My name is Julie and I’m a single mom with 2 kids. My son Jacob (12 years old) is emotionally impaired and has oppositional defiant disorder. My daughter Lilly (9 years old) was diagnosed with Type One Diabetes on March 18, 2015.
Fours years ago due to my financial situation, I applied for a YMCA Scholarship and was approved to receive some help with covering the cost of camp; this assistance has allowed me to be able to send both of my kids to a phenomenal camp!
At the time Lilly was diagnosed with diabetes, Jacob was already attending camp and Lilly was about to start the following summer. I didn’t think it would be possible to send Lilly without me there to help her, but I talked to my daughter’s endocrinologist and she was excited for Lilly to attend camp! Her doctor agreed to send a small team of nurses out to the YMCA to train the camp counselors on how to treat Lilly’s diabetes.
Since Lilly started at the YMCA, I have done the training each year with the counselors. Kelly from the YMCA and I both quickly realized that Lilly would need an extra counselor, a one-on-one person to assist Lilly with her needs. With the help of scholarship, the Y provided Lilly this extra person each year to join Lilly’s small camp group. The YMCA has been wonderful and really does a good job taking care of Lilly; she requires multiple blood sugar checks, carb counting and insulin injections daily. Whenever Lilly has been high or really low the counselors always call me immediately for guidance.
This year I am excited to say that Lilly is not only able to check her blood sugar, but also gives herself the injections! She still needs the extra counselor to make sure she is doing everything correctly, and to assist with carb counting. She sort of understands how much insulin she needs, but the counselors can help her with this!
We are about to start our 4th year of summer camp and I feel very confident and excited to send Lilly again. I want to thank Livonia Family YMCA summer camp counselors for making it possible for both of my kids to be able to attend camp. Having 2 kids with special needs has been difficult, but being able to send to send them to summer camp has been priceless.
Sincerely,
Julie