Diabetes Awareness Month

November is Diabetes Awareness Month and being diabetic indicates that the body does not produce insulin or enough insulin for the body to control glucose levels as well as metabolism. 

According to the International Diabetes Foundation, 10.5% of people in the world are diabetics. There are three types of diabetes that a person could have. Type one diabetes is a genetic disease where the body’s pancreas shuts down and stops producing insulin or limits the insulin. Type two diabetes is a condition that happens because of a problem in the way the body regulates and uses sugar as a fuel. Type three diabetes or gestational diabetes occurs in women who are pregnant, which affects how your body processes sugar during the pregnancy. 

Whether it is type one, two, or gestational diabetes, it affects a diabetic’s everyday life. 

Alessandro Garcia Tessitore, a junior at Northwest, was diagnosed on October 20, 2015, when Garcia Tessitore was in second grade. 

He noticed that he was more tired, and used the bathroom more often without drinking more water. His doctors did many tests, such as CT scans, but could not find anything wrong. Then they began to do blood tests and found that Garica Tessitore’s blood sugar was high and that’s when he was diagnosed. 

Garcia Tessitore does diving club, an activity that is very impacted by his diabetes. When he feels his blood sugar getting low he drinks a juice or a sugary snack to help raise his sugar. He typically waits five to ten minutes before he gets back into the water to make sure the levels are good. 

Garcia Tessitore has juice boxes and snacks in his backpack so he is always ready. He stores his snacks and drinks in the nurse’s office as well. 

Garcia Tessitore mentioned, “I typically know or feel when I am low or going low and my Dexcom also helps with tracking my numbers and seeing if I am trending downwards.”

Carter Holcomb, a sophomore, is a student-athlete at Northwest who has diabetes. Holcomb plays baseball and football for Northwest. He has been diabetic since he was two years old. 

When non-diabetics eat they do not have to worry about their blood sugar rising, but for Carter when he eats he has to get a shot of bolus, which is a dose of insulin taken to handle a rise in blood glucose, so his blood sugar does not get too high. 

Holcomb sports performance would be affected if his blood sugar were to drop or escalate during football or baseball. 

Holcomb said, “If my blood sugar is not good it makes it hard to perform at a high level.”

Olivia Bauer, a sophomore, was diagnosed with diabetes on December 13, 2022. She had gone her whole life without having to worry about her sugar levels, so becoming a diabetic was a very big change. 

After her diabetes diagnosis, she was also diagnosed with celiac disease. This condition requires Bauer to avoid gluten, adding to the challenge of having to monitor her sugar intake while also being cautious about gluten-containing foods.

To monitor her blood sugar she uses a GCM (glucose continuous monitor). Olivia cannot travel more than 20 feet, due to her phone connecting with the device. If she were to walk away, Bauer could hear the peep her phone sets off when her blood sugar is low. Which could lead to her becoming very shaky or not being able to stand on her own.

Bauer used to participate in taekwondo but due to having her blood sugar fluctuate so much she had to quit. 

Bauer said, “It was hard for me to continue having that interest in the martial arts when I was always worried about what my sugars were.”

Nathan Ryan, a freshman at Prairieview, is a student-athlete as well. Ryan plays lacrosse, and baseball and wrestles for Northwest. 

When it comes to Ryan doing sports his diabetes affects his ability to cut weight in wrestling. If he were to cut weight, it could affect his blood sugar. He has to eat to keep his sugars normal and then if he were to have a low blood sugar while playing any sport Ryan would need to be taken out. 

Ryan wears a Dexcom as well. A Dexcom is a device that reads your glucose levels and sends it to your smartphone, smart device, or receiver as frequently as every five minutes. This is needed to make sure sugar levels don’t drop too low or too high and so the wearer is aware of what their body could need. 

Ryan conveyed, “One thing I wish people knew is that just because someone has diabetes doesn’t mean you’re ‘fat’ or have bad health.”

For Diabetes Awareness Month this November, think of someone who has diabetes, think of these four students and appreciate how well they manage not only being students but also being athletes, clubs and managing another disease. All while they manage diabetes.