November 18, 2008

From Jeanna:

Hey John. Sorry to see the season end the way it did. You played really well in the game and Rider Nation knows you gave it your all. It must be tough to end the season on a note like this, but hopefully you can walk away from this and know that you played very well this year. What are your plans for the offseason?

Thank you for your continued support in our loss to the Lions. This was a very tough game for us to lose, as I think any playoff game would have been this year. We had very high expectations for another Grey Cup victory and fell short. Thanks for your appreciacion on how everybody played. I think that is part of why this loss is so disappointing.

I'm still putting together some plans for the offseason. First, I intend on letting my body do some healing, were going to visit some family around the U.S. Thanksgiving and Christmas, and for the most part I plan on being in Regina working and training getting ready for next season. My wife is expecting our third on February 4 so I think were going to be pretty busy.

Thanks

John Chick

From George:

Hey John ... I am a long time CFL fan and have been having a hard time of it for the last 5 years or so because I am, and have always been, a Hamilton supporter. My question has nothing to do with football but diabetes. I have been Type 1 for 40 years this past spring and fortunately, have not had any complications other than severe hypo unawareness. I wear a MiniMed 722 as you do and that is the subject of my question. Where do you actually wear the pump and how do you protect it and the infusion site? You wrote that the pump is pretty rugged but it certainly must take a beating. I have 1 other little tidbit you may be interested in. Because I have such severe lows (still functioning and coherent at 1.1 (20 if you use the other scale)) and I live alone, I am getting a hypoglycemic alerting dog. She has been trained to detect the scent that the body emits when a diabetic has a low coming on. Isn\'t that cool? I have been waiting months for her and I am going to Texas the week of Dec 17 to train with her and then 3weeks later, bring her home. Believe me, she will bring a lot of stress relief with her. Because she is a service dog, she will be with me 24/7, even at work. I hope your next year you will be able to stay away from injuries and have a great year. Unfortunately, for the Riders,the Grey Cup will belong to the Tiger Cats in 2009. Be well and stay healthy. PS ... Today, Nov 14, is World Diabetes Day ... is anything happening in Regina to bring awareness to our killer disease?


I have been wearing an insulin pump while I play football or anything else that matter for about 5 or 6 years. I used to try to wear it in all different places and really tried to protect it as best I could because I had the same fears and thought that it would get hit or broken. Finally, what I found for football to be the easiest and most convienient place to keep my insulin pump is at my waist line. I wear a spandex type of undershort and I just fold the waist strap over the pump. I have never had an issue with it falling out, and haven't had any damage to my pump by it getting hit. I really don't even notice that I'm wearing the pump unless I want to check my glucose levels or make an insulin adjustment. During the football season I put all my infusion sites on my stomach because that is where I have always had the best luck with everything working right.
I don't think that I have ever heard of dog's doing that for diabetics. That is awesome! You will have to write back to let me know how that is going and how much she helps out.

Thanks for your wishes in having a good year and staying healthy. I hope the same goes for you and that this dog will help you out. Also, thank you for being a fan of the CFL though I wish you were cheering for the green and white.

John Chick

From Kelly:

John, I am a mother of a wonderful 13 year old diabetic daughter who also wears an insulin pump. Our question, at this time, is where do you insert the infusion set and where do you attach the actual pump so it does not get damaged with the many tackles you probably receive, especially from our BC Lions :)? Hannah and I look forward to hearing from you. Kelly VanGenne

During the football season I always put the infusion site on my stomach somewhere, but during the rest of the year and during other type of workouts I'll wear it on my upper glutes and mid thighs. The insulin pump itself has never been damaged from football and I always wear it on my waist line folded over by my spandex undershorts. On the very rare occasion my infusion site might get pulled out, but that has been very rare and is something that is easy to replace.

Thanks for visiting and for your questions

John Chick

From Noah:

Hi John, I am 6 years old and I have Type I diabetes too. I think it is cool that you can play football when you have diabetes. You are my favourite Roughrider player. We had season tickets season this year and loved cheering for the Riders. Can you wear your pump and your blood glucose monitor while you play, or do you take it off to play? My brother and I and my mom and dad look forward to cheering for you next season! Noah


Thank you for your appreciation as a player and I hope that you enjoyed cheering for the riders this season even though we didn't win the Grey Cup. I do wear my insulin pump while I play football. I also have the newer version of insulin pump that allows me to continually monitor by blood sugar. It is a medtronics insulin pump version 722. If I'm not wearing the continuous glucose monitor I always have my glucometer on the sideline so I can check it that way also.

Thanks for the questions

John Chick