diabetics and carb counting

[zoom8942]

Where can you find the carb content of foods at WDW? my 13yo son was just diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and is worried about eating out especially at WDW. Can you get menus ahead of time with the carb content on them, or is it easily obtainable in the parks?( we have 10 months to plan) any information is helpful.

 

[SueM in MN]

I'm sure that you will get a lot of advice from experienced people with children with diabetes.
I just wanted to start out letting you know that WDW has been asked for carb counts many times in the past, but has so far refused requests to provide any.
The posters who come after me will explain how they deal with that.

To start you out, there is some information in post 3 of the disABILITIES FAQs thread. That thread is near the top of this board, or you can follow the link in my signature to get there.
Scroll down to the alphabetical list of Conditions or Concerns to Diabetes.

 

[buffettgirl]

Hi Zoom - First off, first off I'm sorry you've joined the ranks of us with kids with type1. But I'm happy you've also joined the ranks of us going to disney!

Like Sue said, Disney has been horrible about providing carb counts on any foods that are not prepackaged. So a Mickey Bar will have carb counts on the wrapper. Ice cream in a dish at a restaurant, won't.

By the time you'll get to Disney in 10 months, hard to believe, you will be really good at carb counting, so try not to stress about it too much right now. You'll know infinitely more than you do now.

We use a combination of phone apps (my favorite is calorie counter by fat secret http://www.fatsecret.com/connected/android) or the Calorie King website. Early on we did carry a very small travel scale to make it easy to judge portion sizes (everything on most of the websites is in gram weights, sometimes in cups, but a travel sized gram scale is very easy to use).

So basically you'll be on your own. Telling food services that you have type 1 is useless as they'll offer you plates of fruit rather than actual carb counts. (as if fruit can be eaten freely).

Good luck! You'll do great. Just post any time you have questions - it's a bit scary at first but life will go on and diabetes will eventually become just part of life.

 

[zoom8942]

Im going to get my son an android phone just so he can get the apps( hes so excited he now just has a plain jane phone talk/text)We have a couple of the calorie king books ordered, and saw they also had an app. I hate to hear that Disney does not already have some of the meals carb counted. We are just fresh out of the hospital with this, so we do have a lot to learn. Disney eating was the first thing he mentioned after" I can still do sports, right?"never thought of a travel scale, thanks.

 

[SueM in MN]

There are also great apps available for iPhones, iPad and iPod touch if he already has an iPod touch.

 

[buffettgirl]

Im going to get my son an android phone just so he can get the apps( hes so excited he now just has a plain jane phone talk/text)We have a couple of the calorie king books ordered, and saw they also had an app. I hate to hear that Disney does not already have some of the meals carb counted. We are just fresh out of the hospital with this, so we do have a lot to learn. Disney eating was the first thing he mentioned after" I can still do sports, right?"never thought of a travel scale, thanks.

head over to http://forums.childrenwithdiabetes.com/ - GREAT resource for figuring out the nitty gritty of diabetes. There are hundreds of really helpful parents there who will help you through whatever you need; from really complex dosing questions like "how do you handle sports/eating out/dating/sleepovers/dosing for pizza" or things like "what's the best lancing device?" or "what meter works best?"

You'll also get a lot of emotional support when you need it, and a great dose of butt kicking when you need that too (and we all sometimes need that). Just know that like the dis, it's a very large forum with lots of different personalities so be prepared that some people are more direct than others and some are more huggy than others but they're ALL there to help you. The beginning is really the hardest part but you're going to be surprised (and I really hate this term) how quickly things become the "new normal." There are quite a few of us who post here who also post there (some of us with the same names and some not) . CWD also hosts a very large conference every year (one year in disney, the next off site). Many love it - I was sort of meh on the whole thing LOL.

There are also great apps available for iPhones, iPad and iPod touch if he already has an iPod touch.

Yes this too! Didn't mean to exclude the I's. Plenty of apps for every device.

