Insulin Pump: Anyone have advice?

[volleyballer4life]

Hello everyone,

Very interesting situation and I figured I'd take a shot and see if anyone here has experience with it: One of the juniors from my club has Diabetes and needs an insulin pump when she plays volleyball. Typically it clips to her spandex, and for hard court we haven't run into any issues with it. However, her mom said that while she is interested in participating in the sand, she is concerned with the device getting dirty/broken. All my years of playing/coaching, I've never ran into this situation - does anyone know of anyone that's dealt with this? Any advice on how she would be able to play/protect it? Any feedback would be appreciated - thanks!

[volleyrunner]

My son has Type 1 diabetes and is on an insulin pump. He is younger than your player, but we live in Florida and are at the beach all the time. I have played beach volleyball for years and am aware of the possible issues.

There are a few options. One option is to play in board shorts which have a heavy duty Velcro pocket and put the pump in the pocket. Not sure if she would be comfortable playing in board shorts, but that would be my first pick because it is so secure. Second option would be something like a spibelt to put the pump in when she plays. It is a very slim pouch that holds the pump (like a much smaller, sleeker version of a fanny pack). My son actually uses one as his regular means of carrying his pump in lieu of the clip. I'm not sure of the length and intensity of her matches, but a third option would be to detach while she's playing, but they would need to talk to their endocrinologist about covering her insulin needs while she's detached from the pump. Some kids detach for sports like football where there is significant risk of damage.

Depending upon where her site is located, I would have the site covered when playing. She may want to wear a tank top if it is a stomach site.

If the mother is interested in getting practical advice from other parents about this issue, I would recommend www.childrenwithdiabetes.com, as there are forums with parents who are a wealth of information on these sorts of odd topics that kids with diabetes need to deal with.