In Which I Review the First Book I Recommend to People New to T1D

Disclaimer: This is an unsolicited review. I purchased this book with my own funds and am reviewing it simply to provide more information to someone who might be interested in reading it. I have received no compensation of any kind for this review and all opinions are my own.

Some other parents of type 1 diabetics have shared with me their experience of spending anywhere from three days to a week in the hospital with their child receiving very thorough diabetes education. They have said it was like drinking from a fire house. They learned about everything from the biological mechanisms behind diabetes to tips on what to feed their child and how different types of activities could affect blood sugar. This was not our experience.

Mr. Engineer and I were given just enough information to safely bring Kittygirl home and keep her alive. We are curious researchers by nature (Mr. Engineer especially) and we wanted to know much than the basics of what to do to avoid killing our child. An Amazon search turned up the book Think Like a Pancreas by Gary Scheiner, MS, CDE.

Gary is a type 1 diabetic himself, as well as both a certified diabetes educator and an exercise physiologist. He heads up a diabetes practice known as Integrated Diabetes Services. It is located near Philadelphia, but Gary and his employees help people from around the world remotely.

I own the edition of the book that became available in early 2012. It is the second edition, and a third edition is scheduled to be available on Amazon in May of 2020. I imagine the new edition will have updated sections on the pumps, continuous glucose monitors, and new insulin formulations that have become available in the past 8 years, but I'm sure the substance of the book will remain the same.

This book gave us the diabetes education we wished we had gotten in the hospital. The plus was that we were able to digest the information at our own pace when we weren't in a stressful environment with our child hospitalized. For that reason, even those who have received a thorough education upon their own or their child's diagnosis could benefit from this book.

Gary begins by telling the story of his own T1D diagnosis and the path that led him to become a diabetes educator and an exercise physiologist in part to take control of his own diabetes management. In the next section, entitled, "What's the Dang Diddly Point?", Gary details why taking control of your diabetes treatment and trying to keep your blood sugar under control is important.

This book starts at the beginning, detailing the different types of diabetes (spoiler alert: there are more than two) and what happens inside the body of a person with diabetes.

There are sections detailing different types of insulin regimens as well as the many factors that can affect blood sugar. There is even a resource section at the end of the book.detailing places to get support, helpful books and blogs to read, and more.

This book is a treasure trove of helpful knowledge. Gary's down to earth writing style makes it very approachable and easy to read. In contrast to some other books I've read that discuss scientific and medical issues in detail, this book is clearly written for the diabetic or caregiver of a diabetic with no special medical knowledge.

If you're new the the world of type 1 diabetes, or you've been in it for a long time but you don't feel like you truly understand why this disease acts the way it does, I highly recommend picking up a copy of this book.