Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Jan on October 26, 2011 at 9:51pm

Although our DD has taken dance class, and is able to do it, she did need to bring blood sugar up to 180 before beginning, reduce basals 70 percent for the class (usually an hour) and often had to consume free carbs after. She did have to test every hour. If the rehearsal is four hours straight dance with no time to check blood sugar and drink free carbs when necessary, and no allowances would be made to allow her to do this, it would be dangerous for her. Likewise, it does not sound as if this dance group would allow her to treat a low and take ten minutes to bring herself up to a normal range. It sounds like a dangerous situation. And, yes, it also sounds discriminatory to me. I wonder if there is anything you can do about this. But this dance group does not sound like the sort of group I would want my daughter to be in. I would find another group. Yes, they can do what other children can do, but exercise needs to be monitored carefully. I am thinking of Gary Hall, the Olympic swimmer, diagnosed with Type 1 in the middle of his career. To my way of thinking few sports are more dangerous for Type 1s than swimming. If he could make this work at the Olympic level, your daughter could make it work for dance rehearsal. It sounds like an unsafe situation though because they may discourage her from taking the needed breaks. Shame on them!

Permalink Reply by Theresa on October 28, 2011 at 5:54pm

Quite frankly, I think they would have heard a piece of my mind! My son plays basketball and baseball. We reduce his basal while on the court and then we do another temp basal for 4 hours after he is off the court. I can NOT believe that they would actually say this to you and your daughter. I wish your daughter the best.

Permalink Reply by Julee on October 30, 2011 at 4:25am

Thank you Theresa. I did give them a piece of my mind...a very large piece. :) Pretty much told them it was MY job to make decisions regarding her health and that they were VERY uneducated if they think this will keep her from doing anything she wants to do.
I have not told Allie this is why she was excluded or that this is how they feel. I do not want her to start thinking like this. I want her to know and always know she can do whatever she wants.

Permalink Reply by Julee on October 30, 2011 at 4:32am

Thank you everyone for your replies! It is working. I have combined these stories a long with a few others regarding diabetic dancers and professional athletes. I believe it is working because the people in question will not even look at me. I hope they are embarrassed by their own ignorance and by their discrimination.

I have chosen to keep the "reason" a secret from my daughter because I do not want her to get the mind set that this will continue to happen to her or that she is limited in anyway. When she is at school she is included in EVERYTHING and all the teachers are ready, willing and able to help her when/if it is needed. I do not see why dance would be different. My theory is the trophy they hope to win is more important than my daughter's feelings. We will not be returning to this studio next season and when I am finished passing the word as to why we will not be back, I hope many others join me and there is a mass exodus. :)

Permalink Reply by MelissaBL on November 6, 2011 at 1:55pm

I blogged about something similar that I faced in high school when trying to get into a dancing and singing show choir. I'm a professional singer now.

Permalink Reply by MelissaBL on November 8, 2011 at 6:58am

Here's a "you can do this" video from a ballerina with diabetes: http://t.co/MOYzuZdm

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