DTreat 2015

I got the opportunity to attend and help facilitate at DTreat 2015 in Idaho over the weekend.  If you don't know what DTreat is, it's a retreat for young adults with Type 1 diabetes.  There are a range of topics covered like dealing with burnout and stress, college life, insurance, diabetes in the workplace, and a lot of fun things going on as well.  But most of all it's great to be able to get together with a lot of T1 peers and just have a good time while not feeling different.  Kind of like summer camp for grown ups.  This was my second year attending.  Last year as a participant and this year as a facilitator.  Sadly, this will be my last year participating, as next year I will be outside of the 18-30 year old spectrum (#old).  I am hoping that they will call me back as a speaker or helper in some fashion next year (hint, hint).  It's impossible to cover everything that goes on here, and putting it all into words is something I don't think I can do but I wanted to cover what the highlights were for me.

It was great to see this years DTreat grow some from last year.  There were over 40 T1 young adults in attendance.  A lot of attendees were from the local area with ties to Hodia from being campers previously.  But there were also a lot of attendees from other places; from Virginia, California, Washington, Ohio, Georgia, Michigan, Iowa, and Arizona.  It is exciting to see the event grow and reach more areas of the country.

Every syringe represents someones hometown

The first day was all about getting to know everyone.  As everyone showed and got settled in there was a vendor fair to get lots info and free goodies.  We played some ice breaker games to learn about all the things we have in common and the things that make us unique.  After a few dinner and a few other activities to get the group settled it was time for Game Night!

Pictionary!

Jenga!

Day two kicked off with a great presentation with Annie Schultz who works for TrialNet, and has also worked for JDRF and took part in one of the artificial pancreas trials at Benaroya Research Center in Seattle.  Annie is great and hearing her story was so amazing.  You can see a little of Annie's story here.  She talked about a few other research things going on as well.  The AP trials throughout the country and the encapsulation trials by ViaCyte are definitely something to get excited about!  After that the group broke into guys and gals groups for some more personal conversation.  The afternoon included 'speed dating' where the participants were able to choose a handful of topics they were interested in and rotate through stations in small groups to ask questions about those topics.  I got to man the insurance station.  I'm certainly not an expert but having dealt with buying insurance for 10 years I hope I was able to provide a little assistance to those that needed, mostly students still on their parents insurance who want to know what's coming when they are no longer able to do that.  The day closed out with presentations on getting older and preventing complications and stress and burnout (something near and dear to my heart).  That night we were scheduled to attend a block party concert/fundraiser but we were rained out.  Instead we went to a local sports bar/bowling alley/arcade.  I think it was a good break from all the diabetes talk and a good chance to the participants to bond and have a good time.

Some of our speakers from day two

Our final day kicked off with a Skype session with Scott Scolnick from Go Bionic.  Go Bionic is developing a bionic pancreas, theirs is the only dual hormone system  being trialed in the US.  They also just unveiled their prototype of the iLet at FFL.  I believe we were one of the first groups to get to see this presentation.  I for one was totally geeking out over this.  They are gearing up to start trials for FDA approval very soon, which is SO exciting.  I'm not going to go into too much detail on this because I think it's worthy of its own blog posts which it will get.  We had a couple of attendees from CDN, Dan and Mindy, who gave a great presentation on Diabetes and your rights in the workplace.  Dan and Mindy were great and I'm super jealous that they both get to make diabetes their careers.  Dan works in stem cell research focusing on diabetes, and Mindy is working with the College Diabetes Network.  I'm extra jealous of her because she has gotten to attend FFL and meet awesome people.  We closed out with Taylor leading the group in making "Jars of Happy".  I don't think a lot of the group grasped how great these could be if you ever find yourself battling through some depression.  I still have mine from last year and its great to get a reminder that there is more out there than diabetes and that life can go on even when it seems you don't want it to.  We had one more closing activity and even though it seemed like it had just started, it was over.

