Suggestions for preparing for college and children with D

[Margaret O]

I decided to start this post as a way to offer some helpful hints to those of you starting to contemplate college either as a student or parent of a student with D. First let me say we are still learning so we have definitely not figured this whole thing out. But I thought I would throw out a few tips and would love to hear from others as to what works for them.

1) Start weaning the daily management with child no later than senior year in HS. Let them be totally in charge of testing, bolusing, maintaing log, etc. I was too much of a nag up until he left for college and upon reflection, I should have let go a little (a lot) earlier;

2) After trying #1 set routine for when the numbers will be checked to insure basals are good and large swings are corrected;

3) Have student be the one that starts the packing for D. Let them set up their checklist and then we, as caregivers, check to make sure they are on track;

4) Have endo refresh all prescriptions before leaving so there are no expiring prescriptions in the first months of school. Have plan for refreshing supplies at school;

5) Expect to have at least one good melt down before they leave for college. I had one rather impressive sobbing session as my DH and I sat down to tell our son about our concerns, hopes, wishes, etc. I had to leave the room and went to my room and just cried. My son came in to my room when he thought it was safe :rolleyes: and ask me if that was the expected big melt down and I said, yes I think it was...he said "great! now we can check that off the list!"

6) Talk to RA and roommate about D warning signs. Later when your DS or DD has met their true friends (who are not likely to be there first year roommates) find a way to make sure they understand d-managment and hypo-hyper warning signs.

7) Trust but verify. Agree that a log check is okay and it really is in their best interest.

8) Let go. Ouch... that is the hardest thing to do by far. But it does work.

I could go on but would love to hear other's suggestions.

[U of I Mom]

I am the parent of a 19 year old who just finished his first year of college. One thing we did was visit the campus infirmary over the summer during registration. They assign each student a primary caregiver and let us request one who had experience with Type 1. Will ended up making several visits his first year because of an infected ingrown toenail and ear infections, so it was nice to have a doctor with diabetes experience.

We also scouted out the location of the drugstore chain that we use for D supplies.

[U of I Mom]

Another thing that I forgot to mention--and I know this isn't for everybody, but it worked for us--my son roomed with a good friend from high school. They ended up joining the same fraternity and moving into the chapter house and out of the dorms. I felt better, especially the first several weeks, knowing that at least his roommate was familiar with Will and his diabetes. I know this isn't possible or even desired by everybody, so I guess a mini "diabetes seminar" would be a good idea for a new roommate and an RA.

[OSUMom]

-Have your plan for where your son/daughter will go when they need to see a doctor if they become ill with bronchitis or whatever - college clinic? new family doctor? If a new practice near campus, set up as a new patient prior to needing the illness visit. We waited and then found out the practice was not taking new patients.

-Set up all those maintenance doctor appts for breaks at home from college for the year now - endo, dentist, etc... These are busy times for the doctors and difficult times to get these appts plan in advance.

-Check out the university Web site for on-campus restaurant carb contents. I know Ohio State had many items with nutritional information available online. This makes it nice for planning ahead.

-Load up on items to keep in backpack/backsaks for lows in class. My son would not keep items with him until the dreaded text came in from him "I'm going low in class and we still have an hour to go!"

-Get unlimited text messaging. It's a great way to keep communication going with being non-invasive in their lives.

I'm sure I'll think of more things that I can add later.

[bgallini]

Thanks for all the tips! Alex will be heading off to college in August (across the country from home) so I'm making plans.

Fortunately, he's very independent in the D care. I just check the meter occasionally to make sure he's testing before driving (and other times). We've had him fill prescriptions a couple times and will make that his job from now on.

Since he's going so far away (and I have a week's vacation coming up), we are going out to visit at the end of June. We can find the closest pharmacy, check out the health center, find a bank and some other stuff. I can't spend a whole week in Aug out there so that trip will be a quick one to buy all the stuff he needs and can't take across the country!

It's exciting but terrrifying all at once!!!

[Breanne]

No later than senior year of high school?
Start weaning your kids off as soon as they hit 15....its time for them to start taking charge of their own bodies. Im not saying that you should back off completely, but seriously, I have seen too many kids in high school who can't do their own sets and it just disgusts me. A kid who is in high school should be able to calculate their own insulin, count their own carbs, understand how excercise works all on their own--how else are they going to be able to survive as adults?

[Margaret O]

Start weaning your kids off as soon as they hit 15.... A kid who is in high school should be able to calculate their own insulin, count their own carbs, understand how excercise works all on their own...

Our DS could do all that. However I believe the tough part for him was that he was dx'd one month before he turned 14. We found this to be a very difficult age to structure routine without the typical teenage resistance to any parental involvement. He wanted very little help from us, but had a tough time accepting true responsibility. So he/we struggled with not testing often enough, log keeping and pre-meal bolusing. I agree the sooner the better.

