Football practice?

I am a pump user and have a friend whose son is getting a pump soon. He is also a football player. Is there anyone who has/knows a pump using football player? Any advice regarding practice and pumps would be greatly appreciated!

i thought immediately of sheri colbergs book "diabetic athletes handbook. i dont know how old your friends son is but the book has examples of what some diabetics do with regards to insulin and food, their timings, things that work though ydmv.

there is also a web site in the appendix,www.childrenwithdiabetes.com that might be helpful.

you could look at the forums on tuD as well that are for athletes and pumps.

good luck to the new pumper!

I played 2 years of football in college before retiring for health reasons. The first year I was on shots, second year a pump, and was very fortunate to have an amazing training staff that was always there for me in college, and even a small one in high school. In college I was required to check my BG before, during, and after practice and I wasn't allowed to start practice if I was over 250. I wore my infusion set on my hip and never had a problem with it being ripped off or getting hit. However, this would be an issue for game days - more on that later. I would disconnect before practice and I was always fine coming out of it but found that if I gave myself a small bolus (1 unit) halfway through practice I would end up having a great BG at the end of practice. Keep in mind practices were not easy, often long, ended in sprints, and we also had workouts before them on certain days. During breaks I would typically drink powerade and even with just my small bolus I would end up great.

Game days were very different. First, adrenaline will be pumping, which means a spike in the BG so extra insulin may be needed. College game days can be very different from your lower level games. On an average day meetings, warm ups, and just getting to the stadium took a couple of hours. Before all this I had to have my silver britches (game pants) on and once they were on it was impossible to get to my infusion site because they were so tight. And if it was a televised game, which we had a lot of, that is an extra hour or two. Add overtime, post game interviews, meetings, and getting back to the locker rooms to finally change. Needless to say these could be long days and I could be disconnected for several hours so I actually went back on Lantus for game days.

The most important thing for all of this though was practice. Not the actual football practice, but learning from each opportunity - what went right and what went wrong. As we all know, not every day is the same for people with diabetes, let alone each practice, but keeping a log and 'practicing' made it a lot easier and I definitely performed better when I was in range.

Finally, one of the things that made not only college easy for my diabetes, but my entire childhood was a regimented schedule with both school and sports. In high school, before being on the pump, I knew I would go low every thursday during the second period of the day. Likewise, in college, I knew I would go high on Sundays if I didn't change my basal because that would be my day of rest (I had one basal for weekdays and one for Sundays). Hopefully this helps.

Kudos to you.

I was a sprinter in college as a T1 and had many of the same issues. I never had 300 pounders trying to crush me into the turf though, so I definitely had it a lot easier.

I don't play football but I am an avid skier and ski racer in college. I also run into the problem of a skin tight uniform in my ski speed suit.I clip my pump to my pants in training. For races I clip my pump to my sports bra. I personally get super adrenaline charged on race days so I end up testing a ton. My teammates have been super helpful by carrying glucose and understanding when I'm high or low. I hope this helps!

Hi Sandy,

I wonder how old the kid is? And what pump will be he be using?? There are a lot of options:

1. God's experience is the most considerate response!
2. Disconnect during practice and games
3. Ask the pump mfg if there is a protection product to use for contact sports and such
4. My pump comes with a holster that can be worn on the hip and is made of hard plastic but I don't think it would protect the pump from a helmet hit tackle

I wouldn't recommend wearing during practice for two reasons - the obvious one is damage to the pump itself. The less obvious is that if it is hit, it won't feel good to him. If he decided to wear it during, with regards to the warranty, the manufacturer should cover it, but if it does break I would recommend just saying that it was dropped. Usually they have a stipulation that is basically if it is used outside the basic norms (i.e. hitting it with a baseball bat off a tee) or definitely if it is basically some absurd act of nature - a tree falls on it. However, I don't think any companies are really going to really question it.

right. But some pump makers have a protector case. I actually have one called a Sport Guard and it is indestructible. They don't make them anymore...but they should. I know there are water packs and can't help but wonder why there are no contact sport protectors. I can't help but laugh because a tree limb DID fall down right in front of me a couple of weeks ago on my walk. One more step and it would have taken me and my pump down! LOL

He is 9 and is getting the newest version of the minimed pump. I will tell his mom to ask when she is at the training with him to make sure and ask about football.

AweSOME! I am hoping the pump company has an option. If not, my Hubs said that if he wears his pump at practice or in a game it is safest on the back. And please tell his mom Thank You for not keeping her son from playing football.

Check out The video on John Chick’s website. He’s a professional football player in the Canadian football league. Very inspirational story: http://www.johnchick97.com/diabetes-management.html