High School And Type 1 Diabetes - Two Matric’s Share Their Experience

Being a teenager means you have to deal with a whole new set of challenges - emotional as well as social. Adding Type 1 Diabetes to these challenges is often compared to pouring oil on a fire. But this does not have to be the case.

Chris Jasper Jooste and Graeme McCreath will be starting their first years at University in a few weeks’ time.  Chris Jasper was diagnosed with type 1 diabe-tes when he was 7 years old and Graeme, in grade 11.  Reflecting on their high school years, both have valuable advice for teenagers in high school.

Both were fortunate to receive a lot of support from family, teachers and friends. As Chris Jasper said: “One does not have to talk about your condition the whole time, but you cannot hide this from others. If someone asks us about our diabetes we gladly share our experience and knowledge. This is probably the best way to address misconceptions about the condition and to prevent or limit any possible discrimination. “

Over the years, their friendship was molded by their love for field hockey and cricket.  Graeme accomplished one of his biggest dreams - after his diagnosis:  he became the cricket captain of the school’s first team!  This confirmed his be-lieve that diabetes was not going to prevent him from achieving his dreams. Both believe that sport helped them to be more disciplined and made them mentally much stronger. These qualities helped Chris Jasper from a very early age and empowered Graeme when he was faced with his diagnosis.  According to Chris Jasper, “one has to be mentally strong to manage diabetes on a daily basis, unlike a hockey or cricket match, this challenge is daily.”

Sleeping away from home for school trips or a break away with friends, was an initial concern for both of them.    Proper planning helped both to ensure that they would be fine - ensuring that you have enough consumables, insulin, glu-cose and test strips are important steps to take. An added measure of comfort is that both Graeme and Chris Jasper are using the Minimed 640G with sensor technology.  Having access to SmartGuard on their insulin pumps is a great help as it alerts them, should action be required. This also offered peace of mind to their families.  

They are also very aware of the potential risk of diabetes burnout and share some advice:

• Take ownership of your diabetes management and accept type 1 diabetes as part of your life. 
• Make time to manage your condition.
• You will face challenges, solve it and move on. 
• Try not to over-analyze every glucose reading.  
• Accept things will not always go your way - Graeme mentioned that there are days where I’m confronted by unpredictable glucose readings.  “I cannot allow these moments to define me.  What helps is my ability not to give up.” 
• Accept support from loved ones.
• Don’t let anyone tell you, you cannot do something. 

It is clear that a positive approach to live and diabetes management will lead to a balanced, healthy and happy life.  We wish Chris Jasper Jooste and Graeme McCreath all the best at University and look forward to sharing your future ex-periences.

Posted by Ronel Hentschel