Diabetes camp

" I'm having tons of fun. What are you guys up to? I feel so happy that I have a new friend and a new way of looking at things (I'll tell you about it when I get back) LOVE YOU! - M

So read one of the two communications I received from M while she was at diabetes camp. The other one was similarly brief.


This one, however, gave me hope. M was at camp after a rough period of feeling frustrated with the disease and the way it interfered with her life. She was not doing what she needed to do. She was not checking her bg, nor eating properly. Diabetes camp couldn't have come at a better time.

She was clearly having fun, because she didn't bother to write (despite the several self-addressed stamped envelopes I had given her).

But the words I clung to the most strongly were, "I have... a new way of looking at things".

"Hooray!", I thought. Diabetes camp is just what she needed. Her attitude about the disease is improving! She will feel better about herself and her ability to manage the disease! This is wonderful!

I pictured her having deep, heartfelt conversations with fellow diabetics while doing crafts, fishing, swimming, and generally goofing off.

I spent days holding these images in my mind.

After M had been home for a couple of days, she came outside to sit on the porch with me and her father.

I asked, "So, what is your whole new way of looking at things?"

"What?"

"In your post card, you said that you had a new way of looking at things."

"I did?"

"Yes, you did."

"Oh, yeah. I don't remember."

Sigh.

Teenagers.