Still in the Game

Diabetes should never be considered an excuse.

In the years immediately following my diagnosis when I was 11 years old, my playing time on the soccer field went down considerably. While I loved my soccer coach and thought he was great for the sport in our community, to this day I believe he did not understand my diabetes. He thought in some way he needed to treat me with kid gloves: that he needed to be careful of my playing time because of it.

It seemed to me diabetes was an excuse not to play me more. Now, I could be wrong about what my coach was thinking, but that does not really matter here. The important thing is that I don’t want anyone to think of my diabetes as an excuse.

And here we are almost 30 years after my diagnosis with diabetes and the disease still has not slowed me down yet. I’m as active as ever: In fact, maybe more. I have never felt diabetes should get in my way. Instead, I live by the reality that diabetes has never stopped me from doing anything.

It did not stop me as a teenager. I was the goalie on a team that won a Vermont state hockey title in Pee Wee hockey. I was a member of a Vermont Pee Wee all-star team that won co-championships in two tournaments. In high school, I played on both the hockey and tennis teams.

It did not stop me in my 20s. I became a full-time tennis instructor and competed in numerous tennis tournaments – and played weekly floor hockey.

It did not stop me in my 30s. I won 5 Vermont Tournament of Champions titles in tennis, including 2 in singles and 3 in doubles – and finished in second on 6 occasions, including 5 in singles.

And it is still not stopping me in my 40s. I continue to teach tennis full-time, compete in numerous tennis tournaments, play soccer every week, and hike up mountains as often as I can.

I will reach 30 years of living with diabetes in July 2012 – and as my friend Ginger Vieira said: “I’m still in the game.”

I play sports with energy, passion, and vigor. I may not be the best, but very few work harder – and that hard work sometimes helps me win when I probably shouldn’t.

Of course, my greatest victory is simply staying active and healthy. Not only has diabetes not stopped me from my active pursuits, but because of those active pursuits it helps my diabetes stay under very good control.

That is not to say diabetes does not make for bumps in the road: low blood sugars that impair my thinking and concentration, high blood sugars that make me groggy, or even a little more serious when a build up of sugar in my eyes played havoc with my depth perception. But those are all things I can correct.

And then I just get right back on my horse and get right back out there again. Ultimately, I’m sure some day I will start to slow down a little bit, but I’m sure I’ll still be in the game – or perhaps on a mountain top somewhere.