Friends through highs and lows
Cycling the Queen Charlotte Track allowed two 14-year-old friends from Marlborough to prove themselves, as well as show how people with different conditions can support each other.
Mya (left) and Lexi on the Queen Charlotte Track
Lexi Pottinger has type 1 diabetes and Mya Gane has dyslexia. Lexi says it gives them a lot in common.
“Diabetes and dyslexia present us with new challenges daily. We both know what it’s like to have our challenges overlooked, or to have to be treated differently sometimes. And we can see when each other needs support.”
When Mya struggled to finish reading a complex text for a school essay, Lexi helped in practical ways, with finding audiobooks and abridged editions so Mya could pass the assessment. And Lexi says, “Mya supports me through every high and low and mental breakdown. She always knows how.”
Both girls have extra anxieties when exams approach. Lexi focuses on keeping her sugars in check, and Mya has to sort out a reader/writer. Their personal experiences of reading also offer common ground.
Lexi says although any reading troubles she has are temporary, “I relate to the frustration Mya goes through because it’s hard for me to read if I’m high or low.” And when that happens, “Mya understands more than anyone what it’s like when words just swim around the page.”
For a recent school assignment Lexi and Mya had to make some change in the community. They decided to bike the Queen Charlotte Track by themselves to break stereotypes: Mya wanted to show that academic struggles don’t limit what she can achieve outside of school, and Lexi that diabetes doesn’t hold her back from intense physical activity.
The trip took plenty of planning and thinking. During the ride they stuck together. “Mya was awesome with checking in on me,” says Lexi. “I let my sugars run a little higher than normal and was fine.
I was low by the end, which Mya could see, but it was nothing a cookie (made by Mya) couldn’t fix.”
The friends are not short on goals. Mya is a talented and dedicated hockey player and Lexi got hooked on rowing last spring. She’s now training for the South Island Champs.
Lexi on rowing with diabetes
I’m the first diabetic rower my coaches have had, so we decided we’d try a season and see if it works out. It has!
There have been moments when I wanted to cry because diabetes stopped me from rowing. I opt out if my sugars are too high or low. I’m always checking them, and my coaches always have a backup plan.
I use the Freestyle Libre. For rowing, I have a waterproof pouch with the Libre reader and dextrose in it. I give it to the cox to hold, or tie it onto the boat.
I got a t:slim insulin pump halfway through the season, and I was anxious because they aren’t really made for rowing. I’ve had one panic: Sometimes I don’t row with the pump on, but this day I did because I was close to being high. My double scull partner and I were going round a riverbend when we tipped and I fell out.
I swam to the coaches’ boat and pulled myself in, then realised my pump wasn’t on me. I started screaming. After much scrambling around the boat I realised I still had it. It had just unclipped from my shorts!
I can proudly say we haven’t tipped since.