“I Let Them Win”

When you have labored and worked tirelessly for 19 years to pour into your children’s lives, the day they make a shift and you see a glimpse of the young men they are growing into, it truly stops you in your tracks. You cannot help but stop and reflect. Being a mom means you give of yourself daily, that’s literally 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. Your job never sleeps nor takes a day off.

I am a boy mom. I have three teenage boys living in why house, ages 19, 16 and 14. Being a mom is a tough job. There are so many hats we wear on a daily basis, and sometimes, more often than not, we let our kids win. Winning in a boy household means everything. It could be pertaining to a heated monopoly game, football in the backyard, a video game or even a competition over who can eat their food the quickest or burp the loudest! It just never ends. But again, as moms, we almost always “let our kids win” even if we are faking the loss.

Today that “faking a loss” came full circle, and as a mom I could not have been prouder! Let me take a moment to set the stage.

My 16-year-old son was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes at age 12. Not long after Luke’s diagnosis, we encouraged him to share his incredible story on how exercise saved his life. Luke has grown up competing in sports since he was 6 years old. The eye for him has always been on the prize, that coveted podium finish with a medal around his neck. Winning a race or placing in the top 5 has always been his goal. Pretty normal for a young boy.

For 4 years, Luke has been sharing his story to area schools across Central Florida, local businesses and community boards. Through sharing his story, he says he’s showing kids and adults that nothing is impossible, even living with a disease like Type 1 Diabetes. When he closes the presentation, he encourages everyone to partake in his Lr Challenge. The challenge is spending 30 minutes each day doing something active. This means shutting off the computers, video games, phones, etc and doing something physical for 30 min whether they are inside at a gym or outside in their backyard.

Today, Luke met with students and faculty at Candlelight Christian Academy where he shared his story. We met some amazing young men and women, even a fellow teen with T1D as well. It was such a joy to see Luke interacting with everyone but what happened next that brought me to tears.

Luke was talking to group of boys, and within moments an arm wrestling challenge ensued. Luke takes pride in all the strength training he puts in and how he has built an incredible base, so all I could think of was these unsuspecting kids have no idea of his ability and strength! With a big smile on Luke’s face, and the first boy getting settled to measure up and arm wrestle. I watched as my son pushed against his opponent hard but only for a fraction of second, before his opponent defeated him. One by one, students walked up to challenge Luke and the arm wrestling match ensued. After every match, each student expressed great satisfaction in beating Luke at a game they were certain they would not succeed in.

When we left I asked Luke the simple question “Why?” He proudly stated “Well mom, I wanted them to feel good about themselves, and when they go home they can tell their parents they beat me in an arm wrestling match.” In other words, he let them win.

I may do a lot of things wrong, but I know I have done something right when I hear my 16-year-old competitive son say “I let them win.”

Diabetes Sports Project Champion

Life with a child living with type one diabetes is hard. It’s not all rainbows and unicorns. I have blogged about this journey with Luke before, and have shared with the world how we, as a family, have approached this terrible disease. Life on this balance beam is tough, but we have no choice. We can never let our guard down.

But what an honor it is when an organization contacts your son, asking if he would like to be a Champion DSP!

“Diabetes Sports Project  is an incredible organization built to inspire. Led by a group of world-class athletes who thrive with diabetes, their stories, athletic accomplishments and community outreach empower others to live healthy, responsible and active lives.”

For Luke to be asked to be apart of Diabetes Sports Project is such an honor. Of course as his momma I am to the moon proud of him, but more importantly I am proud of how he is managing his diabetes and spreading awareness in his community.

Looking into 2017, Luke has set new goals and is ready to soar to new heights. The Fine Wine For A Fine Cause event is set for February (put on by his parents of course), more T1D Panels, a 5K Family Challenge and a T1D Rally that is slated to take place next November and of course working with the American Diabetes Association on spreading awareness, and speaking to schools about overall health and wellness.

From Luke and his family, we openly thank Eric Tozer and his team for giving Luke the honor of being apart of the Diabetes Sports Project family.

Together we are the voice. We are the change! 

Athlete T1D Panel 2016: When an idea became a reality

Sometimes the best ideas come to us when we are dashing from one place to the next. Recently, Hot Hubs was driving me to the airport when he had this crazy idea he shared with me. It went something like this:

“Hey, Mere, I have this crazy idea…..what if we pulled together some type one diabetic athletes who have overcome many odds, and had a coffee chat of sorts?” 

