We’ve heard of it. We’ve seen people with meters and others pricking their fingers. We probably know someone who has it. It strikes at all ages, shapes and sizes.
It’s diabetes. While the disease doesn’t have a cure yet, those who have it can manage it.
The most common types of diabetes are Type 1 and Type 2. Type 2 is the more common. In it, the body either may not make enough insulin or it keeps the insulin it does make from working properly.
Type 1 diabetes occurs because the autoimmune system is overactive and keeps the pancreas from making enough insulin. People with Type 1 diabetes must take insulin every day.
Four people in the Centennial Public School district are examples of people dealing with Type 1 diabetes.
Eight-year-old Tori Johnson is in second grade. She found out she had diabetes when she was 3.
While some people have to be careful with their diets, Tori said she can eat the same things as her friends. However, she has to check her blood sugar numbers every time she eats. If the numbers are too high, she gives herself a dose of insulin with her pump.
“My friends just stare at me,” she said.
Tori said she knows when her blood sugar is off because she gets a headache. Her older sister Terin, a senior at Centennial, said the family notices mood swings in Tori, and that lets them know to check.
“We can tell when it’s low or high,” she said.
Ryan Richters is 14 and in eighth grade. He was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes about a year and a half ago, he said.
For about three months before the diagnosis, he said, he was irritable, exhausted and going to the bathroom a lot. At Easter that year, he was throwing up a lot, too. So his parents took him to Seward Memorial Hospital.
Staff found his blood sugar was 583. Normal is about 80, he said. He went on to Children’s Hospital in Omaha, and they started giving him insulin to bring his blood sugar down.
Ryan has had to learn to read nutrition labels and pay special attention to carbohydrates.
He knows if his blood sugar numbers are low because he gets light-headed and sweaty. He’ll drink juice or eat protein snack with carbs to raise them.
If they’re high, he feels irritable, his stomach hurts and he just doesn’t feel good, he said. If that’s the case, he’s able to give himself a shot in the arm, stomach or thigh.
Ryan said the lowest his sugar has been was 32, which is really low.
“I wanted to pass out, and my vision was weird,” he said.
Ryan said he can eat what he wants, as long as he keeps it healthy. His family eats the same diet he does, he said.
Participating in sports is the most difficult because muscles use more glucose (blood sugar), which means the body needs more sugar.
Ryan said the Dexcom Continuous Glucose Monitor he wears checks his blood sugar every five minutes, and an app shows where his levels are. Coaches help keep track, as well.
“I’m responsible enough to keep track of it by myself,” he said.
Jake Bargen is 16 and a junior at Centennial. He was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in fifth grade. He noticed he was thirsty all the time and lost about 15 pounds. He needed to use the bathroom more often than usual and was lethargic and would fall asleep in his dad’s office after school every day.
After three days at Children’s Hospital in Omaha, Jake learned his blood sugar was very high. Classes at Children’s taught him and his family how to count carbs and take insulin.
“It was quite an adjustment,” he said.
The first day on his own, he forget to take insulin and his sugar number spiked.
He wears a continuous monitor on his stomach that communicates with an app on his phone.
Because he has Type 1 diabetes, Jake said he’s more prone to other autoimmune diseases. He also has celiac disease and eats a gluten-free diet.
As an athlete, Jake also monitors his blood sugar during practice. He said it takes about 15 minutes of exercise before his blood sugar dips. Sometimes he has to eat candy and drink pop on the bench during a game to combat that.
“It’s worse to be high if you’re still active,” he said. “Low is easier to correct.”
Jake said his coaches have been good about checking in on him throughout games, especially Craig Barjenbruch, who is also a Type 1 diabetic. Classrooms have “low boxes” for him, in case he needs to eat, he said.
In elementary school, he said with a grin, his friends “thought it was unfair I got to have snacks.”
Jake was in Jordan Barjenbruch’s class when he was diagnosed, and Craig Barjenbruch said that helped because Jordan knew what to do.
The biggest adjustment for the Bargen family was for his parents, Jake said. They get up throughout the night to check on him.
Barjenbruch, 34, has taught at Centennial for 11 years and was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes seven years ago. He noticed he was very thirsty, needed the restroom more often and had lost about 25 pounds.
“I thought something was up,” he said.
While at Walmart one day, he noticed the signs were blurry and he couldn’t see the clock. His younger brother is a physician’s assistant, so Barjenbruch texted him. His brother recommended seeing a doctor, who found his blood sugar was about 300.
Barjenbruch met with Dr. Tricia Sams at Seward Memorial Hospital and was put on medication. He also took diabetic education classes offered through Memorial Health Care Systems.
As he and his wife started making changes, Barjenbruch said, he took it to an extreme, dialing back on sweets and eating healthier.
“I’m very routine oriented,” he said, “eating the same foods.”
He doesn’t use a monitor, instead relying on finger pricks and giving himself injections when needed.
“It’s been good enough,” he said.
He can feel when his blood sugar drops – he gets dizzy and starts to sweat.
“Jordan (his wife) will tell me if I’m low because I get agitated, irritable and mouthy,” he said with a smile.
When he was first diagnosed, he wasn’t that concerned, he said, adding that it was harder on his wife.
He has his blood checked annually. An A1C test measures the average levels over three months. The goal is 7%, Barjenbruch said, and he’s always around that.
He said having to check ingredients before he eats is annoying, but it helps him know how much of that food to eat.
Carbohydrates are the most important number to check because the body processes them into sugars.
“It’s frustrating because you can do the same thing for five days, and four days you are good and one day you’re not,” Barjenbruch said.
He said most of the first year he spent figuring out carbs.
Type 1 diabetes can be hereditary, he said. No one else in his family has it, though, but Barjenbruch is keeping an eye on his own son.
“I asked the pediatrician about my son. They said there’s maybe a 1% higher risk,” he said. “I’m blessed it didn’t happen to me until later.”