[rachael24]

These are some great tips and I have used most of these tips as well.

[Ellen]

Whenever possible, establish a relationship with an endocrinologist near the university prior to school starting, and get that doctor's emergency numbers in the student's cell phone.

[moco89]

There's only one important piece of advice I have to add:

Tell your professors/TA's you're diabetic. During my first semester of college, I passed out (bad hypo) in the middle of a 500+ student class. Everyone thought I was just "very sleepy". I never had a bad hypo, until this incident. The class ended, and the next class came in, and the class pretended that everything was ok. At some point I briefly regained consciousness, and told the girl sitting next to me that "my blood sugar was very low", and then I passed out again. She didn't think that it was anything serious, and pretended that everything was ok. About halfway through THAT CLASS, the girl sitting next to me raised her hand and FINALLY told the professor that I was "really sick" :eek: an hour after I passed out! The professor was furious at the class, but he understood that a misunderstanding occurred. He and my professor don't let anyone sleep in their classes anymore. Actually, during class, about halfway through the class, one of them would jokingly say "time to check to see if the person to the left and right of you is still conscious!!!!" and the class would actually check to see if everyone was still awake. It was funny ;)

The best thing to do, I guess is to register with the disabilities counselor on your campus. I personally requested to be seated close to the professor, and to have all of my professors informed about my D. I know some people with D do not consider diabetes a disability, but if you get sick, the professors will sometimes only let you make up work if you're registered with the Disabilities Center. It's also really a safety issue. My situation could of been prevented-if the professor(s) were informed prior to the incident. Students will leave other students unconscious, because they will think you are drunk or something like that! It happened to me!!!!!!

[TerpSteph]

My son is a HS senior and is beginning the college search in earnest, so I'm finding threads like this interesting. While Matt is trying to take on a lot of his own D management, he was only diagnosed this past March, one month shy of his 17th birthday. He's done great so far, but everything is still a learning experience for him and us. Makes us both grateful that we have another year for him to get up to speed and terrified at the same time!

Thanks for all of the advice. We are definitely going to need it!

[golfermom]

Great Post Moco89. Jeff, can we make this post into a sticky and keep adding to it? I am almost there as my son will be going to college in Fall 2009.
Knowlege is power!! Let us help each other on this journey.

[momto2]

My daughter didn't want to talk about it much when she was first diagnosed (right after her sophomore year in college). She does not like excess attention (but somehow manages to get it without trying and is always embarrassed when she does) . But she soon started opening up and most everyone in her (small) dorm knows...especially since she always was the "baker" of the dorm and was constantly making cakes and cookies for everyone else to eat!

While at college this spring she was asked to talk to a group of other college students about diabetes and met a young man who was diagnosed in early high school, whose parents apparently made him believe that he could not do anything...no sports...no physical activities. He lived a life of nothing but going to class, and back to the dorm.

Then he heard from my daughter that she had chosen to train for the JDRF Ride to Cure Diabetes...a 1 day, 100 mile bike ride. She hadn't ridden a bike since she was in her early teens, and never ridden more than 15 miles on a nice, flat trail. She shared her perspective on living with diabetes (don't complain about it, it won't change things, just take proper care of yourself, live your life, educate others and maybe someday there will be a cure).

That young man ended up donating over $100 to her ride (and that donation actually was the one that helped her meet her fundraising goal), saying "I'm so glad that you have the courage I lack." But we can't help believe that his encounter with my daughter may have changed his life. They spoke for quite a while after her group talk and she will check back in with him when they return to school in the fall.

I guess what I'm getting at is, there are probably more kids out there in college with Diabetes than we realize....and many of them think they are alone, and unique. The day my daughter spotted another girl in her dorm (to whom she had never spoken) with what looked like a pump, she struck up a new friendship. It won't surprise me if the two of them start a support group this year.

[OSUMom]

Thanks for sharing Gail. I agree with you. Your daughter exhibiting courage helps build it in someone else I have to believe - how very neat she's making a difference. :cwds::cwds:

[bgallini]

Gail,

Thanks for sharing your daughter's story. She sounds like a wonderful young woman. I hope Alex meets many kids like her when he goes off to college (in less than a month!).

[skimom]

One thing we are getting for my son is a VISA card on our account for pharmacy visits and emergencies.We also plan on having the pharmacy send us the insurance receipts directly so we can submit them for reimbursement (our son has trouble keeping his room clean so I don't hold out much hope that he will keep the receipts organized for us) His endo is setting us up with an endo in the University area and I am going to hook up with a friend in the area that he can call for help as we will be a 2 hour flight away from him.