A week before he was slated to compete at the Central Valley Athletic League swim tournament, 8-year-old Type 1 diabetic Tanner McNabb was confined to the Intensive Care Unit at Kaiser Santa Clara.
A case of food poisoning – which most people are nowadays easily treated for – had left Tanner hospitalized with diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), a potentially life-threatening complication for diabetes patients resulting from a shortage of insulin.
But Tanner, like every hurdle in his life, pushed through it and arrived with a vengeance at CVALS, which took place Aug. 10-11 in Salinas.
Despite his medical scare, the third-grader at Luigi Aprea Elementary School amassed 90 points for his Gilroy Gators swim team – the most of anyone in any age group at the tournament. He finished second three times, fourth twice and tacked on points from a ninth-place finish. The only competitor who came close to grazing Tanner’s coattails was a 17-year-old swimmer who earned 78 points.
For an ambitious competitor like Tanner, a little thing like DKA wasn’t about to stand in the way of glory at the CVAL Championship. This was the last tournament of the summer for Tanner and his last chance to show months of hard work had paid off.
But sweeping the CVALS is just one part of the story. Tanner has been living with Type 1 diabetes since he was 3 years old. Every day is a struggle.
He constantly faces teasing from his peers who have called him “stupid” for having diabetes. His Type 1 diabetes is caused by the body not producing enough insulin, and according to diabetes.org, only 5 percent of the 25.8 million people living with the diabetes are Type 1.
The young swimmer is on a mission to silence the bullying criticisms of his peers, and he gets his chance to do just that in the water.
“I really want to show other people that they’re wrong – that a diabetic can get first place and they can do things that different people can,” Tanner said. “I feel really proud (when I win a medal). I think that I’ve proved people wrong.”
In addition to wearing an insulin pump – which provides insulin externally through a patch on his skin – Tanner has a rigorous daily routine he must follow to ensure he stays healthy. Every morning first thing, he pricks himself and tests his blood to gauge his blood sugar levels. After Tanner finishes breakfast, he records on his testing machine what he ate. Medicine is then dispersed based on his intake of carbohydrates.
The process must be repeated for lunch and dinner and again before bed. Tanner is usually tested by an adult an additional two or three times a day when he’s not feeling well. This can be especially difficult at school, where Tanner feels even more isolated since he has to visit a special nurse before he can join his friends for lunch.
Things don’t get any easier when it comes to swimming. Unlike other parents who are able to drop their kids off at practice, the McNabbs must stick around to monitor their son in the water – even though he’s still wearing his pump. Ben and his wife Erin McNabb keep a close eye on Tanner and can gauge when he needs to get out of the water and take a break.
“Sometimes at practices you’ll watch him and he’ll start swimming slower and slower,” Ben said. “We just have to grab him and pull him out and get him some sugar. Fifteen minutes later we can push him back in.”
During his competitions, Tanner is limited to the shorter 25 and 50-meter races because he burns off sugar so quickly. He could probably compete in the longer distances, although his parents say it’s better to be safe than sorry when it comes to their son’s blood sugar levels dipping too low.
“(When I’m low) it feels like you can’t move your body at all – it hurts,” Tanner said. “Sometimes, when no one is around it’s really scary. When you feel low, you don’t know where (other people) are. It’s like when you’re playing hide-and-go-seek and you’re the counter and everybody else hides.”
That feeling of confusion and disorientation is something Ben has come to know well. He was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes last year, just four years after his son’s diagnosis. Though it’s unusual to be diagnosed with the disease as an adult – most are diagnosed as children – Ben was well educated on what to expect and how to treat his condition after years of caring for his son.
Prior to Tanner’s diagnosis, however, the McNabbs were virtually clueless about diabetes. They learned of their son’s condition when they brought him in for what they thought was a bladder infection. In an instant, the family’s lives were altered forever when the doctors diagnosed him as a Type 1 diabetic.
“It was very scary,” Ben said. “It’s quite scary and there was no history whatsoever. When you hear “diabetes,” 95 percent of it is Type 2. That’s because you’re fat or you’re eating bad …. we went in there and they said, ‘You’re going to be here awhile’. Nobody (in our family) had ever had it before, so we had no clue. We had to learn quick.”
Finding a cure for Type 1 diabetes is something Ben and Erin have become extremely passionate about. The couple started a business, Type 1 Creations, that makes “Red Neck Stemware” – mason jars fashioned into martini, margarita, wine, champagne and beer glasses. Proceeds from sales are donated to the Junior Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF).
The glasses are sold in San Martin at LJB Farms or online at Type1Creations.com. The McNabbs are also planning to sell their products at the 2014 Gilroy Garlic Festival.
In the meantime, Tanner’s plan is to just keep swimming. He hopes to someday compete at the high school level.
“(I’m happy) when I see people there (at meets). They (fans) support me and I support them,” he said. “They give me confidence when people say ‘Go Tanner, Go!’ I love competing because, like I said, I want to prove people wrong.”
