For those of you that see my page on Tudiabetes, you probably know by now I am a huge Philadelphia Eagles fan.  You’re probably wondering what this has to do with my diabetes, but just follow along, it does.  Training camp is starting back up and it is held in
Bethlehem, PA, right around the corner from where I lived for the first 21 of my 23 years.  This is the first year I will not be able to attend training camp .   I will be checking up on live updates from camp, probably as often as I test my sugars, if not even more.  Now this is where my diabetes comes into play.  If any of you know any other Philly fans, you will know, we are the craziest, best, loving, loyal fans of any sport.  My heart rate and sugars tend to rise and lower on every play, depending on the outcome. 

Before games I will test my sugar, and it’s usually a little low, I get low when I am anxious.  I test again at half-time, and this result all depends on how the game is going.  If we are losing, I am pissed and stressed and it is high, but if we are winning it usually tends to be normal.  Same at the end of the game, but there can be significant highs at the end. Usually during pre-game I will eat and then snack throughout the game.  This snacking is bad because I don’t count how much insulin I should be taking and just take a manual bolus by guessing.  Let me give you a great example. 

Last year’s NFC Divisional Play-off game against the New Orleans Saints, my sugars were all over the place.  It was an up and down game, we’re winning, we’re losing, we’re winning again.  Final drive, we need a touchdown.  I feel my heart racing, I’m sweating, and I’m now standing and pacing around.  Now I’m bending over because my stomach feels like I’m going to get sick waiting for the next play.  Now let me stop right here because I know what some of you are thinking, “Is this kid crazy, it’s just a game.”  Like I said about Philly fans earlier, it’s not just a game, its part of our life and affects our daily lives.  Believe me; ask my girlfriend, I am blessed to have an amazing girlfriend who understands my passion for my team. Anyway, back to the game, we had unfortunately lost the game and I tested my sugar, 450.  WOW!!!!  Not only did we just lose the game, but my sugar is way too high.  I took the corrections, and it lowered back down to around 200-225, but would not go under 200 until the next day, due to my high level of stress. 

So the point of this story is, football season has just begun for me once again today.  I need to test more often throughout the game so I can figure out how much my stress is affecting my sugar, or is it just my snacking that is doing the damage.  And for those of you who are reading this and are Eagle’s fans I’ll leave you with a little song of happiness: “Fly Eagles fly, on the road to victory…….E-A-G-L-E-S”