Brave Buddies is an on-line support group for parents of kids with diabetes, primarily in the San Francisco Bay Area (including South Bay, East Bay, North Bay/Marin, East Bay/Sacramento, and Santa Cruz and environs).

Our focus is on parents sharing practical information with each other. We try to keep e-mail on-topic so that the list remains most useful. Typical topics could include how to handle preschool, 504 school accommodations, managing sports activities, products you've found useful, research studies, and whether pumping is right for your child.

This is a private list. We allow no commercial postings or SPAM and allow only parents of kids with diabetes to subscribe to the list. We encourage private responses unless it is a topic of interest to the whole group. We also appreciate it when members can offer to compile the responses they receive and send them back to the list as a single e-mail.

We have occasional, optional park get-togethers, primarily on the Peninsula and East Bay -- this lets your kids meet other kids who have to watch what they eat, get injections, do blood checks, or wear an insulin pump. They also allow parents to swap stories and tips with other parents and caregivers.

Some parents have been organizing parent lunches throughout the Bay Area during the week where parents can swap advice without their kids around!

Tell us your relationship to diabetes in order to have your subscription approved. If you would like to be introduced to the group by the moderator (which allows others in your area to e-mail you personally), include the following info in your subscription request: your name -- first, last or both; name of child with diabetes; age of child with diabetes; date of diagnosis with diabetes; town where you live.

We look forward to having you as part of the group!

Tracy, mom to Zachary, age 12, diagnosed age 2 1/2, pumping since age 4, celiac since 2003