 

[melancholywings]

Hi,

I wanted to second the Children with Diabetes site. It helped us so much that first year.

Also for Calorie Counting - there are a lot of good books out there but we got DD(11) an iPod Touch 4 and loaded the Calorie King app onto it and have put this in her school plan. The app has made it much easier and faster for her to look up carb counts than thumbing through a book. It also takes up less space in her kit.

 

[zoom8942]

thank you all so much for all your help. I went to the children with diabetes website, got a little overwhelmed, almost too much information. Still trying to absorb all the hospital teaching. I guess I didnt consider diabetes a disability, so I am still learning alot. thank you all again.

 

[buffettgirl]

thank you all so much for all your help. I went to the children with diabetes website, got a little overwhelmed, almost too much information. Still trying to absorb all the hospital teaching. I guess I didnt consider diabetes a disability, so I am still learning alot. thank you all again.

it's a lot to take in. It's NOT a disability. If you can keep on telling yourself that it isn't you're going to do more to help your son make his way in the world than anything else you could do. Our kids are NOT disabled. They're not sick. They can do whatever everyone else can do.

I suggest just reading the forums for now at CWD. Most of the info won't be relevant yet but the more you read the more it will start to stick.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

it's a lot to take in. It's NOT a disability. If you can keep on telling yourself that it isn't you're going to do more to help your son make his way in the world than anything else you could do. Our kids are NOT disabled. They're not sick. They can do whatever everyone else can do.

I suggest just reading the forums for now at CWD. Most of the info won't be relevant yet but the more you read the more it will start to stick.

I always say that my DD has diabetes, but it doesn't have her!

 

[daneenm]

If your son was recently diagnosed, be careful of information overload! It is a lot to absorb and early on, you need to focus on the basics. As you get closer to your trip, you will have absorbed the basics and will have moved on to more complex topics. In 10 months, you and your son will be pretty good at carb counting.

We use Restaurant Nutrition on our phones and just try to match what he is eating to something similar in a chain restaurant. It gets us very close most of the time.

Hang in. There are a lot of folks on the DIS with lots of T1D experience in children. We have all 'been there' for the early days and can offer advice that worked for our children. My one nugget of advice as you are going through this process of information gathering around the internet is to always remember T1D and T2D are very different, T1D in children is even slightly different than in adults and each person's T1D is different. You need to filter the info you collect, otherwise you could drive yourself crazy (speaking from experience!)

 

[melancholywings]

It's difficult to be DX at the start of the school year, not only do you have so much to learn but there is so much paperwork that it is easy to feel very overwhelmed. One thing that helped DD was to meet with another T1D family early on. They had a daughter a few years older than DD and she was able to talk to another kid who 'got' what she was feeling and could answer her questions. And I could talk to a mom who knew what I was feeling. We also got involved in family retreats and ADA summer camps. It may be possibly useful for your family to find another local family; or to reach out to another family online that your son can call and talk to. We've done that for another child to, she wanted to talk to someone else her age that was also T1D.

DD is a kid who is proud to be T1D, she says it's made her a stronger person and has allowed her to experience other opportunities and make new friends. But at DX I also hated the words 'new normal'. Every time someone said it to me I wanted to punch them in the face. Because how could this ever be 'normal'? But they were right, some where along the way diabetes becomes just another thing you do. Like brushing your teeth. DD went away recently to summer camp and while she was away we kept on carb counting, it actually felt weird to eat with out having to do the math.

As for the disability thing. I respectfully disagree and agree with the others. Diabetes (as a noun) is a disability as it is life affecting. And that classification allows our children accommodations and ensures they can not be legally left out of things because of T1D, that they can test in the classroom, that they are safe, that they have nurses in school, that they can't be segregated in school. It's incredibly important for it to be classified this way. It allows you legal footing to advocate for the rights and safety of your child. But our kids are not necessarily disabled (verb) as it can be managed to have a minimal impact on life, and if they manage it right they can do anything.