JDRF Jamboree of Carbs!

Our hospital hosted it's '2nd Annual Jamboree' for kids with Type 1. We didn't attend last year cause we didn't know about it. Oh well. This year we did and it was well, interesting.

The usual booths with lots to give away and pump people talking at you. Sometimes I feel like it's one big sell-a-thon of pumps. And of booklets detailing carb counting. And booklets of taking care of your diabetes. And spinny dials of carb counts. And pens. And smooshie rubber balls that I suppose are to relieve stress? I'm not sure what they are for, I just wish they would stop making them and trying to give them to me. Oh and yes, free pouches and holders and bags. I don't know about your T1 family, but here we have had our fill of backpacks, bags and pouches. I need no more.

And there was fun stuff for the kiddos to do. Moonbounces. Moonslides. Basketball hoops. Arts and crafts. Face painting. Contests by the DJ. A little train that went round and round the loop of parking lot. Fun times for the kids.

Thats Lenny, with the Minimed pump. He rocked. Every little kids loved that he had a pump!

Oh and the LifeFlight helicopter came to the hospital to deliver someone. I said a little prayer that they are ok. It was sobering to see it.

Oh and then they served lunch. I thought, well, this should be interesting. Lots of T1 kids - what have the nutritionists on staff at the hospital come up with for them to eat? At the beginning of the tables I was hopeful. I saw baskets of bananas and apples for the kids, along with bottled water. Yeah! Each food had a sign in front of it with the carb count. They were right about the apples and the bananas, giving them a 15g and a 17g carb count, respectively.

Then came lunch. A Domino's Pizza car pulled up. Let me REPEAT THAT.

A DOMINO'S PIZZA CAR PULLED UP.

And out popped a lovely pizza delivery woman with 40-50 boxes of pizza.
Yep, they served Domino's pizza for lunch at the event.

See those boxes - Domino's pizza!

I didn't get any closer, for fear of being a 'food stalker.'

The kicker to it all??? The sign they created said 11 carbs a slice!
11 carbs - are you kidding me? If the pizza slice is the size of my closed fingers and hand on my outstretched hand, that would be about 35g of pizza. I went with my guess of 35g when it was time to dose.

And to think it gets better? Oh yes it does my friends! Dessert you might ask? What, pray tell, would they be serving for dessert?
ICE CREAM!!!!!
I wouldn't even have believed it unless I saw it with my own eyes.
Vanilla or cookies n' cream ice cream to be exact.
Wanna guess what carb counts they vastly underestimated on these?
Vanilla - 11g and cookies n' cream - 22g
I dosed 25 for cookies n' cream for Grace. She ended up not eating it. I filled in the carbs with a banana and still got a 60 BGL 2 hours later.

Tell me who in their right minds serves pizza and ice cream at the event for T1 kids?  The event was sponsored by JDRF I might add. Wasn't there one person who thought about the T1 kids blood sugars and thought, hmmm.... wouldn't those two food items just skyrocket them a bit?

Where were all the lovely other lunch options, like:
Salad!
Sandwiches on pita!
Fruit!
Turkey burgers!
Veggies and dip!
(And as you comment, name some more options they could have served...)

It made me sad, and angry and disappointed. They served us whatever was easiest. I understand the 'easy' route, I really do.

What I don't understand is that at an event you are hosting, for families that struggle with nutrition and choices and meals, that the 'easiest' route wasn't doing any good for anyone. You had a chance, JDRF, to do some educating and teaching and it completely passed you by.