Type 1 Diabetes in Sports

By: Josh Joy April 16, 2020

Growing up with diabetes is tough, especially when you are a teenage athlete

trying to compete at the next level. Logan Drouin developed diabetes at age 14,

while he was just beginning high school. High school is a critical time in life when a

young boy matures into a young man. Logan’s story is one that demonstrates how

facing adversity can help someone to make decisions that are tough but, in the end,

make a person stronger and teach those hard to learn life lessons.

When Logan was first diagnosed his immediate reaction was shock.

“That it couldn’t be true, “he said of learning his diagnosis.” I always thought being

a diabetic meant that you were overweight or ate too much sugar, so I just

automatically thought that they had it wrong.”

This is the exact thought everyone has about diabetes - you develop this

disease by being overweight. But for Drouin this was not the case.

More than 34 million Americans have diabetes, but only around 5 to 10

percent have Type 1. Type 1 diabetes, once known insulin-dependent diabetes, is a

chronic condition in which the pancreas produces little to no insulin. Insulin is a

hormone needed to allow sugar (glucose) to enter cells to produce energy. Logan

was an outgoing, athletic teenager, and a three-sport athlete in high school, playing

football, baseball and basketball.

“For about 6 months before being diagnosed I slowly started to get very sick,

"he said” It started out with symptoms of excessive thirst, frequent urination,

constant fatigue, and vision problems. As more time passed, I began to have chest

pains, trouble with balance, morning sickness, and fainting. It was one day where I
couldn’t see, stand, speak, or even breathe that my mom decided to take me to the

hospital.”

Being diagnosed with diabetes changes everything in your life, from your diet

to your mental awareness. “I didn’t handle it the best, “he said” I always had the

mindset of an arrogant 14-year-old, and when something you had no knowledge of

almost takes your life away it’s a lot to process, and definitely difficult.”

Logan's first athletic experience since he was diagnosed was anything other

than ideal.

He found out in October of his freshman year, basketball gave him his first athletic

experience since being diagnosed. “The first thing I remember was that my vision

would go completely blurry every 15-20 minutes while I was playing, “he said” I had

three games scheduled for one day and my mom noticed my fatigue and wouldn’t’t

let me play in the third game.”

The biggest obstacle he was faced with throughout his high school career

was learning a new diet that would keep him energized through the entire day. “I

had such severe changes in my energy levels that I needed to maximize the food I

ate, “he said” being a teenager, whenever I would hang out with my friends their

parents would order pizza and soda, foods along those lines. Not eating those things

often was actually tough.”

Making the transition to college is very difficult, for many kids this is the first

time you are away from your parents for an extended period of time. You must

adapt to a whole new way of life. Your meals are completely dependent on you now

and not your parents. This is a significant issue for a diabetic person because the

only way they obtain energy is by eating and if you don't have your parents to tell

you when to eat it can get tough.

 “My physical health started to go a bit wrong when I got to Franklin Pierce,

“he said” my whole routine changed from day to day living. I was eating much more

food, having a meal plan. On weekends I went out and alcohol definitely didn’t help

a lot of things, especially with the extent of drinking I was doing.”

On top of this playing sports at the Division II level is very demanding and the

competition is through the roof. As a freshman you come into a whole new

environment with none of your friends or family around, it gets tough.

“ Pitching started to get hard, but my routine for baseball from high school

transferred to college ball pretty easily, “he said” the only thing that made it harder

was that the competition was much harder and demanded more effort rather than

just coasting, which often times was the case in high school.”

Logan said the biggest change that he had to deal with was his daily routine.

Going from, same thing every day with help from your family and people around

you, to having a completely different schedule every day, doing everything on your

own. “It’s difficult for any college student to adapt to their new routine, but for a

diabetic who thrives on consistency it was really difficult, “he said” I made the poor

decision to focus on my academics and athletics before my health and that led to

problems.”

College students experience a lot of stress to begin with, being away from

home, change in routines, eating, living environments, navigating college classes

and interpersonal relationships. Combining all of that with diabetes can really wreak

havoc on someone. Not only does diabetes affect someone physically, it affects

them emotionally as well, probably more for a young athletic man like Logan.

After one semester at Franklin Pierce, Logan decided to transfer to University

of Southern Maine to continue his academic and athletic career and commute from
home. During his sophomore year, he decided to end his baseball career and focus

on his health and academics. “I had a nagging shoulder injury that needed to be

dealt with, but as I said the mental battle I was dealing with, was only getting

worse. Both things needed effort to be properly dealt with and my mental state got

to the point where it took all of my effort. I decided that I needed to step away from

baseball to focus on my health, both mentally and physically. Ultimately I think it

was the decision I needed to make and don’t regret it.”