What you see in this picture is an 11 year-old who just won 2nd place in a 12U tennis competition. It can be a big deal or not, depending on what you know about tennis, what your kids (or yourself) have achieved in this sport (or others).
This photo, more or less remarkable, shows a kid who’s sweaty and happy, after 4 matches in a row. Won 3, lost the final in a tiebreaker.
This photo (for the trained eye) also shows a small pod on the left arm, because the child is not a “normal” child, she is a Diabetic.
And yet, after almost 2 years since this horrible diagnosis, this kid keeps on training and dreaming. She trains at 2 clubs, 5 days a week. Straight A student, with a big tennis dream.
I am not writing this to boast about my kid, I am writing this for you, parents whose kids have the same condition. Parents who received your child’s life sentence and thought it’s all over. Who are crushed by this undeserved illness. Because, contrary to popular belief, Type 1 Diabetes is not a result of your parenting, is not caused by your kid being unhealthy, obese or just eating junk.
My daughter has always eaten home made food and she’s been an athlete since 4. And yet, she has Type 1.
One of the parents was noticing she kept on looking at her watch and thought it was cool that she was almost timing her match. No, she wasn’t timing or trying to be fancy. She checked her watch every 2-3 minutes, because there she could see her glucose levels.
Which can drop super-fast during training or matches. So fast, she could just go into a coma. Her watch is getting information from the sensor that you don’t see, which is “stuck” on her belly. And she knows when to go and drink some Gatorade during changeovers.
The little thing on her arm keeps her alive. It’s an insulin pump, Omnipod, that drips insulin every 5 minutes, based on a pre-programmed plan and also before she eats.
Technology is helping our kids stay kids. Play sports at the highest level they want to. Be 99% what they were BEFORE this horrible thing happened to them and to us.
Have your kids play sports.
They can.
Have them do competitions, get their butts kicked by their opponents.
It’s not an ideal situation, glucose levels DO affect their game play. But not to such an extent that they would forego sports or just enjoy life.
I’m sending you hugs wherever you are. Feel free to comment and share your own stories 🙂
Congratulations!! She has such a cute smile and I love how ambitious she is and diligent at managing her condition in order to continue playing tennis.
What technological advances related to diabetes management are you most excited about for the future, if any?
Andreea, excited to see you here 😉
Right now there is a lot of research to cure T1D, nothing clear yet, although there have been some huge steps forward. At the moment it’s incurable and we take it as it is.
The sensors and the pump (Omnipod in our case) are absolute gamechangers, we are able to keep this monster tame and not compromise our kid’s future and dreams. Probably if the pumps would last longer (we change every 3 days) and the sensors would be more accurate … but still the current situation is way better than it was years ago.
If she had to go through life with these, as they are now, we’re still very happy.