Ellen
03-14-2006, 01:45 PM
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Caitylyn Schubert, 10, of Berlin puts on her headgear before her match Saturday at a wrestling invitational at Ripon High School, her grandfather Mark Schhttp://www.thenorthwestern.com/images/searches/zoom_photo.gif (http://javascript<b></b>:NewWindow(550,600,'/apps/pbcs.dll/misc?url=/misc/zoom.pbs&Site=U0&Date=20060313&Category=OSH0101&ArtNo=603130344&Ref=AR&Profile=1128');)ubert is seated to her right. Northwestern photo by Laura May.
Posted March 13, 2006
Facing life's challenges
10-year-old Caitlyn Schubert wrestle, cheers with diabetes
By Patricia Wolff
of The Northwestern
BERLIN - At 4 feet, 5 inches and 73 pounds, Caitlyn Schubert is a force to be reckoned with both on and off the wrestling mat.
The 10-year-old daughter of Tara Schubert and Lewis Kalupa of Berlin has juvenile diabetes, but doesn't let that stop her from doing everything she wants to do.
She wrestles, plays soccer and volleyball, and competes on the Pop Warner cheerleading squad. She does all of it while managing her diabetes like a trooper.
Maintaining normal blood sugar reduces the chances for diabetic complications. An insulin pump, which she wears on her waistband, keeps her insulin coming round the clock. She programs the pump to administer insulin based on grams of carbohydrates she consumes.
"She changes her (insulin pump) set and keeps all the records. She can count carbs better than some nurses," Tara Schubert said.
To listen to Caitlyn, it's no big deal. She smiles, shrugs her shoulders and flips one of her yellow braids back when asked if it's a hassle.
"I like the pump better because I don't have to give myself shots anymore," Caitlyn said.
Caitlyn was diagnosed with diabetes in kindergarten after her mother noticed a huge increase in her demands for water. She couldn't seem to get enough water to quench her thirst.
"She was like a drug addict needing a fix," Tara Schubert recalled.
At first Tara Schubert helped her daughter by giving her the injections. After a while Caitlyn decided she could do it herself. Later, under the auspices of the school nurse, Caitlyn became something of a role model at Clay Lamberton School, where she is now a fifth-grader, by demonstrating for fellow diabetic students and other curious children how insulin injections are given.
Caitlyn is matter of fact about the challenges in her life. She knows some of her friends think her pump is "weird," but she doesn't worry about it, she said.
After nearly five years of taking three to six injections of insulin daily to regulate her blood sugar, she started using an insulin pump last fall. Her blood sugar is regulated much better now, Tara Schubert said.
Caitlyn still tests her blood four to six times a day. On wrestling days she keeps her diabetic supplies in a small, stylish pink and silver purse alongside a duffel bag with her wrestling sweats, kneepads and other gear.
The pump, which administers insulin steadily throughout the day and in larger amounts when she eats, attaches to a pocket or belt. The insulin is kept in a reservoir within the pump. A small hose fits into the pump on one end and into a small plastic clamp that is inserted just under her skin on her backside or belly on the other end.
Most of the time she wears the pump on the waistband of her jeans and off she goes. When she wrestles, she removes the pump, hose and clamp and attaches it again when she eats and when she's done with her matches.
As a member of the Berlin Youth Wrestling Club she practices several times a week - sometimes on brothers Taylor, 10, and Jaden, 3, and the family dog, Dakota, she admitted with a giggle. She attends meets all over the state on weekends. She took first at a state meet in Kenosha a couple weeks ago, her mother said proudly.
She practices karate with her brothers. She's an all or nothing kind of girl. Mike Meza is one of her wrestling coaches. He was with her and roughly 40 other young wrestlers from the Berlin club for a tournament in Ripon on Saturday.
Caitlyn prefers wrestling other girls but doesn't mind when her opponent is a boy, especially when she pins him.
"Sometimes they cry," she said with a sly smile.
As match time approached on Saturday, Caitlyn admitted she was a little nervous. She alternated between warming up with teammates and checking in with her grandfather Mark Schubert for a hug and some encouragement.
"A girl in a boy's sport has it harder, but Caitlyn is very intense and that helps her at meets," Meza said.
He has yet to see her diabetes affect her sport in any way.
"She's got a lot of heart. She gives it everything she's got," Meza said.
