Our son was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in 2011 at the age of 10.
We were incredibly worried at the time, and even to this day we do still have concerns in the daily management of his blood sugars.
Type 1 Diabetes has never interfered with our son's ability to play the game of basketball.
This is largely to his credit, as he takes his love of the sport so seriously, that he follows (almost) all of the required things (almost) all of the time.
Testing
Basketball is a very demanding sport, with a lot of running and sugar burn. After training and games, he is sometimes burning through sugar faster than you can imagine.
As his parents, we are committed to his health, and we take turns measuring with him during the night anytime he has a low during the day for any reason. We also do extra tests through the night of any practice or game.
Supplies
For games, we ensure that his bag has the following things:
Diabetes kit, including insulin
Replacement pods
Replacement sensors
Back up lancet and reader in case he needs to go oldschool
3-4 Juice boxes for fast sugar
1 roll of Dex tablets or giant Rockets (smarties in the USA)
2-3 chocolate covered granola bars
Insulin needs to be kept from heat to ensure it's effectiveness, so we keep his gear in a thermal lunch bag. While some people value extra compartments, we prefer everything in one chamber, with an interior mesh pocket to hold the cooling pack.
We got this one from amazon for about $20, and it has served us well.
Easy to clean, and comes with a strap (which we didn't use)
Longer Trips and Border Crossing with Insulin
On trips from Canada to the USA, we pack extra insulin depending on how long we will be away. For road trips to the states, no prescription paperwork has been asked for at the border, but when we traveled by plane to New York, it was required.
Game Prep
Our son uses the Libre Sensor and OmniPods to measure blood sugar and deliver insulin.
First thing we do is to ensure both are taped up to prevent them being ripped off during play. These items cost us out of pocket (yes, even in Canada, not all things are covered) so we try to do our best to keep them intact and connected even during the roughest of games.
We typically test before the games, and will sometimes use a temporary basal dose setting to reduce background insulin deployment when its less needed.
Although he's got it under control, one of us attends every game with him, regardless of where he goes to play, just for our own peace of mind.
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