Guest Post by Jeremy Bouse

I’ve been a type one diabetic almost 18 years. Zander has been a type one diabetic 1 1/2 years. When Zander was diagnosed with type one diabetes (T1D) I already had 5 summers in volunteering at T1D camps for kids 8 to 18. Even though I had more than enough experience to handle my own little diabetic at home it was still hard to deal with the thought that my son was going to have to go through the same hardships that I remember having gone through growing up.

I remember feeling insecure about my situation. Kids in school would always ask “why does Jeremy get to eat a snack in class and we don’t ?” or “why does he get to leave class early everyday before lunch?”. I let people put a negative tone to my diabetes and it made me feel like I had to be embarrassed and hide it from everybody. That negativity is what I was worry about Zander feeling.

Zander has always been taught to take questions about his diabetes from his classmates as an opportunity to educate them on something that isn’t just unique to him it’s actually something that a lot of kids manage on an everyday basics. Some of the ways Zander has done this is by getting permission from his teachers to talk to the kids about why he has to eat a snack in class or leave class early. What’s really impressive to me is how Zander shows such confidence in his ability to explain his diabetes in terms that his classmates can understand and because he shows pride, not embarrassment he’s been able to avoid that negative tone and replace it with respect.

Having gone through diabetes as a kid I find myself being asked the same questions that I asked my parents 16 years ago; the difference is I feel my first hand experience holds a lot more weight then the words of my parents who I always felt were struggling to relate to my questions about diabetes. Which is probably because some of my questions could only be answered by a fellow “type one”. Which is why I’m such a promoter of diabetes camps because there’s nothing like being around a group of people who just flat out get it! This is why I feel fortunate to be able to connect with Zander on this same level all the time.