As A Diabetic Teen, Valenti Faces A Number Of Challenges

The Horizon organic chocolate milk was just what the doctor ordered.

Though not the normal celebration drink, Kristina Valenti had just qualified for the North Sectional swim meet in the 50 free and as the North Reading High School sophomore pulled herself out of the pool she knew what she wanted. Or that is, needed.

To a high school swimmer, numbers never lie. But it might surprise you that her 26.69 time wasn’t the biggest reason to cheer. Rather it was 100, a number that appeared on her mother Sandy’s phone as her daughter approached. Kristina is a type 1 diabetic, a disease that arrived unexpectedly when she was 13 years old. In the roller-coaster world of blood sugar balance, the 100 was arguably the most impressive number of the night. The chocolate milk, with a perfect mix of carbs and protein, helped.

But Kristina was a long way from 100 a little more than two years ago.

A shock at 13

When you have an older brother (Scott) and an older sister (Julia), you spend a lot of time in the back seat of cars being dragged along to college visits. On one of those trips Kristina was constantly thirsty and constantly in need of a bathroom. Something was off. But a teen making a fuss in the back seat of a long car ride doesn’t scream out diabetes.

The issues didn’t go away and in October of 2016 they led mom and daughter to Lynnfield Pediatrics. The pair arrived just before closing with a request bordering on demand. Kristina needed to see a doctor.

“I had a blood test and I remember everyone in the whole office came into this one tiny room,” said Valenti. “They said, ‘Kristina you have type 1 diabetes. You need to go to the hospital right now.’ I was like, ‘what just happened.’ My life just completely changed.”

Her blood sugar at the time was 528. If you don’t have diabetes, you’re forgiven if the number doesn’t shock you. But as you read this your blood sugar is probably in the normal adult range of 70-100. You’re healthy. Kristina was a long way from that.

“I didn’t really know what it was. I really had no idea,” said Valenti. “I instantly just thought of those commercials that you see on TV when it’s ‘when you have type 1 or type 2 diabetes you can take this pill.’ I didn’t really understand what it was and what I was going to have to take on.

“I was really shocked and I just remember looking over to my mom on the chair and she was just like bug-eyed and her jaw on the floor, really surprised. It was not expected at all.”

She was sent to Children’s Hospital in Boston where another surprise awaited her.

“Our Family friend, who I used to swim with his kids, he was the head doctor on the emergency room floor,” said Valenti of Dr. Richard Bachur, whose son Ryan swam at NRHS. “He was like, ‘I saw your name and I requested to have you guys.’ He came in and it was a friendly face to see.”

She was moved to the intensive care unit, then a regular room as doctors brought her blood sugar levels down and began the work of educating Kristina and her parents about insulin and managing the disease.

Sharing her news

Imagine you’re a teenage girl who just learned she’s a type 1 diabetic. It’s not exactly the first choice when it comes to lunch room conversation. But now a 15-year-old sophomore, things have changed, and not surprisingly for a teen, social media had something to do with it.

“I wouldn’t say I was open about it but I was not that quiet about it either. Everybody was texting me and snap-chatting me and dm'ing me, asking why are you in the hospital, why have you been out for a week. Where are you, what have you been doing, are you sick? I would either say I got diagnosed with diabetes and I’m in the hospital. Or I’d be like, ya I’m sick but I’m getting better.”

She’s also getting better at talking about the disease, something that helps her as much as her friends.

“It’s a good experience for myself as well as other people. I’m trying to push myself to be more open about it, to help other people and get the word out. To have people know what it is so people don’t come up to you and say, what is that on your arm,” said Valenti, referring to a continuous glucose monitor she wears 24/7 that relays her blood sugar level to her phone and her mother's. “I think it’s kind of easier for the person who has it if other people know about it so they don’t have to ask a million questions.”

Pursuit of magic number

That 100 Valenti and her mother saw after swimming the 50 free in a recent meet against Ipswich is what she calls the sweet spot. Jump in the pool at 100 … give or take … and she swims her best. That best has made her one of the top swimmers in the Cape Ann League and allowed her to qualify for the sectionals in the 50 and 100 free as well as all three relays. But stray too far from 100 and things can change. The challenge, as any diabetic knows, is getting that number in just the right place.

Three weeks ago at a meet she swam the 200 free with an extremely low blood sugar level.

“I was 45 and I had to decide if I wanted to swim a 200 free or not,” said Valenti. “I went coach, I’m 45 and I don’t know what to do and he was like, this is up to you and your mom to decide. I asked mom and she said, ‘how do you feel. You make this decision.’ I said, I’ll do it and if I pass out someone be ready with my glucagon.”

She chugged a Gatorade and headed to the starting block.

“That again was me trying to get into the sweet spot, like 110, 120 before my race. That was crazy. I finished my 200 and I thought, I’m going to pass out, I’m going to pass out. I was sitting on the edge of the pool shaking … It just happened in the blink of an eye.”

Sandy had given team captain Molly Feffer a juice box and following the race Feffer gave it to Kristina while she was still in the water. Two years into being a diabetic, Kristina, who also plays volleyball and lacrosse, is still learning how to manage the disease, especially when it comes to being an athlete.

“I’m struggling with the fact that I have to get my blood sugar in this perfect spot before I swim, and it’s hard to get it exactly where you want it to be because you have to think about the food you’re eating the night before, you have to think about the food you’re eating for breakfast, lunch, dinner, then what you’re going into at the meet. If I’m too high I’ll swim so slow and lethargic. If I’m low I’ll be all jittery and I’ll feel sick so I won’t swim as well either. So I have to be in that sweet spot in order to swim.”

Some things never change

In some ways, diabetes hasn't changed Valenti all that much.

“I love margherita pizza with basil and pesto," she said. "I know that I can eat anything I want as long as I take insulin for it. That’s what they taught me while I was at the hospital. I’ve always had a sweet tooth. Always.”

How about ice cream?

“Oh yes, love it.”

Like her siblings, Valenti is an excellent student, but as a freshman a question on a biology test stumped her.

“There was only one question on the mid-term on diabetes and pancreases … and I’m pretty sure I got it wrong. It was an open response and I was going off about Humalog and insulin and she said, ‘you didn’t answer the question completely.’ I was like, oh, awkward.”

There's nothing awkward about Valenti in the pool and on Super Sunday she'll be at Salem State competing in the Cape League championship. A win would be reason to celebrate for the Hornets, a reason to break out the chocolate milk one more time.

Photo by Bob Holmes