Standout takes diabetes in stride

High-profile basketball player keeps low profile on illness

Posted: Friday, January 27, 2006

Amarillo High senior post Morgan Robertson eats a ham and cheese sandwich two hours before every game she plays.

No, Robertson isn't a superstitious athlete.

This Division I signee with LaSalle is a type 1 diabetic.

"I don't really talk about being a diabetic at all,'' Robertson said. "I don't even tell my teachers. They do get an e-mail about it. But I don't want to be treated different, or shown special attention.''

Look at Robertson's daily routine of coping with type 1 diabetes over the past six years, and it's easy to see the six-foot post is special just by having the courage to stretch beyond the norm and play the game of basketball she loves.

"This would be a distraction for a lot of kids, and it is anything but a distraction with Morgan,'' said AHS girls basketball coach Jeff Williams. "Morgan doesn't make a big deal out of it all. If you didn't know her, you would never have any idea she checks her blood sugar during a game.

"I have never heard her complain once. She doesn't sit around and feel sorry for herself.''

Will I die?

In the sixth grade, Morgan and her mom (Lita) and dad (Bill) went on a trip to San Antonio. While all kids need rest room breaks during an eight-hour drive, Morgan requested a stop every hour and was thirsty all day.

"I had to stop and use the restroom and drink Gatorade all the time,'' Morgan said. "My parents were like, 'What's wrong with you?' "

That night, Morgan was placed in a San Antonio hospital where her condition was diagnosed as juvenile type 1 diabetes, which is insulin dependent. This form of diabetes is genetic, unlike type 2 which often results from things such as weight problems and diet.

In Robertson's case her pancreas doesn't create insulin. Without this insulin, a body can not properly break down food products, causing blood sugar to dangerously hit extreme highs and lows like a roller-coaster.

"My blood sugar count that day was 512,'' Morgan said. "A good number is anywhere between 90 and 120."

Even though neither of Morgan's parents are diabetics, she does have a grandmother and cousin who have dealt with the problem.

"I was born with the gene,'' Morgan said. "Doctors call it "kicking off," that's why it started in the sixth grade.

"At first, I thought, 'What is this? Am I going to die?' It was hard at first. But my parents started to talk to me and never let me get down. They could have said, 'Well, you are a diabetic, you don't have to do that.' They have never let me use it as a crutch.''

Morgan makes it all sound so easy.

But how many sixth graders in this world learn to give themselves a shot of insulin three times a day in the arms, legs, or stomach?

"Lucky, I'm not afraid of shots,'' Morgan said. "I did that for six months.''

At nearly the same time Robertson was diagnosed as a diabetic, she had found a passion to play basketball.

Before the trip to San Antonio, she knew something was wrong at her basketball practices.

"I started playing basketball at that time,'' Robertson said. "My coach would get mad because I would lose focus. And my grades started to drop. When your blood sugar is high you can't see straight. I would lose my patience.''

After six months, the shots were replaced by an insulin pump.

The pump acts as her pancreas, automatically releasing insulin every 10 minutes into her body. A plastic catheter with an intimidating long needle hooked to a tube has been placed in Robertson's stomach.

She replaces the needle every three days. Morgan has worn am insulin pump for 5 years, always on her right side.

"It's weird, but when I don't have the pump on my side I feel like something is missing,'' Morgan said. "The pump goes with me everywhere. I'm used to it.''

Except, that is, on the playing court.

A sandwich, Gatorade, and a drop of blood

What's crazy about being a type 1 diabetic is that keeping the blood sugar level at a safe level becomes more of chore when exercising.

That's why Morgan eats that ham and cheese sandwich two hours before a game, beginning a necessary routine that starts two hours before the game and continues throughout the game.

"I try to keep my blood sugar between 90 and 120 during the day," Robertson said. "Before a basketball game I want it at 150, so I don't drop low. Exercise blows your blood sugar because you are burning calories."

Basketball, or no basketball, type 1 diabetics must check their blood sugar level every day by pricking a finger with a device about the length of toothbrush that gives a quick reading.

The minimum amount to check is about four times a day.

"I go way above that because I play basketball,'' Robertson said. "On game day it's pretty much unreal how much I check it. I check it two hours before a game and then always eat a ham and cheese sandwich. An hour before the game I check it again, then 30 minutes before the game, and at five minutes while we are shooting free throws.''

Typical of Robertson, while her team is shooting free throws, pretty much anonymously, she quickly goes to the end of the bench to draw a drop of blood.

Although tough to see, the tips of her fingers on both hands have tiny scars, evidence of the more than 15,000 times since sixth grade that Robertson has checked her blood sugar level.

Sometimes, during a game, she has to take a breather because her blood sugar has decided to go roller-coaster on her.

"Low makes you feel weak," Robertson said. "I explain to people that what you feel is your heart hurts to pump. I can feel everything going on in my body. My body aches. That first time it got low it was the weirdest experience.

"I've learned in big games your kidneys produce sugars (help on my adrenaline rushes). My blood sugar would spike. I noticed my sophomore year I would check it an hour before a game and then at game time. It was 250 once. That's why when we are shooting free throws, I check it again, now. Nobody ever notices.

"I take the pump off for games, but I usually put it on at halftime.''.

"Morgan will come over and say, 'Coach, I need out for a second,''' Williams said. "It's a tough situation for her when it fluxuates. You can see it on her face. But she will drink some Gatorade and always gets it regulated. But like I said, I have never have heard her complain once.'''

No, why me

Opposing players have no idea Robertson is type 1. She likes it that way.

"It's not that big a deal, really,'' Robertson said.

All opponents see is the Robertson who is the only AISD girls player to sign early with a Division I school in LaSalle, a player who doesn't mind mixing it up in the paint over a rebound, or dropping in an 15-footer.

Robertson leads the 19-8 Lady Sandies in scoring at 12.1 points per game, and in rebounding at 7.9 an outing.

"We all want to make this a memorable year,'' Robertson said of AHS, which can clinch a playoff berth by beating Tascosa tonight. "I do love to play basketball."

"Morgan is a leader for us,'' Williams said.

Robertson said she doesn't look to the heavens and ask why me.

"But I do ask for a cure someday,'' Robertson said. "Every once in a while I get down a little bit over having this. But I know God gave it to me for a reason."

That reason?

"It's made me stronger. It's taught me how not everything in life is fair. I have learned I won't let anything stop me from what I'm doing.''

And, that includes, eating a ham and cheese sandwich to stay healthy on the basketball court."