# 7 year old and football



## Lion2012 (Aug 23, 2019)

Hi everyone 
My 7 year old soldier was diagnosed with Cystic fibrosis at only 3 weeks. 
He has since been diagnosed with possible type 1 diabetes too. 
I have had my teary moments and now it's time to smash this too.
My son plays Alot of football and this football has kept him well for a long time. He plays academy level and never let's anything hold him back. 
It is only day three into the diagnosis and the little boy is self injecting and doing very well. 
My question is.... I have been assured that he can return to football as soon as we are confident enough with his insulin etc... He has 4 x 10 to 15 min matches and training tends to only be an hour and a half at a time. 
How would I manage this please... What would be the best more fluent and beneficial for him way?.... 
For eg on a warm day he will sip lucozade sport none fizzy as and when he is thirsty as his CF demands he replenishes the salt and electrolytes.... I physically cannot jump on the pitch every time he takes a sip to pin prick his fingers for level checks?... 
Any experiences and advice welcome 
Regards 
Paul


----------



## Thebearcametoo (Aug 23, 2019)

Have you met up with the dietician yet? They should be able to give you good info on how to manage sport and you will find ways deal with it and his CF. Essentially exercise pushes glucose into the cells without insulin to a degree so you may find that the lucazade is just fine and means you don’t need to adjust insulin down nor add more insulin but it will be a bit of trial and error and need some input from your DSN or dietician. The meter can be programmed with an exercise setting so if you find you need to give him less insulin before exercise. With his combined diagnosis and his level of exercise he may well qualify for a Libre on the NHS too which would help you to be able to see the effect of sport on his blood sugars and give you ways to monitor him without loads of pin pricks. It may take a few weeks to get your head round it all and to get confident about hypo treatment etc but you’ll get there.


----------



## Lion2012 (Aug 23, 2019)

Thank you so much. 
Had a meeting today. It will be trial and error to gage leos actual requirements during activity and sport. 
They suggested half way through checking his blood.. Then acting if he's on a hypo or insulin needed if on a high.... 
To begin with it will be the..... Wait fifteen minutes thing that will be an absolute pain as the football academy simply doesn't stop every session for fifteen minutes 
I appreciate your response thank you again


----------



## Thebearcametoo (Aug 23, 2019)

Sport can do funny things. He may go high for a time after a session or may go low. Only regular testing and record keeping will show a pattern. If you push for a Libre then they may be willing to fund one or you can self fund that or an alternative continuous monitor (although the options aren’t cheap). 

Diabetes entitles you to DLA. You can’t get a claim until 3 months after diagnosis but it’s worth getting the paperwork in before that so they can make a decision. Your DSN will be able to do a letter to go along with your claim and there are good notes on how to fill in a claim for a diabetes child. The money for that may cover a CGM for you if the NHS won’t fund it. 

If he’s doing a lot of sport it will give you more peace of mind to have a CGM long term but it’s certainly possible to manage it without.


----------

