Parenting Children with Diabetes addresses the absence of information needed for successful diabetes management including more advanced diabetes education, information on emotional trauma, relationships issues and problems inside and outside the home that are caused while growing up with diabetes. This book offers parents a 360-degree perspective of what is happening to their child as they grow into and grow up with diabetes, from diagnosis to monitoring and controlling their blood sugars to their exposure to other people's opinions in schools and other common situations as to how they should handle their diabetes. This book provides parents with special tools, insights, and education so they can more confidently and effectively communicate, understand, and empathize with their child's experience with diabetes and their child's relationship with the world around them. Eliot LeBow thoughtfully addresses readers and his work Helps parents resolve resistance to diabetes management Creates and fosters emotional stability within the family living with diabetes Guides parents to building a healthy, supportive relationship for and with their child Prepares parents for the emotional ups and downs of diabetes management Offers insight into situations most children living with diabetes face Provides information about working with the school system to make sure their child is safe
Eliot LeBow is a Diabetes-Focused Psychotherapist and Certified Diabetes Educator whose practice is based in New York City and who has lived with Type 1 Diabetes since 1977. LeBow created Diabetes-Focused Psychotherapy to provide direct emotional help for people living with diabetes and founded the online platform "DiabeticTalks," providing emotional support to the diabetes community worldwide. He has written many articles in print and online on the impact of diabetes on all areas of a person's life. He is a columnist for Endocrine Today magazine and author of "DiabeticMinds," a blog on various bio-psycho-social aspects of diabetes and "Parenting Children with Diabetes," a blog focused on helping parents raising children living with diabetes.
Introduction 1 The Day Everything Changed 2 What the "Diabetes Diagnosis" Means 3 Managing My First Shot and My Family 4 What Going Back to School Means 5 Deescalating the Defiant Child 6 Navigating the Impact of Out-of-Control Blood Sugars 7 Managing Low Blood Sugars 8 Navigating High Blood Sugar Hell! 9 Addressing the Problems at School 10 The Continuous Glucose Monitor Experience 11 The Insulin Pump Process Epilogue Appendix A: 100 Dos and Don'ts to Make Your Child Smile! Appendix B: Resources Appendix C: 504 Sample Bibliography Index
Parents will feel that they are in expert hands with LeBow, who was diagnosed with type I (aka juvenile) diabetes at age six and then became a psychotherapist and certified diabetes educator. By sharing stories from his clients' lives and his own, he will comfort families who worry that their kids are the only ones to binge on candy and feel alone, different, and anxious. How do parents learn that their kids have diabetes? One boy, whose babysitter had baked him birthday chocolate-chip cookies, later excitedly told his mom that he "peed 40 times" that day. (Frequent urination, increased thirst, weight loss, and fatigue are symptoms of this autoimmune disorder, believed to be caused by white blood cells that destroy insulin producing cells that they mistake for foreign bodies.) LeBow reassuringly reminds parents that they didn't cause the diabetes. His tips include figuring out a plan of action with school officials. LeBow ends with helpful do's and don'ts and links to resources like the Joslin Diabetes Center and Think Like a Pancreas. A reassuring and empowering medical guidebook. * Booklist * What a wonderful and very thorough book on living, learning and adapting to the lifetime diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes. . . . This will be a valued go-to resource to be read over and over again by parents and others who help, teach and nurture Type 1 diabetic young ones. * The Savvy Diabetic * What a wonderful and very thorough book on living, learning and adapting to the lifetime diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes. It takes the reader (whether it be a parent, a child/young adult with Type 1 diabetes, a teacher or any number of diabetes healthcare professionals) through exactly what life is like for a young person, from the day of Type 1 diabetes diagnosis through all the issues involved with daily life and emotions of this dreaded disease. I particularly appreciated that each topic is discussed from 3 perspectives (the child, the parent and clinical advice) plus an excellent educational narrative. This will be a valued go-to resource to be read over and over again by parents and others who help, teach and nurture Type 1 diabetic young ones. -- Joanne Milo, writer, blogger, and diabetes advocate, thesavvydiabetic.com Finally! A book that takes both the parent's and child's perspectives into consideration. Eliot LeBow proves that the first step in helping someone with diabetes is to truly understand their point of view. -- Gary Scheiner, MS, CDE, 2014 AADE Diabetes Educator of the Year, Owner and Clinical Director, Integrated Diabetes Services, Author of "Think Like a Pancreas" and "Diabetes: How to Help" A must-read for parents of children with diabetes! Eliot provides an engaging book filled with real-life stories that bring the concepts to life. He addresses each scenario from both the children's and adult's perspectives while providing practical insights to managing all sorts of diabetes related situations. I'll be referring many parents to this book. -- Sylvia White, MS, LPC, RD, CDE, diabetes educator and owner of ParentingDiabetes.com
