolpert who is a Senior Physician at Joslin and my doctor also.  He talks about patients moving form high school to college with Type 1 diabetes. The transition from pediatic endocrinoologist to adult endo is also one of his research interests.