March 5,2010

Living with juvenile diabetes no easy task

By SUSAN DUNCAN
Daily News City Editor

When Blazers hockey player Jordan DePape was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes at age 12, his first thought was that his dream to be drafted to the WHL was over.

“What team would want me?”

Then he got a letter from legendary NHL player Bobby Clarke who also lives with juvenile diabetes.

DePape told a JDRF 2010 corporate breakfast Thursday the former Philadelphia Flyer said that after the initial shock and feeling sorry for himself, he made up his mind that “he could lead a normal life and I could too.”

The breakfast gathering was a call to companies and employees to sign up for the TELUS Walk for Cure on June 13. The money raised goes toward the research badly needed to find a cure in aid of the 300,000 children and adults in Canada who suffer from the life-threatening illness.

DePape and his family learned everything they could about living with Type 1 diabetes. He began taking insulin and within a year he returned to the hockey rink.

The Brandon Wheat Kings drafted him at age 15. The five foot-11, 190-pound teenager was traded to the Blazers in December where he plays centre.

He said he realized to be successful he had to listen to his parents and health professionals and carefully monitor his blood-sugar levels. He eats properly and exercises to maintain his blood sugars at a constant level.

“Ultimately, the only person who can look after the diabetes is me. My job is to stay as healthy as I can until they find a cure.”

But that’s not an easy task for people with diabetes and particularly those involved in strenuous sports. It requires constant monitoring and many needles pokes for testing and insulin.

DePape said he is excited to be getting an insulin pump this summer, which replaces multiple daily injections of insulin.

Before they are diagnosed, people in the early stages of Type 1 diabetes are exhausted, extremely thirsty and hungry, lose weight, urinate often, and can experience blurred vision, nausea and confusion.

Left unattended, these symptoms can lead to a coma as the pancreas becomes less capable of producing the glucose necessary for a person to function. Without treatment, Type 1 diabetes is fatal.

The audience at the breakfast heard from two teenagers who also live with juvenile diabetes and from Nick DeCicco, 51, who has endured major medical complications in the 30 years since he was diagnosed.

He introduced his sister, Mary Sherbo, who donated a kidney to him 13 years ago, which has allowed him to lead a normal life.

People may get pledge sheets for the June walk at www.jdrf.ca or email Kamloops@jdrf.ca or call local fundraising co-ordinator Shianne Carswell at 250-374-0599.

The walk takes place at McDonald Park. Pledge drop-off starts at 9 a.m. with the walk at 11 a.m.