My First Interview - Ninjabetic Jr.
Thursday, December 10, 2009 at 6:00AM 
I first started blogging in January of 2006. One of the blogs I used to read was from Vivian. Vivian is the proud mom of Daniel who has type 1. I developed a great friendship with both Vivian and Daniel over the years and even though her blog is no longer up, we still keep in touch.
Daniel is awesome. He is a type 1 who calls himself "Ninjabetic Jr." and refers to me as his boss. Every good superhero has a cool sidekick and Ninjabetic is no different. So I felt it was only right to have him as my very first interview ever. So here it goes!
George: I know you pretty good Daniel, but tell me a little bit about yourself for my readers.
Daniel: I am Daniel Schaffers and I like video games and creating websites.
Tell me about your diagnosis and Mom, you can help with this one.
From mom: He was diagnosed when he was 6 years old in January of 2005. He was drinking a lot but I did not recognize that because we lived in Denver and people tend to drink a lot anyway because of the altitude. He lost a ton of weight and was falling asleep in class at school. The pediatrician did a glucose check and the meter would not read it so he sent us to the Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes, which is the most awesome place.
His A1c was over 12 and he was slipping away from me. She gave him his first shot of insulin and we got him awake enough to drink water. We took him home, after a few minutes he started throwing up and I knew he would be admitted but before I could even get the doctor on the phone he came alive and said he was starving. He gained 5 lbs that weekend and looked healthy for the first time in a while.
The entire family attended intense training for a week at the BDC and he was appointed his team which consisted of the Endo, RN, Social worker and Dietitian. That was the scariest time in our lives but we have come a long way. We moved across the country and we are on our third Endo, which oddly enough was trained at the BDC where he was diagnosed, we love her.
Wow! That is amazing! So are you still on shots now or on a pump?
I have a pump and CGM, my pump is Medtronic. My pump is named Zak and my CGM is named Cody.
Mom says: We call the trio's adventures The Sweet Life. (like The Suite Life of Zack and Cody only with a diabetes spin). The pump and CGM have improved his life and his treatment by miles over the shot therapy.
So what would you say is the hardest part about having diabetes?
Remembering everything, such as checking blood sugar and bolusing and just every little detail.
Ugh, I hear you there buddy. There is a lot to remember. So what helps you stay on track?
My mom, and Zak, hopefully.
How?
Figuring carbs, reminding me to bolus, etc.
Do you have any advice for kids that are newly diagnosed?
I am not very sure. I can tell them if they take the time, Diabetes is not hard to handle.
I should take that advice myself! Switching gears now. What hobbies do you have?
I LOVE video games. I have beat some of my friends at their own games. I also have a hobby for creating games and websites, as well as animations. My You Tube account has over 60 something uploads.
Very cool stuff! I could never come up with that stuff. You have a good imagination. In fact, here is a good question for you. If Ninjabetic Jr. has a super awesome vehicle to get around the world in to help other kids with Diabetes, what would it be? Or would you just be able to fly?
It would be a big pump on wheels. The driver seat would be in the reservoir slot with features like rockets and insulin dispenser.
That sounds pretty cool. But what can we do I mean as a team, Ninjabetic and Ninjabetic Jr., to help the diabetes online community? No idea is too grand so go ahead and dream a little!
We could probably have a whole website and stuff. It could be cool to have a Ninjabetic Convention.
Those are both good ideas. I know we can get to work on the website thing and a Ninjabetic Convention would be cool too. All of the people with diabetes I know are definitely Ninjabetic's in my book!
Thanks again Daniel for doing this and being such a great guy. And thanks also to you Vivian for helping him out and being my friend.
Reader Comments (9)
I enjoyed your interview very much. Zack & Cody are fantastic names! My kids love that show :) Do you love the Fred videos too on youtube? My son can watch those for hours if I let him...
Keep Fighting the good fight Daniel, "Ninjabetic Jr."!
Nice interview ... at first I thought it was about your son (I tend to skip the introductions; shame on me!) and only realized it was about Daniel (and to a larger extent, about Vivian, a blog I also used to follow). Thanks for the update and a good interview with Ninjabetic Jr.!
Yay Daniel! I love you guys.
Such a great interview George. I love the idea of a super awesome pump vehicle, complete with rockets and an insulin dispenser. :-)
WOW- You guys are my heros! You guys blow the Super Friends (I'm totally dating myself here,) away!!!!
And totally up for a Ninjabetic Convention~
1 question for Ninjabetic Jr: Does he like bacon?
Ninjabetic Jr. I can't wait for the convention! You truly are an inspiration. Thank you George for picking someone so awesome for your first interview!
Super awesome interview! It's always cool to get a kid's perspective on life with D - and even more so when he has such a great attitude about living with it.
This. Is. AWESOME!! Ninjabetic Jr. is the best - thanks for letting us get to know Daniel through your ninja eyes. :D
Great post Ninjabetic and Ninjabetic Jr. I smell a collaboration in the future!
I heard about this site from Six until Me. I love reading her site and was excited to see the link to yours. I just got a Ninjabetic shirt off CafePress for my daughter!! She was diagnosed in April 2008 at the age of 11. I can't wait to tell her when she gets home from school about this site. She saw the shirt and fell in love with it and we got it for her for Christmas, I'll have to get her picture with it on. I think a Ninjabetic Convention would be so neat. We are from Iowa and she attended diabetic camp this summer for the first time and loved it. She had a great time hanging out with kids who knew what she was going thru and what high and low meant in her world. Thanks again for the interview and knowing Kerri so she could post it. It's nice to connect with others in the same situation.