Dan and Mindy from CDN

Jars of Happy

I had very good time and I'm sad that it's over now.  I feel so lucky that I was able to be a part of it the past two years and if you are, or you know someone who is 18-30 living with Type 1 diabetes I encourage you to look into this event.  It will be back next year and it is just an amazing experience for young adults.  Taylor and Sydnee did a great job of bringing this event to Boise and have put so much hard work into getting it going, along with the rest of the committee, Gabby and Natalie.  I have already seen so many pictures and connections on Facebook in the day since DTreat ended.  And that's really what it's about.  Building connections and a support network.  And I'm incredibly grateful that it's there.

DTreat 2015

Are you 18-30 years old with Type 1 Diabetes?  Do you know someone who is?  Sign up for DTreat 2015 in Boise, ID, July 10-12.  The cost is only $75 and that covers your room, meals, and workshop materials.  If you sign up before midnight on April 6th, 2015 and use the coupon code 'easter' you'll get $10 off!  There are some great speakers lined up this year, and the best part, you get to interact with peers your own age who go through the same thing as you do.  It's like the 'me too' factor x1000.  You can read about my experience last year, for me it was like camp for grown-ups.  At least I think it was, I never got to go to camp.  It is a safe place to share things that you deal with in your life with T1D or to ask questions about things you are unsure about as you set out into life on your own.  You can get all the details and register at www.hodia.org/events.

DTreat- Retreat for D's

I meant to get this post written towards the beginning of last week but I'm just getting to it now because life.  Nevertheless, I am writing it now.  When I got my original (mis)diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes, it was a struggle to find people my age who were also T2.  It is unusual for someone in their 20's to be diagnosed with the disease.  Then we I was (re)diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes it was kind of the opposite.  While I was able to find others who had T1, most of them that were my age had been living with it since they were young.  And realistically, it was difficult to find or connect to anyone my age who was Type 1.  I felt very isolated and always searching for someone who I could relate with about everyday life with T1D.  I was so fortunate to get involved with Camp Hodia which eventually lead me to DTreat.  Dtreat is a retreat for young adults 18-30 with T1D.  The amazing people at Hodia organized the first one in this area and it took place last weekend in Boise.  I will admit that being at the upper end of the age range with a group of people in their early 20's was a little intimidating at first.  Add that to the fact that I am extremely intoverted and generally quiet in large groups of people and it would be an understatement to say that I was little nervous as I walked into the hotel Friday evening.  However, Sydnee and Taylor did a great job with coming up with some ice breakers to get everyone talking.  That night we had dinner and a beach party and everyone just spent some time getting to know everyone.  We played some volleyball, which I love, and that helped me to open up to the group a little (even if I was a bit over competitive at times.  What can I say?  Volleyball brings out the extrovert in me).

Volleyball+carpet=rugburns #hodiadtreat2014

— Craig (@HumnPincushion) August 9, 2014

  There was such a great mix of people there.  Most in their early twenties, a few in their mid to late twenties and early thirties; some using pumps of various brands, some doing MDI with either pens or syringes; some doing the CGM, Dexcom and Medtronic; some living with diabetes for over 20 years, some just diagnosed within the couple years.  There was really someone there from every walk of diabetes life.  The second day was filled with some peer to peer discussions and several great speakers from the local diabetes community.  We talked about several aspects of life with T1D; relationships, coping with stress, transitioning to life as an adult, staying motivated, and just life in general with the disease.  Greta VanDyke, a diabetes educator for a local pediatric endo, talked about the future of diabetes.  There was discussion about beta cell encapsulation, bionic pancreas trials, CGMs, inhalable insulin, and the advancing technology.  Right up my alley.  Following that there a "speed dating round" which gave everyone a chance to spend some time peer to peer discussing their choice out of a few different topics.  My choices- Motivation, Life with D, Independence, and stress.  After that there was the choice of a few breakaway topics.  I chose "Getting Involved" with Lynn Giesler.  Helping out the D community is one of my favorite things to do.