After a few moments of chatting back and forth about how we would put something like this together, and where we would host this and so forth, it came to me! A few phone calls later, and some brain storming, the first ever T1D Panel was formed!

What is a T1D panel you ask? What if you could reach many to encourage and inspire? What if you had a panel of four incredible athletes of different ages, a leading endocrinologist, and a leading scientist all together on one platform, to impart wisdom, knowledge and share in how the diabetic athletes  have overcome many obstacles to reach their dreams? What if it was set up so that it was moderated by a local television news reporter? Put all of those things together in a room on a stage, and you get the T1D Panel.

The athletes sitting on the panel all have incredible stories and testimonies on how they have overcome many obstacles to reach their dreams and goals all the while balancing type one diabetes. I refer to our life like this:

“We are living on a balance beam. Luke is always on that balance beam, balancing his diabetes, trying to keep from going too far to the right and too far to the left.  The goal is to stay in the middle.” 

For most everyone, making the choice to get out of bed in the morning, dress yourself for a morning run, and head out the door, it’s really that simple. But for a diabetic athlete, it’s not that simple. Everything a diabetic athlete does rises and falls on where their blood sugar levels are at that time. Planning for a race, a competition, a game, really anything, it has to be well thought out. Depending on where ones sugar levels are, that has to be tweaked. There is so much to do in preparing for athletic activities like this, and the four panelists that have been chosen to speak, all have overcome many hurdles in their quest for the finish line!

Wether you’re a runner, triathlete, mountain climber, basketball player, football player, dancer, snow boarder, etc. and you’re living with diabetes, I want you to know that you can do ALL things, whatever it is! I cannot tell you how many stories we have heard over the last 18 months where other T1D families have asked

“How does Luke do what he does?”  or “Wow, I wish my child could do things like they used to before their diagnosis.” 

The T1D Panel was formed to inspire, encourage and impart a wealth of knowledge about how these athletes have overcome their challenges. The most exciting part about the panel is the wide range of athletes and their ages. Paul Finelli, with Florida Hospital, along with the American Diabetes Association Central Florida, have done an outstanding job of putting our idea into reality. We are hoping the event will be available for live streaming, and we are also hoping it will be recorded so we can share it later.

Here’s the exciting part. The T1D Panel Team:

Chris Clark, UltraMan Triathlete

Lauren Adams, Boston Marathoner

Luke Rosser, USA Triathlon Age Group National Champion

Ralph Hopkins, Athlete & US Attorney General

Will Cross, Mountain Climber

Moderator: Sonni Abatta 

As soon as I get a link for live streaming, I will share it here! The panel is set to take place on Sunday, October 23rd @ 4:00 pm.

“Be active and make healthy choices. Never stop giving up on your dreams and keep reaching for the stars.”  – Luke Rosser

The Day I Stopped Believing Was The Day I Started Believing Again

I won’t lie, it has been a rough two years. With my son being diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes, and the roller coaster that followed I must admit I stopped believing in myself as an athlete. I was in the midst of training for my first Ironman that was to take place in Chattanooga in 2016 when our lives were turned upside down. But just like we preach to our boys, I had to pick myself up and keep moving forward. That fateful night, when I was pulled off the run course in my first full Ironman Triathlon, I mentally gave up. I never give up on anything in life nor did I ever give up that night but I lost a part of myself when the three little letters were next to my name on the athlete list. DNF.

I mourned my DNF for a couple of days, then immediately jumped back into the game and set out to settle the score. I signed up for another Ironman. This time I was going to race a different course. Ironman Maryland seemed like a more suitable course, as it is flat, flat and more flat. But the catch is swimming in the Choptank River, and fighting the big headwinds on the bike. My mind was made up and I felt it was destiny to race almost exactly one year later from my DNF in Chattanooga.

As soon as I got my confirmation that I was “in” I was pumped, but as time marched on, I started to doubt myself. This has been one of the hottest summers that I can remember. Living in Florida, and the intense heat paired with super high humidity, was not a good mix for training. It has been brutal to say the least. Fatigue set in early in the months of training, and self-doubt started to take over. Why was I doing this again? When did riding on a road bike for five and six hours become fun? And not to mention running in the intense humidity and heat! 3 am wake up calls to start long rides in the dark while it was cooler got real old really fast.

I missed my family. I missed hanging out with our friends. For the second summer in a row, my life revolved around training. I started to question was it really worth it? To add to this crazy mix, my two younger sons were also training for their big race at USAT Nationals in Ohio. So between taking them to swim team practice at 6 am each day, and shuffling them to their own triathlon training sessions with their coach, I was mess! I am wife and mom first and foremost so my boys lives took center stage ahead of mine.

