Sarah Howard
Sarah Howard (nee Tackett) has dedicated her career to supporting the T1D community ever since she was diagnosed with T1D while in college in May 2013. Since then, she has worked for various diabetes organizations, focusing on research, advocacy, and community-building efforts for people with T1D and their loved ones. Sarah is currently the Senior Marketing Manager at T1D Exchange.
Sarah and her husband live in NYC with their cat Gracie. In her spare time, she enjoys doing comedy, taking dance classes, visiting art museums, and exploring different neighborhoods in NYC.
as a child I was never allowed to do such, 70 years ago things were much different. Temptation wasn’t allowed.
Neither applies to me.
My T1D was on manual insulin and timed meals for many years of her childhood trick-or-treating. We had already set the precedent of eating a little bit of candy a day rather than all at once, for general health reasons, so doing the same post-diagnosis did not come as a shock. Candy became a part of her “meal plan”, could be used to treat low bg, and lasted for months.
All kids and everyone should limit candy. Don’t make the child feel different or excluded, they’ve been limiting sweets all along. Freeze the ones that can go in the freezer and work out with the child having a piece or two a day as their blood glucose level allows.
Halloween candy, Christmas candy, Easter baskets, are so difficult for a T1D, especially the children. My son was diagnosed in 7th grade and being a teen, gave up trick or treating. However when he got on a pump, he discovered he had more freedom to eat the fun size candy by covering it. Thankfully, he was old enough to do his own thing. What is really hard for the T1D children is when they have siblings who are able to gobble down what they want, when they want. There is jealosy, and tears of remorse for being the one who has the chronic disease. God Bless the T1D children…….maybe have a healthy party celebrating 100 years of insulin and teach them how their lives have been saved.
Trick or treat for UNICEF
Halloween was my favorite holiday, but in 1955 when I was diagnosed, if it wasn’t on the ADA Exchange list I wasn’t allowed to eat it, no exceptions. We lived in a neighborhood with lots of kids. My parents always bought treats and I was allowed to wear a costume and hand them out to all the kids who came to our door. When UNICEF started using Halloween as a fundraiser, I got to go trick or treating again, but only to collect the donations, no food treats.
I was diagnosed when I was the age of 5 in 1957. I would go trick or treating with my brothers and later with friends to where my Dad would buy my stash from me. I was the only kid on the block that made money on Halloween.
I was 11 at diagnosis and as I recall I took on door-answering duties with my mom. I don’t really remember much about it and no doubt I took it in stride as well as I did most year round restrictions. When my nephew was diagnosed at age 4, he was barely home from the hospital when Halloween rolled around. His wonderful mom bought sugar free treats and gave them to the neighbors ahead of time to give to him. I don’t recall whether that was an ongoing tradition.
I LOVE that idea, especially for a young child who deserves to get dressed up and have fun on Halloween just like all of the other children.
I have no children and am LADA, but I do know that every once in a while, you have to just cheat and enjoy it for a day. I asked my Endo: what should I do at Thanksgiving (my fav holiday) and he said cheat and enjoy it and catch it afterwards. In the words of my mother-in-law God rest her soul: you can’t be good all the time. And as someone else said: God bless the T1D children and their often worried parents.
Yes, having high blood sugars once in awhile isn’t going to kill you (within reason of course). I went so many years without a blood glucose meter (I did urine testing in the olden days) and then only got a pump and cgm in the last 3 years. I am sure my sugars were nowhere in range as they are now before these medical advancements, yet thankfully I am free of diabetes complications. Nowadays, having treats and staying in range is so much easier to do.
My brother and I were allowed to chose the candy/treats we wanted, then our parent’s bought what they wanted from us and the rest went into our low treatment supply.
“Other”. When my nephew was diagnosed and I also three months later, I became aware of the candy thing at Halloween. Since then I’ve given pretzels and pencils, which were a big hit.
Diagnosed at 14. Didn’t trick or treat then.
I was diagnosed in the 1940’s when I was 6. My parents bought me artificially sweetened candy. I think the candy companies were Diamel and Loeb.
Other:
My son isn’t diabetic, but I am. When I was a kid my mom used to decorate the house and make Halloween as fun as possible at home so that I’d have more fun there handing out candy rather than spending all night gathering candy myself. I still went trick or treating, we just went early for a short time and spent the rest of the evening at home. One year she took me to an kids event to as an alternate.
I’m 63 yo dx’d 2-1/2 years ago. Every day I read comments from people who were dx’d decades ago at very young ages. How lucky am I to have lived almost 61 t1d free years? My hat’s off to those of you who dealt with t1d in their youth/childhood without the tech and treatment advantages I received. You have my respect.
Very nice of you to say.
We traded candy for a new toy(s) with our son. Also our neighbors were really great in giving SF chewing gum and SF candies. He selected a few candies to keep, and eat after a meal or with a snack. When I was growing up, my mom allowed me to also select a few pieces as well. Not a great issue in our home.
I didn’t use any strategies per se, but when I was young, my mom sometimes suggested I eat certain treats over others. For instance a piece of licorice rather than a pixie stick. This was back in the 70’s when I didn’t even have a blood glucose meter so who really knows how well those suggestions worked.
When I was a child, we only went to our neighborhood and all of the neighbors always bought sugar-free candy for me.
Unless my blood sugar went low I wasn’t allowed to eat any candy at all until I got home. And the amount once I got home was limited. For the first several years I was allowed to keep my favorite (I usually kept all the snickers) and then the rest got traded in for money and my dad would take me to the toy store to spend it. Later on I was allowed to keep the candy but, again unless my blood sugar went low, I was only allowed 1 piece of candy per day.
I look forward to Halloween every year because, even as an adult, this is the day I allow myself to eat all of the candy that I want to as long as I dose to cover it. This makes it much easier for me to avoid the temptation of indulging the rest of the year.
Diagnosed when I was 4. My parents always did a candy trade-in for toys. I think I made out better than all my friends. I realize I was extremely fortunate to have parents that did that for me and kept Halloween fun.
Halloween is once a year, one of my sisters and I have had T1D since childhood and we were always allowed to eat what we wanted to on days like Halloween, Thanksgiving, Xmas.
Trying to control food intake often backfires; rebellion and/or wanting what you “can’t” have. (this is true for all people, not just those with diabetes. “Everything in moderation”)
I increase basal some years and then my daughter runs low, so treats with candy.
Yesterday was her first Halloween/Trick or Treat as a diabetic and I allowed her 50 carbs worth once we arrived back home. Regarding the rest of the candy, I’m not sure what to do with it. She LOVES candy, as do I and her grandmother (she gets it honestly), but I know it’s not good for us. However, we have to have fun sometimes. So I think we might do what someone else said and let her pick what she wants to keep (eating over a long period of time) and buy what we want from her and use the rest as low treatment or throw it away.
When I was a kid I would go trick or treating and keep the Fritos, peanuts and Juicy Fruit candies and give the rest to my brother and other select playmates in the neighborhood to divide up amongst themselves. This was in the 1960s. We didn’t have “mini” sized treats or carb counting back then. Juicy Fruit candies were a special treat they let us eat at diabetes kids camp.
I was trick or treating, 45-50 years ago! LOL! I didn’t have much of a craving for candy, but Mom would take the candy and put it ‘away’ where I couldn’t find/reach it. She then would give it out during my lows (which were frequent)! Sure beats glucose tablets and orange juice! 🙂
When I was young I was allowed to choose one piece of candy to have each day. My siblings ate most of what I collected, but I was happy to have some!
I was diagnosed at age 48.