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Permalink Reply by Larry D on July 1, 2010 at 5:22am

My 12 year old daughter is an avid tennis player and we have had to come up with a game plan for her since tennis usually sends her very low. When she arrives at the courts she always checks her BG. If her BG is below 150, she puts in a temp basel which is a 30% reduction that will last for the length of time that she will be playing plus an additional 2 hours. If she is above 150, she will check her BG every 30 minutes and then set the temp basel when the BG is below 150.

She always carries Gatorade on to the court and will sip a little on each change over. We find that one bottle over two hours will keep her BG around 100 to 120. Regarding Gatorade, she has learned to slowly sip on a regular basis and to use water to quench her thirst. At a minimum she will check her BG every 60 minutes. She also has learned that if she misses four or five easy shots in a row that it is time to call a medical timeout and check her BG. As a general rule, the sloppier the tennis the higher the odds that she is going old.

If she is playing a USTA tournament we always check in with the USTA official to alert them that she is type 1. USTA rules prohibit parents from coaching during a match but players are allowed to communicate with parents about medical information. Before the match begins, I will alert the parents of the girl that she is playing about her condition and tell them there may be the need for a medical timeout and that she and I will communicate during that timeout about her BG and what actions may need to be taken. My daughter will also communicate the same message to her opposing player. To date, these communications, have prevented either the player or the player's parents from thinking we were playing some type of game to obtain a competitive advantage.

The moral of the story is to test, test and test and to have a steady supply of carbs available. I am certainly that "Dad" and happy to be there.

Permalink Reply by Amy Hogan on July 1, 2010 at 10:51am

Thank you! I have learned so much in a short day - and no longer worry about "smothering" Matt or making him feel different. Yesterday I felt that being "that Mom" would hinder Matt's independence - but now realize it's OK to want to be there and to help him learn how his body will react -- while making sure he feels safe enough to play. This is so important for both of us. For some reason my brain wasn't processing everything correctly.....and I was stuck in fear.
Your strategy sounds great and I like the part of sipping the Gatorade slowly while quenching thirst/staying hydrated with water. Hearing from you and the others has really given me a boost of confidence and strength -- and Matt knowing that I've learned things from other parents who have their children in active sports has also done the same for him. We are both relieved and thankful.

Permalink Reply by Hockey Mom on July 16, 2010 at 12:25pm

My 16 year old son plays ice hockey which the Diabetes Athlete's Handbook by Colberg classifies as an Endurance - Power Sport along with American Football. She makes sugestions for all different types of sports.

We have different regimes for practices and games that we have had to develop through trial and error. He usually goes up during games and down with practices unless they are very competitive. The things to vary are the circulating insulin on board from the prior meal(because the fast acting insulin stays in their system for 3-4 hours), starting BG (we do 160 for practices and 140 for games), carbs during the activity (either gatorade or candy)
and less insulin for the meal after (we never correct for highs after a game because it is usually due to adreneline and stress and will come down on its own).

My son always drops low about 6 hours after a game so we try to have him high at that point especially if it is at night. Our CDE had us do tests each hour on several occasions to find this trend and now we program his pump to accomodate this drop. On the pump we can also reduce basal by 50% and not have to eat/drink carbs during the activity although we still have them handy along with a glucogon injection just in case.

We have found it better to treat a low early because once he hits 80 his muscles are fatigued in his legs and he does not recover quickly enough to rejoin the game just by eating carbs. Rubbery legs are not a good thing for a hockey player or a football player. (Normally, he would not have low symptoms until he reached 60).

It is worth it! Just start a little high and adjust one thing at a time until you find the perfect combo for him. As he gets older and into high school, the coaches and trainers (we have those in Texas at each school) have some medical training and he will know more about how his body reacts. But even now with my son being a junior, he seems to like knowing we are there in the shadows in case he needs us.

Permalink Reply by Amy Hogan on July 19, 2010 at 7:05pm

This is also great information - thank you so much. Also think I will pick up the Diabetes Atheletes Handbook!! I hadn't even considered there would be a book on this for some reason.

Matt has been "training" and did a lot of working out today and we closely monitored his blood sugars, which were actually pretty stable and predictable. I won't go off of that for each time -- but it sure is a nice way to start a trend.

Hearing all of these helpful hints and success stories just fills my heart and gives me a measure of peace. Thank you so much!! Best of luck to your son as well.

Permalink Reply by MissLexi on July 21, 2010 at 8:28am

I am a 13 year old girl. I am an avid volleyball and basketball player. I have been on the OmniPod for a little while now and noticed a major diffence. When I play volleyball and i miss simple volleys my coach (who is also a diabetic) will pull me out to cheak me. The only issue with low blood sugar is when I run track. I run the 200, 800, and the 2 mile.After the 2 mile my blood drops to a mere 30 sometimes. But that is rare though; i drink alot of G2 to get my blood up and some times the Gatorade.

Permalink Reply by Amy Hogan on July 27, 2010 at 4:43pm

You rock Miss Lexi! Thank you for sharing that with me, and have wondered about letting him just sip a G2 whenever he has a break - or if he should have regular Gatorade. I guess I should expect if he's doing a lot of distance running or just running for a long time to give him the regular.
Thanks again and keep on doing what you're doing -- it's great to read of people his age who are so athletic. : )

Permalink Reply by Jeannine on July 25, 2010 at 7:51pm

God bless you! OUr 12 year old daughter was diagnosed 7 mths ago! She is very active with premier soccer and fast pitch! One thing we have learned is that if she drinks and or sips G2(gatorade--Low carb) during workouts and games she maintains good numbers during the game and several hours after she doesn't drop so low! Also our coaches have been great! They know when she needs to check and she then treats if she is low -- waits and then she stands by him when she is ready to go back in! I will say -- we never leave her there without another diabetes trained grown up! I totally feel your pain! If you have learned any other tips -- please let us know!!

Permalink Reply by Jeannine on July 25, 2010 at 7:54pm

oops!!!!!!!!!! i ALSO forgot to tell you that we do give less insulin (1unit) before any kind of workout or game! Sorrry! Good luck

Permalink Reply by Amy Hogan on July 27, 2010 at 4:56pm

Thank you so much! You are doing so much better than I am and your daughter was diagnosed 7 months later! God bless YoU for sharing what has worked for her and for having her just jump right back into an active life! Am thinking the key to having this work well is the G2 and lowering one or both of his insulins just a little.
Thank you again!!

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