Over 1 million children and young adults live with Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) around the globe. November is Diabetes Awareness Month and Brekken Kolbow., a 2 sport athlete and 7th grade student in Forest Lake, Minnesota, shared her story with Real. You. Foundation.
When I was diagnosed with Diabetes, it was the beginning of the Global Pandemic, COVID-19. When the doctor told me, I was honestly just shocked and didn’t really understand what was happening and how this would affect and change my life forever. After the doctor told me, my mom started crying. It made me a little nervous, but I knew she was just stressed about what was going to happen and how she would have to change her life to help me. Then my mom called my dad and told him everything that happened. Once we got home, I remember opening the door and my dad being right there, and he hugged me right away and said it was going to be okay. He seemed sad too.
Before practices or games, nothing's really changed much. I just have to make sure my blood sugar isn't too high or too low, so I can play well and don’t have to take any breaks to help my blood sugar. I use an Omni pod 5 for my pump, and it is tubeless. It has an “Activity” setting where it will reduce my basal insulin delivery while I'm working out or at sports.
I think it would be best if coaches and teammates know that they don’t really have to do anything for me about it, but to understand that it’s not contagious. Teammates and coaches can support athletes with T1D by understanding that we don’t want to be treated differently and can do everything others can. Something that coaches should understand is sometimes I will have to take a little break to help my blood sugar get back to normal.
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