I have a 15 yr old son diagnosed last August. He is a football player at his high school and is wanting to attend a two night three day football camp three hours away with his team. I want to let him go, but I am not sure about the overnight part. His blood sugars are doing fine but every once in a while they do go low. He wears a CGM, but the alarm does not wake him up. And once i get him up it is sometimes hard to get him to check his blood sugar (he is slow to wake up) Hence, I am not sure what to do regarding sending him. Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions on how we can make it work for him to attend (and not have his mom tag along)?
Does his CGM have share capabilities? If so you could see what his CGM is showing in real time. If you had the phone number to the coaches and saw that he was going low, and could contact one of the coaches to assist that might make you feel better about it.
After some thought, my answer is YES - let him attend the camp. and certainly I have some very strong reservations in giving this advice in that he will have less than one year T1 experience.
He is 15 years old and should be able to make intelligent decisions - yes, I once was a 15 y/o boy myself. Start now, a couple of months before camp begins, by telling him that if he truly wants to attend camp that he MUST prove to you and to himself that he is responsible; that includes waking himself when CGM alarm sounds and taking proper action. He must learn to recognize his own body how he feels, make proper decisions about eating and exercise and the effects that food, activity and insulin impose on him. Yes responsibility that he must learn if he is to move forward in life.
A few things to discuss with him: the considerable exercise / activity of football and related conditioning, proper nutrition and food choices for him including foods he must avoid, sufficient rest and allowing his body to recover and the timing and quantity of insulin keeping in mind the delay in fall of BG after strenuous activities.
Good luck to him and to you - and certainly you will be extremely anxious. Please let me know what you and he decide - and do not overlook speaking with his medical team advisors.