Introduction

My names Ryan DeGroff, Im going into my 2nd year at Plymouth State Universtiy and have been diabetic for 11 years this valentines day. From the first day i was out of the hospital i have been playing sports, one of the hardest things to hear as a 8 year old was that i would not be able to play high level contact sports. Even as a 8 year i was dedicated to making that statement completly false, in high school i earned varsity letters in football, baseball and indoor track. My diabetes has played a huge part through the past 10 years of my life, growing up i attended camp joslin in MA, where i truely became comfortable with my diabetes, and made some of my best friends i have to this day. Recently I've had a huge interest in talking to younger diabetic athletes, and younger kids in general about questions and concerns they have that might be able to be answered by a doctor or parents. To many doctors talk about failures in diabetes control, to me I've learned 500 ways that don't work to control my diabetes, rather then 500 mistakes I've made. Every time something doesn't work out i consider it a new way learned.