The Ups and Downs (Literally) of Taking a Vacation With a Type 1

Some of our pitfalls occurred when we all actually - temporarily - forgot about my son's condition. When he asked if he could sit in the hotel's hot tub, I said, "Sure! Have fun!" and didn't think twice about it until he came back fifteen minutes later, eyes glazed and dilated and saying wildly, "I'm low!" And boy was he! We had the same thing happen after he spent ninety minutes straight boogie boarding in the warm Gulf surf right before lunch.

Keeping schedule while on vacation proved incredibly tough for us too. During our stint at Walt Disney World, we decided to stay an extra hour one evening in the Hollywood Studios Park, which in turn threw my son's Lantus injection schedule off by an hour since we forgot to bring the Lantus pen into the park with us. Couple this with an indulgence of a very doughy personal pizza for dinner that we had to guesstimate the carb count for, and you guessed it ... a case of being high, which then plagued him throughout the night.

Surprisingly, we didn't lose or destroy any supplies during the entire trip. However, I almost suffered apoplexy, when, right before the take off of our return flight, my son announced that he couldn't find his D-bag supplies in order to give himself his evening dose of Lantus and was concerned that he had left it in the airport waiting area. Frazzled from barely making a connecting flight with three kids in tow, I couldn't keep my temper and screeched "What do you mean you can't find your diabetes supplies!" I knew quickly that I'd crossed a line of composure when I saw row after row of heads turn and stare back in my direction to see what the commotion was about.  Too, my son calmed me by hissing, "You stowed the back-up D-bag in the overhead bin. It has two more Lantus pens I can use." Ah, the sage words from the children of a semi-hysterical mothers. (And he did find his own D-bag later, tucked way under his seat.)

Our silver lining? Upon advice from a local Yahoo Group I belong too for families with children with Type 1 Diabetes, we secured a Guest Assistance Card for our family to use during our time at Walt Disney World. Using our travel letter, we explained to the staff at Guest Services that our diabetic son has difficulty waiting long times, particularly around meal and snack times (which occur often for a diabetic). Our family was then granted a Guest Assistance Card for our entire stay. This card allowed us to either have shady places to wait, or at times, faster access through the longest of lines. Kudos to Disney for providing this assistance.  Oddly enough though, this card was just a meaningless piece of paper at restaurants in the Disney Parks, where it would have truly been beneficial to cut down on wait times.

Luckily, this trip to Florida served as test-run for my son and me . We're heading back to Disney next week for the Children With Diabetes Friends For Life Conference, July 7 to 12. We hope to meet you there!