Patricia Wolff: (920) 361-0770 or pwolff@thenorthwestern.com (pwolff@thenorthwestern.com).
http://cmsimg.thenorthwestern.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=U0&Date=20060313&Category=OSH0101&ArtNo=603130344&Ref=AR&Profile=1128&MaxW=300
Caitylyn Schubert, 10, of Berlin puts on her headgear before her match Saturday at a wrestling invitational at Ripon High School, her grandfather Mark Schhttp://www.thenorthwestern.com/images/searches/zoom_photo.gif (http://javascript<b></b>:NewWindow(550,600,'/apps/pbcs.dll/misc?url=/misc/zoom.pbs&Site=U0&Date=20060313&Category=OSH0101&ArtNo=603130344&Ref=AR&Profile=1128');)ubert is seated to her right. Northwestern photo by Laura May.
Posted March 13, 2006
Facing life's challenges
10-year-old Caitlyn Schubert wrestle, cheers with diabetes
By Patricia Wolff
of The Northwestern
BERLIN - At 4 feet, 5 inches and 73 pounds, Caitlyn Schubert is a force to be reckoned with both on and off the wrestling mat.
The 10-year-old daughter of Tara Schubert and Lewis Kalupa of Berlin has juvenile diabetes, but doesn't let that stop her from doing everything she wants to do.
She wrestles, plays soccer and volleyball, and competes on the Pop Warner cheerleading squad. She does all of it while managing her diabetes like a trooper.
Maintaining normal blood sugar reduces the chances for diabetic complications. An insulin pump, which she wears on her waistband, keeps her insulin coming round the clock. She programs the pump to administer insulin based on grams of carbohydrates she consumes.
"She changes her (insulin pump) set and keeps all the records. She can count carbs better than some nurses," Tara Schubert said.
To listen to Caitlyn, it's no big deal. She smiles, shrugs her shoulders and flips one of her yellow braids back when asked if it's a hassle.
"I like the pump better because I don't have to give myself shots anymore," Caitlyn said.
Caitlyn was diagnosed with diabetes in kindergarten after her mother noticed a huge increase in her demands for water. She couldn't seem to get enough water to quench her thirst.
"She was like a drug addict needing a fix," Tara Schubert recalled.
At first Tara Schubert helped her daughter by giving her the injections. After a while Caitlyn decided she could do it herself. Later, under the auspices of the school nurse, Caitlyn became something of a role model at Clay Lamberton School, where she is now a fifth-grader, by demonstrating for fellow diabetic students and other curious children how insulin injections are given.
Caitlyn is matter of fact about the challenges in her life. She knows some of her friends think her pump is "weird," but she doesn't worry about it, she said.
After nearly five years of taking three to six injections of insulin daily to regulate her blood sugar, she started using an insulin pump last fall. Her blood sugar is regulated much better now, Tara Schubert said.
Caitlyn still tests her blood four to six times a day. On wrestling days she keeps her diabetic supplies in a small, stylish pink and silver purse alongside a duffel bag with her wrestling sweats, kneepads and other gear.
The pump, which administers insulin steadily throughout the day and in larger amounts when she eats, attaches to a pocket or belt. The insulin is kept in a reservoir within the pump. A small hose fits into the pump on one end and into a small plastic clamp that is inserted just under her skin on her backside or belly on the other end.
Most of the time she wears the pump on the waistband of her jeans and off she goes. When she wrestles, she removes the pump, hose and clamp and attaches it again when she eats and when she's done with her matches.
As a member of the Berlin Youth Wrestling Club she practices several times a week - sometimes on brothers Taylor, 10, and Jaden, 3, and the family dog, Dakota, she admitted with a giggle. She attends meets all over the state on weekends. She took first at a state meet in Kenosha a couple weeks ago, her mother said proudly.
She practices karate with her brothers. She's an all or nothing kind of girl. Mike Meza is one of her wrestling coaches. He was with her and roughly 40 other young wrestlers from the Berlin club for a tournament in Ripon on Saturday.
Caitlyn prefers wrestling other girls but doesn't mind when her opponent is a boy, especially when she pins him.
"Sometimes they cry," she said with a sly smile.
As match time approached on Saturday, Caitlyn admitted she was a little nervous. She alternated between warming up with teammates and checking in with her grandfather Mark Schubert for a hug and some encouragement.
"A girl in a boy's sport has it harder, but Caitlyn is very intense and that helps her at meets," Meza said.
He has yet to see her diabetes affect her sport in any way.
"She's got a lot of heart. She gives it everything she's got," Meza said.
Patricia Wolff: (920) 361-0770 or pwolff@thenorthwestern.com (pwolff@thenorthwestern.com).