Getting involved- "Nobody can do everything but everyone can do something." #HodiaDTreat2014 #DTreat

— Craig (@HumnPincushion) August 9, 2014

After a great lunch, things continued as we split into groups by age; 18-23 in one and 24+ in the other.  Dr. Amy Walters gave a great presentation on Stress and Time Management which is something I struggle with quite frequently so it was great for me.

Great talk by Dr Amy Walters @DiabetesPsych on stress and time management.Takeaway:Evaluate your time and priorities often #HodiaDTreat2014

— Craig (@HumnPincushion) August 9, 2014

After that we went to Sex, Drugs, and Rock & Roll with Dr. Richard Christensen, a local Endo and Medical Director with Camp Hodia.  While it wasn't necessarily a topic that affected me too much at this point in my life I relished the opportunity to offer my input and help out some others with questions.  Day 2 wrapped up with a Blue themed dance party and some board games with the group.  Our final day we Dr. Walters was back to talk to us about Relationships, offering some insight on how diabetes effects different relationships and why as well ways to help them be successful.  That was followed by a great group discussion with Greta VanDyke again where the group got to kind of steer the discussion where they wanted.  We wrapped up with some motivational and team building stuff and then it was over...too quick.

Had a blast at #HodiaDTreat2014 #DTreat #hodia pic.twitter.com/I7YMJnKtS1

— Craig (@HumnPincushion) August 10, 2014

It was a great weekend and just what I needed at the time.  While I came in nervous of being so much older than the group I quickly found that it wasn't really an issue.  We may have been at different points in our lives, but the common strand in our lives is diabetes and it's such a huge part of all of our lives that it was easy to find common ground and bond over it.  I can't express in words how great it was to be in a group of people where no one in the room questions why you were taking out a meter at dinnertime or what you were doing when inject your insulin.  The whole weekend was extremely empowering.  I can't wait until next year, and I am hoping to be involved in the planning and on board as a facilitator for that one.  Maybe then I won't feel so old.

P.S.  The after effects have been far reaching for my control.  I haven't consistently seen numbers like this in the morning since I stopped using the Dex.

Reconnecting

This week is a very diabetes-centric one.  Monday we attended the JDRF/Hodia family fun night.  I got to catch up with some friends from the Sail Away in Support fundraiser and we all had fun riding the bumper boats and playing in the arcade.  The kids came home with their usual handful of prizes bought with tickets.  And of course we always love to support JDRF.

 Tuesday was the JDRF Walk Awards luncheon.  I was glad to have the Pretty Lady in My Life by my side as we got to see the awesome job done by all the walk teams to raise a huge amount of money for JDRF.  While I got a bit of a late start and didn't reach my fundraising goal, I was still happy to receive a golden sneaker for my efforts (even if I felt like a giant being the only one on stage over 4 ft), which wouldn't have been possible if not for some of the great people I work with who volunteered their time and joined Team Dia-beat It.  Attending the awards re-upped my motivation to get into next year and really get our team going, hopefully to the tune of at least Gold Level and with sweet Michael Jackson team shirts.  I'm thinking the King of Pop and "No one deserves diabetes, so let's beat it!"  And to finish off the week I will be attending a diabetes retreat, or DTreat, starting Friday and ending Sunday.  I have been having mixed feelings about this.  I am very excited to be able to meet other Type 1's as I feel increasingly isolated as I continue to go through life with T1D.  At the same time, I am at the upper end of the 18-30 yr old range and most of the attendees are former Camp Hodia campers who already have that in common.  Add to that the fact that I am very much an introvert and conversing with new people and large groups does not come easy to me and you start to see why I am a little apprehensive about this.  Nonetheless I am still very excited to get to meet others who understand what a living with T1D means, have more experience with it, and who I think can help me navigate some of the things coming up, like (hopefully) transitioning to a pump.  If all goes well I will come out of this weekend with some newly formed friendships.  All in all it should be a great week.  I find myself wishing for a better organized group for Adults with T1D in my area lately, but in the meantime I am so thankful for the organizations that do exist.  It seems like just when I need a little boost, they have something coming along to give it to me.