Training has not been what I envisioned it would be. Finding balance has been tough.

My breaking point came during a training camp in Cambridge, Maryland, the day we were out riding on the bike course. It was brutally hot, more of a dry heat hot. My lips were chapped, I was sucking down water like I have never done before, and I was riding alone. There were others out on the course, but I was a lone dove with the exception of others passing. Much of an Ironman race is mental. I know this and can say I usually have a good handle on this end of things, but on this day, I was literally losing it. Riding along on a long flat road in the middle of nowhere and hearing shot-gun shots going off, having someone fly by you in a truck then chucking coins out at you from the window as they passed, fighting a brutal head wind and being all alone is not my idea of fun. I missed a turn and only realized this when I was almost back to where I started. My 112 mile bike ride was cut short by my mere mistake and I only biked 70 miles of the course.

There is no crying in Ironman, but I cried like there was no tomorrow. I felt as if I was at the threshold of hell. I felt like a failure. I kept thinking to myself, how am I supposed to finish this race when I hadn’t even started yet? It was an awful moment but a pivotal one.

In my moment of questioning it all, a couple of texts came through on my phone. Messages of hope, reminding me how to persevere through the dark place I found myself in. No truer words were spoken by my 14-year-old type one diabetic son. He made me a paper to keep next to my bed, so when I was doubting it all, I only had to look at this:

This boy knows what it’s like to be in a bad place. I feel like he must feel defeated often, living with diabetes, giving himself injections all day long while pricking his finger countless times. Luke does not let diabetes define him, so how can I quit before I have even started? Someone very wise told me this at that moment:

“Suck it up buttercup! You’ve got this. Your body has got this. Get your mind in line. It hurts, it is a gut check but you have this. I know you can, you know you can! Just do it.” 

Another great mantra that I will let you figure out, that another friend reminded me of:

“IOTB!”

This was the day I started believing again. I was hundreds of miles away from my kids, and friends but at this moment, they were there with me, sitting under a shady tree. Sometimes we only need to be reminded of the simple things. I had to go down this dark road to get to this spot where I am today.

I believe I can. I believe I am strong. I believe I am an overcomer.

I simply BELIEVE!

Tour de Cure Ambassador 2016

I cannot believe I am typing this! It has been a long 10 months, and we have come a long way. My Type 1 Diabetic son was asked to be the 2016 Ambassador for the American Diabetes Association Tour de Cure in Orlando, Florida. Never in my wildest dreams did I think we would be walking this journey if you had told me this a year ago.

Life is not rose, nor is this an easy road we are on, however we have chosen to embrace it. Life handed us a bag of lemons, so we have been making a lot of lemonade this year!

Luke is passionate about all things exercise, healthy choices and living life to the fullest. He reminds me daily that “you only live once.” We are on a fast-moving train, and are taking each moment to share his story with as many people as we can. You never know whose life you might save.

Luke has asked me to share his story on this blog, in hopes that we reach many across the nation. Luke has also requested that I encourage anyone reading this blog to get involved in your local American Diabetes Association chapter. Find a Tour de Cure or a Step Out Walk  and make a difference. Sign up to ride, or walk or even just donate to the fundraising page. The American Diabetes Association is an incredible organization to support and get involved with. They do great things for people and families effected by both Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes.

Take a stand. Be the change!

The Choice

Let me introduce you to our friend and neighbor, 11-year-old Ricky. He hangs out with my two boys, Luke and Jack, just about every day.  You never know who you might be inspiring when you’re at work or play. Today, was no exception.

Ricky and his dad came over to the house, and wanted to know the difference between a mountain bike bought from a large retail store, and one that is purchased from a local bike shop, with a higher price tag. So after a few minutes of explanations, they decided to take Jack with them to visit our favorite local bike shop, Clermont Bicycles. They later returned and said they wanted to talk things over before making a decision.  After all a large purchase like that should not be done on a whim.

A few hours later, Ricky, along with his dad, came by the house to thank us for the bike shop referral. His dad told us that Ricky had been saving his own money for a long time to buy a new video game system. Recently, he had inquired about using his money to buy a mountain bike so he can ride with the boys. His dad told him he needed to make a choice. He could either buy a new bike or buy the video game system, which he had been wanting for a long time. In the end, Ricky bought a bike!

