Diabetes and the Olympics

I've been watching the Winter Olympics. But before they officially began, Chris and I watched the opening ceremonies. He thought it was cool to see all the athletes walk in representing their country. And he enjoyed the dancing, the theatrics, and the lighting of the flame.

But, the coolest thing was finding out that one of the athletes representing the USA, Kris Freeman, is a type 1 diabetic. He also wears the very same insulin pump that my Christopher wears, the Omnipod.

Chris knows that diabetes doesn't stop him from doing anything. He can play dodgeball, ride his scooter, and crack jokes at the dinner table with his old mom, same as any other kid. He just needs to check his blood sugar before meals and dose himself with insulin after.

He's no different from other kids. Diabetes does not limit what he can do or what he can achieve. He's been told this since his diagnosis and many times since then. But seeing this Olympic athlete compete in cross country skiing is a nice reminder. It reinforces what he knows to be true, even if in times of great frustration due to serious highs or scary lows, he may not always believe it.

So this year, we will be watching this fellow type 1, and cheering him on. Because every young type 1 needs something, or in this case, someone with the same auto-immune disease, to believe in.

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