The Faces of Diabetes: A Project

First, I want to say THANK YOU to everyone who commented with ideas, suggestions, and encouragement about my last post.  95% of the time, Sweetpea is a very happy little girl.  She skips and sings through life!  However, as she is growing up, we are starting to notice the little signs of some burnout, some rebellion, some not wanting people to know she has diabetes, some not wanting to talk about, some not wanting to be different.

We each address this with our children the best we know how.  And each child is so different.  Just like diabetes itself.  There is no one perfect way to address these issues that sooner or later we will all face.

What we are trying to do is give her as much freedom as possible.  We let her talk and express her feelings in appropriate ways.  If she does not want to wear Dex around her waist, that's ok.  The pod has made this much easier for us as it's pretty much invisible under her clothing so if she isn't wearing Dex, no one really knows about diabetes.  But our non-negotiables are that she MUST check her bg (or let me do it), she must let us figure out how many carbs she is going to eat (either through reading labels, counting, or weighing) and she must wear Dex to school (at least until we get things figured out).

And that got me thinking...

School.  I wonder how THAT is going to play out.

For the last two years, she has been in the same class with the same teachers.  This year will be different.  There will be more kids in her class.  More kids who have never heard of diabetes.  They are going to wonder why she's going to the nurse.  They may wonder what the pod or Dexcom is.  They are going to ask questions.

In the past, I have sent in some children's books about diabetes.  I have let Sweets take the lead and explain to the class.  I have offered to talk.  It was always a nice thing to do.  And Sweetpea always liked it.  In fact, her teacher told me once that it was like she was just waiting for that day when she talked about diabetes, because after that she opened up so much more.

She's getting older.  And she just wants so badly to be like everyone else.

And then I had an idea....

I want to make a book.

Kind of like what Wendy did for Sugar when she was having some troubles with her Dexcom.

I want to make a book that can help every child with diabetes not feel alone.  A book they can take to school.  A book they can look at in their homes.  A book that shows them that they are NOT alone.

But I need YOUR help!

Here's what I'm thinking...

Send me a picture of your CWD - or of YOU if YOU have diabetes.  I really don't want just kids in this book!  I want some adults, too!!!

Complete the following...

Hi!  My name is _________. (you can use a nickname if you want)
I am _______ years old and I've had diabetes for _______.
I like to ____________________. (favorite hobby or sport)
This is my _____________________. (pump, cgm, d kit, shots, whatever...)

I want pics of people with their pumps or cgms or supplies.  Not just pics of the person - although you can send both.  You can also send a pic of you or your child doing something they like - sports, dance, music... whatever.

I'm going to use the info you give me and the photos and go to Shutterfly and make a photo book.

I'm envisioning this book filled with the faces of Type 1.  Filled with people all living lives with diabetes.  A book that people can look at and SEE they are not alone.  A book that they can share with others so that others can SEE that having diabetes does not make you so different.

When I'm done with the book, I'll make it available for you to purchase a copy.

If you provide a photo for the book, it's yours for the price I have to pay.  I'm not making any money on this deal.  Whatever the cost of the book is plus shipping, that's all I'm going to charge you.  Price will depend on many photos we get.

If you did NOT provide a pic for the book, you are still welcome to order one.  I'm going to add a few dollars to the total price and donate 100% of that money to JDRF.

Understand that by sending me a picture to use in this book, you are agreeing to have your child's name and face in the book.  You will not be compensated in any.

Again, this is not something I'm doing to make money - I will not make one cent from making these books.  I'm doing this to help my daughter not feel alone.  And hopefully, help some other people in the process!

Please send your photos  and text to theprincessandthepump@gmail.com

I will need to limit the number of photos to keep the book at an affordable price!  I'll use the first 20-30 pics I get.

Feel free to share this with anyone and everyone you wish!

And if you have any suggestions to make this easier or better, please leave them in the comments section!

Thanks!