I know I have touched on this before (here) but Eden’s LOVE for basketball creates a wild ride of emotions for me..
She LOVES the game and I find it amazing that at 11 years old she has found her passion. I STILL don’t know what I want to be when I grow up 😉
If given the choice I think she would play all day every day 7 days a week. Watching her sister (she made the 7th grade school team – YAY Ally!) play recently has been torture as she has had to sit in the crowds when she desperately wanted to be out on the court with the team.
NOTHING makes me more happy as a mother to see my children happy..
I LOVE seeing Eden smiling on the basketball court – playing the game she loves so much.. She even manages to be happy when she is running suicides over and over – go figure.. Most of the other kids are huffing and puffing and looking completely miserable. Eden looks over at me and the look in her eye says it all – she doesn’t even need to curl her lips.. She is in absolute heaven on that basketball court..
Me on the other hand is sitting on the sidelines – worrying – trying to get an indication of what her blood sugar level might be doing. I cannot just drop her off like many of the parents do these days and run errands or get some free time to myself. I MUST be at every practice and every game (not that I would ever WANT to miss a game!) WHY? Exercise and Type 1 Diabetes don’t always mix – and you just never know what is going to happen. Even after all these years we have yet to find the perfect balance for a sport she plays constantly because every day is different and T1D is NEVER the same.
I usually have the worry of her blood sugar dropping too LOW too quickly and I envision her passing out on the court.. thankfully that has never happened, but I have had MANY a nightmare about it. Recently her blood sugars have decided to run HIGH and not just a little high. 400’s high – 449 last night to be exact. Once Eden’s body starts releasing adrenaline which is a “stress” hormone there is no turning back. Her body thinks it is under stress and her liver releases its emergency supply of stored glucose raising her blood sugar. Not only is the extremely high number a worry but the crash in the middle of the night that usually follows is what I dread the most.
Last night we got lucky – I don’t know how, but we did. That crash never happened but if I hadn’t checked her blood sugar 5 times during the night, adjusted her insulin levels and monitored her closely we might not have been so lucky.
Exercise is a GOOD thing – it is good for everyone. But it poses extra challenges for T1D that people don’t usually know about… I sure wish Eden could just run and play the game she loves SO MUCH without having to be poked and prodded so many times to ensure she lives another day.
Eden's Effort 
Its great when kids find their niche in life, mine was fencing foil, I fenced for the school for 4 years, I fenced outside school and when I was in the air force I fenced in the air force team, I missed out a try out for the Great Britain team through injury, the injury on my shoulder never healed enough to be as good as I once was I had all my equipment stolen when I was on a train £1000+ worth, electric jackets, 5 foils two electric , breeches, shoes, 3 masks that was enough for me and gave it up because if I couldn’t be as good as I was I didn’t want to fence at the same level, I coached for a while then life took over. I hope Eden becomes all that she can be and let nothing stands in her way until she reaches the top and when she is there she inspires those around her to rise to the top 🙂
Go Eden Go, Go Eden Go, Go Eden Go Yeahhhhhhh 🙂 Waving my Pom Poms and kicking my legs high………….Limping off holding my thigh……Well I tried 🙂