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George Smith was a happy, healthy, 9 year old boy living in Longmont, Colorado and attending 4th grade. He was involved in Scouts, Tae Kwon Do, and church activities. He had never been sick a day in his life (though he did break his arm once in a bicycle accident).
In late November 2006, he started going to the bathroom a lot more and drinking water (which he hated). George's mom took him to the doctor for a physical and she requested that blood tests be taken. After the physical, the doctor said he was a strong, very healthy boy and to call back in two weeks.
The next day...the doctor called and said...
"get George and bring him to the office immediately!"
George's sugar (blood glucose) was 574 and they told us he had Type 1 diabetes.
With a carb count chart, insulin, a meter and syringes, George and his parents went home. IN SHOCK!!
George called a friend with Type 1 to help. His friend and his friend's mom connected George and his parents to the Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes in Denver.
The hardest question at the beginning of all of this was:
"What do we feed George?"
The simple answer was "anything as long as you give him insulin for the carbs." But, how much and how many carbs in the meal? Where do we start?
As George's parents worked through learning to count carbs and calculate dosages for every meal and snack, George's grandmother, Annette, thought it would help to have a cookbook filled with a few simple recipes and all of the nutrition information for families dealing with Type 1 diabetes.
But, it wasn't enough to list recipes and carbs. She wanted to help families teach kids to cook. Annette and George went to work.
The result was
Georges Cookbook for Kids with Diabetes
It was really the start of a learning process that continues today. George is doing very well and is on an insulin pump. He lives a generally normal life, with the exception of the added discipline of checking his blood glucose level frequently, adjusting insulin to account for his food intake, and dealing with the impact of puberty and constantly changing hormone levels, which make adjustments a challenge. His Type 1 does not stop his life - he is in Scouts and actively camps and he is participating in organized sports in high school.
As a result of his experience and that of his family and friends, he has become a very important part of George's Cookbook - creating recipes and helping to create and write the web site. He has helped write the first two books and he has gained an appreciation for other special needs, especially through interaction with fellow Scouts in his troop that have significant food sensitivities.