This touched my heart on so many levels. Since Luke’s Type 1 Diabetes diagnosis, he has made it a mission to bring awareness to our community regarding overall health and wellness. Because exercise saved his life, he wants other kids and adults, to make exercise a priority in their life. Making healthy choices and getting 30 minutes of exercise daily is vital to our well-being.

The fact that Ricky had been saving up his own money to buy a video game system and opted to buy a bike, speaks volumes. He clearly gets it. He said he wanted to be outside more and play with his friends, instead of inside all the time. Oh and we LOVE his color choice, blue! November is National Diabetes Awareness Month, and it’s Blue November for Type 1 Diabetes. How fitting!

So what would your choice be?

Be inspiring. Be the voice.

Be the change!

T1D A New Journey

Your son has Type 1 Juvenile Diabetes. Words a mom never wants to hear. Someone please wake me up from the horrible dream. This can’t be right, there must be a mistake.

Let me rewind a for a moment.

My boys swim competitively with NTC Aquatics and are elite triathletes on a triathlon team, Endorphin Fitness out of Virginia. They compete on many levels.  This fateful day was no different, as we were at a big swim meet in Tampa Fl. My 12-year-old was feeling “off” and seemed more nervous than normal upon stepping up to the swim block. His freestyle swim was not great, and seemed way off base for him, but after his exit he assured us along with his coach that he was just nervous. Oddly enough he retreated to the bathroom for the 100th time and said after throwing up  he felt better. Over the last week he seemed to be more tired, and eating us out of house and home. Not to mention the amount of water this child was drinking! All of his symptoms led us to believe he was going through a growth spurt, puberty, and lots of hard training. The next two swim races were spot on, and he decreased his time by several seconds, and chalking this all up to nerves.

Sunday morning comes and things go south fast. We were up early to leave the hotel and head to the swim meet after breakfast when things got crazy.

My 12-year-old is looking like he hasn’t slept in ages, and can’t even eat a morsel of breakfast. Something is not right. This is not normal.

My “mothers intuition” says he needs to take a break and rest. After a few sips of chocolate milk, and a quick snooze, everything that could possibly be in his belly came up. Being in a hotel and frantic with fear that he must have the flu or a terrible cold, we quickly load up and head out. Several conversations ensued with several nurse friends, with all of them having concerns that he could be diabetic. Being there was no way this could be the case, we went to the swim meet, but would just rest in the car while my youngest son competed.

Dropping the family off at the gate and attempting to find a close parking space would be a miracle, since over 1,000 kids were present to compete. With my sons stomach being queasy we left and headed to get some ginger ale.

THEN,  it hit me.

One look in the back seat said it all. Exhausted, stomach ache, looking pale, and dark circles forming around his eyes. This was not right on all accounts.

I’ll spare the details, but we high tailed it out of Tampa and headed back to Orlando to Arnold Palmer Hospital’s ER.

One finger prick and vitals, and we were whisked into a room with nurses waiting to start IV’s. My head was spinning out of control, and my fears were in overdrive playing games with my brain.

I remember the doctor asking me if we knew our son had Type 1 Juvenile Diabetes and if we had a family history of such.

Wait….. did you just say Diabetes?

How can it be? How can this beautiful, strong, active swimmer, triathlete have Type 1 Diabetes?

To say we were in shock is an understatement. I will never forget the doctors words.

“Mrs. Rosser, your sons blood sugar level is 1014, and he’s Ketoacidosis.”

So what exactly is Ketoacidosis you ask? It is when someones blood levels are so high, and their blood is acidic, they have a great chance of slipping into a coma, their kidneys can shut down and they can potentially suffer brain damage.

 The journey was just beginning. As one doctor put it, “Mrs. Rosser, you will have a PhD in Endocrinology when you leave this hospital” and let me just say he was not kidding!

We have been home just over a week, and we are still trying to wrap our brains around it all. What surprises me is how many people don’t know the difference between Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes.

Type 1 is where the pancreas shuts down, and no longer creates insulin, therefore one must have insulin shots to survive. This is not controlled by diet, but will always be on insulin. Type 1 diabetics can eat whatever they want, they just need to treat themselves for it with the proper dose of insulin. There is no cure.

Type 2 can be controlled. Some people have to take insulin to help them along as their pancreas isn’t doing the job well, and some can control it with their diet and exercise. Type 2 diabetics need to watch what they eat and be mindful of the sugars intake and carbs. When proper weight and eating habits are in place, many can come off insulin and their body will function quite normal.

