Health Management for a Lifetime

Management of diabetes is a lifetime commitment and how well one manages his condition determines his future health. A good method to assess the management is to check the HbA1c, which essentially shows on average the blood sugar level over the last 3 months. Glucose naturally attaches or glycates to red blood cells and therefore people without diabetes would then have 4-5% of their red blood cells glycated with glucose which is a blood glucose level of 65-100 on average over the last 3 months. The % of red blood cells glycated can then give an indication of how well diabetes has been managed for the last 3 months, the lifespan of a red blood cell. The American Diabetes Association would like people with diabetes to have their HbA1c level to be less than 7% which on average is 170 blood sugar level or lower. We tested all the kids and the majority of them ended up with an HbA1c of 10-17%, which translates to an average of 275 to over 400 glycemia over the last 3 months. i have serious concerns for the child whose HbA1c is at 17%, which is at a deadly level. I asked Leonardo's mom what his was and she told me 14% or on average 410 daily. She seemed quite disappointed with the number and understood the implications. I received the sense that she would do everything possible to lower it over the coming months. Despite his high HbA1c, he seemed much happier and healthier than when I first met.


In fact, the entire crew from Santa Elena seemed upbeat although maybe not so evident in this picture.
 

So, how do I sum up such an eventful and meaningful experience? I'm not sure. These kids became such an important part of my life and I had to really watch over theirs especially at night. Feeling as though I helped Leonardo have a brighter future was the most worthwhile part of it all. I honestly am not sure he would have survived in the long run if we had not intervened, corrected him with insulin when he was over 600 and brought him and his family to the camp. At least now they have the tools to manage his healthcare appropriately and the insight to know that they still have much to learn. The rest of the campers wept when they said their goodbyes to each other. The friendships they made as well as the love connections will continue on as will their desire to better improve the management of their diabetes.



Not only the kids, but also the other volunteers developed friendships that have carried over into the Facebook age and will prosper on as we hold our reunions.

By the end of camp, I like the rest of my friends had literally passed out from exhaustion. After everything that had occurred from the emergency appendicitis of one of the campers, which I never really discussed, to the potential swine flu spread, to the raging pre-teen hormones, we were all ready for a long afternoon nap.