Sunday, February 9, 2014

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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4 comments:

  1. I'm so glad he was inspired, Sandy. Diabetes is tough. My son has it, too. Thank goodness people are willing to be honest about their disease. It helps keep us believing that anything is possible.

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    1. Hi Jennifer. Yes, this disease is tough that's why I'm so happy to see people willing to show that anything is possible despite diabetes. Hope your son is doing well and managing his diabetes to the best of his ability.

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  2. So sorry he has to deal with that, but it is awesome for him to other people go so very far with the same hurdles..

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