We will not allow T1D to define us. We are strong. We are bigger than this. We are charging forward with new purpose, a new mission you might say. Triathlon season is just beginning, and we are taking it by force!

If you can dream it

YOU CAN DO IT!

“This IS Hot Chic”

This IS Hot Chic.

Hot Chic walks, she swims, she bikes, she runs.

She  golfs, she paddle boards, she does cross fit, she teaches zumba.

Hot Chic is girl, daughter, friend, woman, sister, wife, mother.

She is confident,  brave, strong, beautiful, focused, inspiring, determined.

This IS Hot Chic.

Let me introduce you to Penny Reed.

Penny swims. She bikes. She runs.

She swam around the Statue of Liberty in New York City.

She IS Hot Chic!

Starting now Hot Chic Sports is kicking off their new “This IS Hot Chic” campaign.

Are you Hot Chic?

We want to hear from YOU!

Send a brief 1 or 2 paragraph short story or bio of yourself along with a picture or video to hotchicsports@gmail.com.

You may be featured on our website and social media pages during our “This IS Hot Chic” campaign.

Be inspiring. Be confident. Be Hot Chic. – Hot Chic Sports

Lemons To Blueberries

From roller coasters to water slides, from laughter to tears and everything in between. Yes this has been one of those summers. My expectations for myself and my business seemed to come to an abrupt stop from Memorial Day weekend to the present day. Summer was going to be all about fun trips to the beach, amusement parks and all things Hot Chic Sports. But as the story goes, that was not to be. Bear with me for a few moments, as in the midst of all the chaos that erupted, a much greater lesson emerged.

On Memorial Day weekend, a friend from high school collapsed with a brain aneurysm.  A week later my girlfriends daughter, who was 27 weeks pregnant, collapsed from a brain bleed, and remains on life support. If this was not enough, another friend shared news that her husband had Leukemia however since the doctors thought it was caught early, things should be okay. On July 4th, he passed away leaving a very young wife and a precious two-year old son. And it continues…. A good friend whom I’ve been blessed to race alongside for many years, found out she had breast cancer, and has possibly spread to other areas. She has been enduring grueling aggressive chemo treatments all the while with smiles and encouraging words to others. It doesn’t end here.  A couple of weeks ago my best friend collapsed from what they believe was a heat stroke, with her potassium levels at a very low and dangerous level. She was knocking on death’s door for a spell, but thankfully she is now recovering and doing well. All of this in a time span of 8 weeks.

So where is the joy in all of this you ask? As I wrestled with my faith and tried to keep my head above water, I found strength from an unexpected source. Remember my friend whose husband suddenly passed away from Leukemia?  While she has been wrestling through so much sadness and grief, she  has ministered to me on so many levels. Her postings on Facebook have not only brought tears to my eyes, but have also put a smile on my face with her strength and perseverance. I quote her below from a recent post she shared:

“When life give you lemons, make lemonade. How convenient. I understand the real message of this statement is making something delightful out of  something that is perhaps sour. Well, sometimes life doesn’t give us what we need to make what we want. Sometimes we have to make something out of  something we weren’t expecting, into something we never really wanted to begin with. Did I ever want to live life without my husband? Heck no. Life has given me loss, grief and pain. What do you make out of those things? Only negative things come to mind. So somehow, I need to make somethings out of loss, grief, and pain, that isn’t natural. I need to make something that is worth living for”.

“This morning my mom was making chocolate chip cookies with my son. Without notice, he threw his blueberries into the mix. Did they throw it out? No. Did she scold him for ‘ruining the mix’? No. They baked them and guess what, we ate them. Was it what we had planned on making? No. Were they different? Yes. We enjoyed them all the same”. 

“When life gives you blueberries, make chocolate chip cookies”. 

This beautiful friend of mine has been through hell, and yet she is finding new joy each day. She is learning to smile through the tears and embrace life in a new manner.

I envisioned a summer of roller coasters and water slides, trips to the beach and amusement parks, Mickey Mouse and ice cream with everything in between. Instead I was stopped in my tracks for a spell to sit, watch and learn from these beautiful, powerful, amazing women who are walking a journey much harder than mine.

So eat ice cream for breakfast and make chocolate chip cookies with blueberries. Smile through the pain and find your joy. Wether your journey is an easy hill or a rocky road, how you choose to embrace it makes all the difference. I’m ditching lemons and trading them for chocolate chip cookies laced with blueberries!