Who needs to know you have diabetes? The list could include:
- Teachers
- Nurse
- Gym Teacher
- Principal
- Coach
- Drill Instructor
- Bus Driver
It's important for these people to know you have diabetes in case you have a reaction or a problem.
You and your parents should let them know about your diabetes before school even starts.
One of the Crowd
Have you ever felt like you sometimes have a huge red "D" stamped on your forehead?
Have you felt alone; no one can relate to what you're going through? Living with diabetes
requires you to be more aware of your health, but that shouldn't stop you from hanging out
with your friends. How you feel and act about you' diabetes will be how your friends react
too. If diabetes is just a part of your life, they'll treat it that way also.
Sports
People living with diabetes can do anything they want to just like these famous athletes who live with diabetes:
- Gary Hall, Olympian swimmer
- Jay Leeuwenburg, football player
- Jackie Robinson, baseball player
- Kelli Kuehne, golfer
These, and many more, athletes will tell you that though diabetes is not a barrier, it is important to be safe. Several things you can do:
- Tell your coach you have diabetes
- Monitor regularly
- Keep hydrated; drink lots of fluids
- Replace your electrolytes
- Remember 8-ounce sports drink = 1 carbohydrate
- Sit out when you are feeling low
- Be sure to have items with you to treat a reaction
When adjusting your insulin around sports, talk to your diabetes team to help you how to plan to do it. What you do will depend on:
- time of the sport
- intensity of the sport
- your insulin regimen
- how tight your usual control is
- your usual response time to exercise
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