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exchange trip !!

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delb t

delb t

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Parent of person with diabetes
ok - Thoughts please-H ( 16 -17 in july) dx 15 months ish has come home with an exchange letter from sch- the trip is to Chicago !.The chance of a litetime but deep down I feel quite sick- on the whole he has pretty good control ( last hba1c 6.3] and he does all he is supposed to- thankfully . His dad only said the other day to him that we wanted him to do anything he wants - and not for diabetes to stop him and here we are !! -aside from the time zones which I know you lovely people could help with - how do you think it would be - as they are staying in the exchanges family houses omg- thoughts
 
yes- thats sad - gone abit teary now-- he went to south africa -on a rugby tour with the school a few years ago so i cant use the distance angle
 
Hi!

I personally haven't done an exchange, but am currently on my year abroad (part of my uni degree). Living in another country has it's difficulties, but I have loved every minute of it! I have a really good DSN who I can get in contact with via email or phone, so she's always been on hand if I've ever needed any advice. I had my problems at the start: the lifestyle change and weather changes caused my ratios to change lots, but after a while I got the hang of it.

By the sounds of it, your son knows what he's doing when it comes to his diabetes. I can't comment on what it must be like for you, as I'm not a parent, but as someone who is currently living abroad (Sunny Spain 🙂 ) I can say that, yeah, it's difficult, but totally worth it!

Vicki 🙂
xxx
 
Diabetes will add another layer of planning (and insurance), but this trip doesn't involve travelling anywhere without access to medical care.
 
The Americans are pretty switched on about diabetes and he should have access to everything he needs, should he need it, I think he will be fine🙂
 
Agree with what others have said... There is an amazing community of PWD in the US. It would just take a little planning etc to make sure it all goes smoothly. He sounds like he is very capable of running his D solo anywhere, and if he knows that there are a few things to look out for then I'd imagine he will do you proud.

D or not you would worry like crazy if H went that far away from you!

How long is the trip for?
 
Well, look at this way.

He's nearly 17, so he's basically an adult.
He's got FANTASTIC diabetes control.

He's obviously very adept at looking after himself. He's going to be fine, particularly when you consider he's going to a country where he will speak the language and there is a wide variety of food and activity for him to choose from.

I would say this though - at the risk of sounding incredibly harsh, NEVER suggest to him that his diabetes is a reason not to go. He will not appreciate you thinking diabetes will limit him in his life as you're his mother - you're the one who's supposed to be telling him when he's 50 that he could still be an astronaut or the Prime Minister or whatever.

I suspect that your concern, deep down, isn't really about diabetes. It's obviously a massive step and I think you're just going through what any wonderful, loving parent would at this prospect - it's an increasing sign of his independence and I get it that it does hurt a bit. I've had the same thing with my mum before when I was much older than your son. What you can always remember is, no matter how far he goes, no matter how independent he becomes, he's always still going to need his mother in his corner.
 
DeusXM said:
I suspect that your concern, deep down, isn't really about diabetes. It's obviously a massive step and I think you're just going through what any wonderful, loving parent would at this prospect - it's an increasing sign of his independence and I get it that it does hurt a bit. I've had the same thing with my mum before when I was much older than your son. What you can always remember is, no matter how far he goes, no matter how independent he becomes, he's always still going to need his mother in his corner.
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"...Nobody puts his mother in the corner" [boom-tish] 😉
 
echo all the above. I was Dx aged 8 and have been on millions of different trips since then - school trips abroad to Greece, holidays abroad (both long and short haul), lived abroad in countries all over the world (Malaysia, Middle East)....absolutely nothing stopped me.

In your shoes I would get the time differences, flight times etc, then go armed with these to his DSN and ask their advice on when the best time to change the timings/dosages. I went to Vegas last year and DSN and I worked out that changing the times on my pump at one point during the flight would be enough and it seemed to work.

But also remember the flights over to UK for holdiays when I lived in Malaysia and was still on injections - from memory I think we added/subtracted a few hours to every hour of flying and worked out jabs according to that.
 
Thanks all-it was when it came up for discussion last night-different factors- where the kid on the exchange would sleep at ours{ could be a girl -interesting!! ] maybe having to change w/experience dates-already sorted- darn it! and H said oh and theres the medical side of things too so I said -oh thats not a problem (god what a fab liar am I!] plenty of the forum folk travel all over the world -you just need to work out time zones etc.luckily dory are team are good and have pretty much got it spot on with the abroad hols so far. deus he has already been to south africa with the school a few years ago- before dx .I think with this its more to do with him staying in a strangers house explaining the whole thing- but then again the kid would of been here previously so i suppose they would get the jist. I suppose on a positive note - he must feel comfortable and confident about it or he wouldnt of asked about the trip- I think its for 10-11 days they are still finalising it
 
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I dunno what the 'form' is on these things, these days, but several years ago when a colleague's daughter exchanged with a French girl - the parents virtually landed up best mates!

Bev the mum here, speaks reasonable French and said to the student she wouldn't mind having a chat to her mum when she rang her, if her mum would like that? and the girl asked, and Madame said Oui, so they had a chat, with Bev saying you know if there's anything on your mind you want to say to, or ask US, well just feel free to ring us yourselves.

She said they felt better then sending their daughter to that home, and they all met as 2 families after that.
 
I totally get your concerns being a fellow parent, but the one thing I would add to all the positive comments so far is that these days the world is a very small place. With technology as it is, and mobile phones, you can contact each other in an instant, and as someone else suggested, he can have his DSN's email address/mobile number with him too.

One other slightly OTT suggestion, does the school he is exchanging with have a T1 teenager who would like to be part of the exchange? That could add some reassurance to another family as well as yours. You never know, there could be someone the other end wanting to send their teen over but worried to because of the T1. It's not that uncommon. Maybe though, that would be just a bit too much. Just a thought.

I am sure your son will have a wonderful time. Personally, I would be far more concerned about my son going to a music festival, camping in a muddy field, away from civilisation for several days. A nice comfy home in the US with adults on hand and up to the minute medical facilites if needed - by far the safer option in my opinion :D
 
As a Grandma I agree with you wholeheartedly Tina. A flaming holiday in comparison! LOL
 
well- the form is going in tomorrow to say H can go!!!!-I seem abit calmer now - I suppose if he feels confident about it I've got to be- yikes I will be grey with the planning
 
delb t said:
well- the form is going in tomorrow to say H can go!!!!-I seem abit calmer now - I suppose if he feels confident about it I've got to be- yikes I will be grey with the planning
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Everything will be fine and he'll have a great time! 🙂
 
Well done you. The right decision. He will have a wonderful time. You will no doubt fret the whole time he has gone, but it will be a great learning curve for both of you. He sounds a good sensible lad, so everything will be fine. You have plenty of time to plan too, so start now!!!

Well done.
Tina
 
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