The campers return!

Hello all! Well we returned yesterday from Camp Carolina Trails, a bit damp and smelly to say the least, but with a greater knowledge of diabetes and a lot of fun experiences behind us! There were about 10 nutrition staffers there during the week to help prepare snacks for the kids and gluten-free meals for those with celiac (that was Biz's area of expertise) and help kids count the number of carbs they had during meals.

Cassie and I worked with high school freshmen and sophomores, which was a lot of fun. We went on a hike and an overnight campout with them one day/night, which was probably my favorite experience (though it rained the entire time, and we had to deal with complaining teenage girls... fun). It was really interesting to see how physical activity affected the kids (and counselors') blood sugar levels. On the hike, we had to stop literally every 10 minutes for someone to check their BG and get a snack if they were low. Exercise really does dramatically affect BG. The med staff did a lot of basal insulin adjustments to try to prevent lows, but I felt that they could have decreased the insulin even more so that the kids wouldn't have to eat so many carbs and calories to keep up their BG which could potentially cause unnecessary weight gain. But I loved watching the kids and how they managed their diabetes. They were all very willing to share their knowledge with us, as were the medical staff and the other counselors. Most of the counselors had type 1 diabetes, so they were very good at helping the kids and encouraging them to keep positive attitudes and to use their diabetes as a way to become stronger people.

I'll let the rest of the girls talk about other experiences at camp so I'm not taking up a bunch of space. I really enjoyed everything (yes, even getting stuck in a ditch with Amaris one rainy afternoon, and yes, even parts of the awkward Friday night camp dance). Upon leaving camp, however, I was happy to be entering a clean environment once again and looking forward to doing my laundry. However, as it turns out, the water at my AHEC is turned off for some reason, so I have a huge pile of nasty clothes sitting in my washing machine. Ew. Welcome back Laurie.

I hope everyone had a great week! Get ready for the last half of the summer!