Helping you along the way
We offer our patients various forms of support to help maximize their success at managing their diabetes care.
Classes
The journey of living with diabetes requires careful monitoring of your child’s blood sugars, diet and insulin doses. We want to empower our patients and families by making you understand and feel more comfortable about living with diabetes. From day one, our diabetes educator team will be teaching you how to manage your child’s diabetes. We will help you learn what you need to know to care for your child. Each education session will cover specific skills and facts about diabetes and its management. We offer a series of three classes to educate about the changing needs of children with diabetes as they age.
Class one topics
- Types of diabetes
- Daily diabetes management skills, including treatment of high and low blood sugars
- Diabetes care during exercise, sick day and honeymoon phase
- Carbohydrate counting review, healthy eating and nutrition goals
- Transition to school or daycare since diagnosis
- Adjusting to living with diabetes, including age-appropriate expectations
Class two topics
- Improving flexibility in eating schedule
- Insulin action time as it relates to dosing
- Carbohydrate counting and nutrition--eating out, traveling and special events/holidays
- Ongoing diabetes management
Class three topics
- Long-term treatment goals
- Blood sugar pattern management and insulin dose adjustments
- Practical support, coping and goal-setting for kids and parents
- Ongoing diabetes management
Pump class
Our physicians believe that there is no age requirement for an insulin pump. There are many different types and we encourage patients and families to consider which might be right for them. After about six months, patients and families learn more about insulin pumps. We offer classes introducing patients and family to insulin pump therapy, as well as advanced classes covering pattern management.
Planning for diabetes at school
We recommend all of our patients with diabetes have an established diabetes care plan with their school, whether they are in preschool a few hours a day or starting their first year of college. Our clinical social work and certified diabetes educator teams are here to assist when creating this diabetes care plan. Your child's endocrinologist and certified diabetes educator will work with you to develop a specific insulin management plan for school. This plan will be updated every summer before your child's next school year. A 504 Plan, created by the American Diabetes Association, ensures your child is receiving the diabetes care they need and are eligible for if they attend a public school.
We also offer diabetes education for school personnel. Our class, Making the Grade in Diabetes Care, covers a variety of topics, including treatment of diabetes, insulin therapy, nutrition goals and carbohydrate counting, insulin pump therapy, glucose sensors, age-appropriate expectations, healthy coping and 504 Plans.
Therapy
Diabetes can be tough! Whether you are newly diagnosed or have lived with diabetes for many years, there may be times you or your child may feel sad, mad, frustrated, overwhelmed or confused. Our team is here to help navigate these feelings.
Community partners and other resources
There are many ways to get connected with other patients and families in your community who are living with diabetes or endocrine disorders.
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation
The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation provides Information on local support groups, community connection events and fundraising opportunities.
American Diabetes Association
The American Diabetes Association provides Information on support and educational events, camps as well as ways to volunteer and get involved.
Camp Midicha
Camp Midicha is a diabetes camp located in Fenton, Michigan. It offers opportunities for diabetic children, ages 5 to 17 years old, to connect with peers in the day camp or overnight camp.
Connected in Motion
Connected in Motion is a Canadian-based program that provides experiential diabetes education through day or multi-day excursions.
Taking Control of Your Diabetes
The Taking Control of Your Diabetes organization offers information on diabetes management and new technology, Type 1 and Type 2 blogs, and educational and community-connection events.
Pediatric Endocrine Society
The Pediatric Endocrine Society provides information on your child's endocrine diagnosis, research studies, training and educational resources.
CARES Foundation
The CARES Foundation leads in the effort to improve the lives of the congenital adrenal hyperplasia community and seeks to advance quality health care through support, advocacy, education and research.
The MAGIC Foundation
The MAGIC Foundation is a charitable non-profit organization created to provide support services for the families of children afflicted with a wide variety of chronic and/or critical disorders, syndromes and diseases that affect a child's growth.
Accord Alliance
The Accord Alliance promotes comprehensive and integrated approaches to care that enhance the health and wellbeing of people and families affected by differences of sex development.
Intersex & DSD - AIS-DSD Support Group
The Intersex (AIS)-DSD Support Group is a compassionate community of individuals, families and allies collaborating to promote better lives and informed decision-making through advancement of knowledge so no one will face a diagnosis alone.
Research
We actively participate in studies that may cover a variety of aspects of diabetes, including early detection, medication, and treatment. Examples of studies we have participated with are:
TrialNet
An international network of 18 clinical centers with more than 200 affiliates. The goal of this network is to explore ways to prevent, delay and reverse the progression of Type 1 diabetes. TrialNet is supported by the National Institutes of Health and other major diabetes organizations.
T1D Exchange
The T1D Exchange Registory is a collection of individuals with Type 1 diabetes and their supporters who participate in research.