Hi all! My daughter is a competitive dancer and we had out first competition a few weeks ago, I pretty much ran around behind her backstage, around to the side for run throughs and up and down two flights of stairs to the dressing rooms for 8 hours straight.
I don't mind doing it, and we were able to test before each dance before she went on stage to avert lows, but the pace is pretty crazy and she got away from me a couple of times, in a huge performing arts center, away from her supplies and a good half mile away from her dressing room and ' main supply hub'.
I was thinking of getting some kind of tiny backpack for her to pack her omnipod bag, glucose tab's couple of carb fruits for snacks, extend bars, it will have to be small and she will have to be able to dance with the thing on her back, otherwise she will lose it...
how is everyone else handling competitive sports? we are really struggling without any cgm right now. Below 80 she's off balance, and over 200 she FORGETS HER DANCES. Like just stands there like a deer in headlights... Big problem... It's so hard for me to see such a beautiful dancer who was at the top of her group fall to the bottom of her class in 9 months... we are switching endo's due to not getting at least some consideration for a cgm device and hopefully we will be able to look more into it soon.
I know this is what you are already trying to do - but I would just emphasize the importance of the CGM for my son. We used to try to make sure he was over 200 to start a basketball game, which would keep him (usually) from going low - but he just never plays well that high. Now with the CGM he's more comfortable starting a game between 130 and 150 and just drinking gatorade every chance he gets. The biggest help isn't the real time of the CGM though, but the fact that we are able to see what is happening and make adjustments to his regimen. We realized that lowering his basal an hour before wasn't good enough. It takes a good hour and a half for him to see a change from a lowered basal, so now we try to lower it an hour and a half before the game/practice. We also found that if he starts over 200 he often won't come down, but needs a tiny bit of insulin correction. We can see exactly what's happening so the next time we adjust. By the end of this year's basketball season he was playing so well and we were so confident we could send him to games without us! And I'd attribute 90% of that to the CGM. There are a couple of good JDRF studies that talk about the benefits of the CGM in kids. I would bring whatever you can find to your current or new endo to prove the point!
Hey Natalie! My T1 eleven year old daughter, Chamberlyn, is a competitive dancer also! I ran around behind her this past weekend at a competition, as well. We are still doing MDI, she didn't want to go with the Omnipod just yet - she didn't like how it felt under her leo. We do a lot of Gatorade, and this weekend we even waited until all her group numbers had performed before doing lunch because I feared her having a low. Her dance directors are very keen as to when she's low because, unlike yours, she starts to forget her dances when she's too low, and does really well when she's super high - but ends up with a headache afterwards. They send her to test the second she starts to forget and she'll drink a juice box. The bag we carry is from Skidaddle online - they are quite expensive but so worth it. She carries it with her everywhere and her dance teachers hold a smaller version on the side stage when they're waiting to go on. We have also considered the CGM, too. Especially on crazy dance competition weekends!
My son never did get his CGM for hockey. We tested one and really liked it but the receiver had to be within 3 feet of the sensor so he had to wear it in a velcroed pocket in shorts under his hockey pants on the ice. We collected data after the fact but it wasnt too easy to tell what was going on during the game without undressing. We were on the waiting list to get a Navigator CGM which had a 50 foot range - that would have been perfect because he could have skated without the receiver. I could have held it and signalled him when he was high or low. The company pulled out of the US Market after the FDA pulled their approval after a sale or merger.
So, he tested an hour before the game and started to adjust to game time #s. He tested again right before taking the ice for warmups. He took Gatorade on the bench just in case of a low but normally did not test because hockey gloves are a breeding ground for bacteria. If he plays hockey in college, they will have 2 breaks between periods so he can wash his hands and test/adjust.
It is hard because some of his best games have been when he has obviously been in that "sweet spot" - not too high and not too low - and just enough shifts to keep him there. But, because of problems in games when he was too high or too low, coaches never know if they can count on him. So sad.
oh, wow, there are two of us then! I can send some pics of kennedy's pod if you like. she has been pleased with the pod, they dance in little booty shorts and tiny tops, and she uses her backside quite a bit. sometimes belly but she prefers bottom, sides, and the "haunch" ( which she doesn't really have) will check out the skidaddle too. we will not be at nationals this year but next. she does star systems, adrenaline, and a couple others, nashville, st louis... you would think the pod would come off the way they roll around on the ground, but it really doesn't. sometimes she'll wrap it with coban on her waist, bright colors...
yep, same thing, hard for her dance teacher to " depend" on her... that earlier post from Natasha really speaks for the cgm doesn't it? let me know how it goes! best, natalie
My son used a half sized Jansport backpack for years. Our rule is it goes where he goes. So when he is on the pool deck for a meet the bag stays on the deck and he grabs it after his race and takes it with him. I would think your daughter would be able to do that. Also, we have started using Gatorade during swim practice to keep his numbers even. By doing that, we don’t have to have him over 200 before practice (which we always did because he drops a lot during a 90 minute practice). Now he can go in at 120-150 and nurse a Gatorade throughout and it keeps him nice and even.
