From the May 16th Port Angeles Peninsula Daily News
Disease doesn't slow down lacrosse star
If Scott Cline were to raise his T-shirt up about six
inches, a square-inch plastic catheter would be exposed on the left side
of his abdomen. The Port Angeles High School junior has diabetes and he
uses the catheter to inject insulin into his system so he can maintain a
relatively normal amount of glucose in his blood stream. But Cline doesn't
let diabetes stand in his way.In fact, Cline may be more active than
normal teenager
Not only does the 6-foot, 150 pounder run cross country in
the fall, he's the leading scorer for Port Angeles' undefeated
lacrosse team. Cline is the third-leading scorer in the B division of the
Washington State High School Lacrosse League with 41 points, and the
second in the league with goal scored with 34.
He was one of three Riders to be named to the all-state
first team this week, along with midfielder T.J. Serrianne and defender
Jim Baumstark. Cline, who hooks a pager-sized pump up to the catheter to
help with the injection process, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in the
fall of 1999. He was on the high school cross country team at the time,
running up to six miles a day. "I was feeling really tired all the
time and my throat was really dry," he said. "I could drink tons
and tons of water and it wouldn't make a difference."
The day before Cline went to the hospital to undergo tests
he struggled to get out of his chair and climb a flight of stairs to get
to his next class at school. Then he fell asleep while waiting for his
doctor the next day -- twice. "I didn't even realize it, but I was
close to being unconscious," Cline said.
Blood was drawn from Cline's finger, and the glucose
reading was so high -- 10 times higher than normal -- that the machine
couldn't accurately pinpoint the results. "At that point they told me
to go home, eat something, and go check into the hospital," Cline
said Cline spent the next 36 hours in the hospital's intensive care unit,
having his blood checked every hour for the first full day "After the
first 12 hours I was feeling much more alert," Cline said. "But
I was disappointed that they wouldn't let me run in the cross country meet
that week."
As soon as Cline left the hospital he began the diabetes
education process, learning how to check his blood sugar and how to give
himself shots of insulin. "It's kind of like learning how to walk or
how to eat again," he said. "It's a whole new system." He
started using a syringe to give himself two shots of insulin a day, then
went to three shots a day. Now he uses the pump.
"It gives me the freedom to eat whatever I want,
exercise when I want, pretty much live a normal teen-age life," Cline
said. "I just count all the carbohydrates in each meal and that
determines the amount of insulin for each meal." On a normal day,
Cline checks his blood sugar 4 times a day: before each meal and before he
goes to bed. On game day, though, he checks it more often. Cline uses a
pen-like instrument to poke a small hole into his finger and then collect
a sample of his blood on a piece of plastic, which he inserts into a
machine.
The glucose reading is important, but being able to
control the fluctuations of his blood sugar is the top priority.Along with
being an Attacker for the lacrosse team, Cline maintains the team's web
site and has a 3.9 grade-point average. Cline, Serrianne and Baumstark are
all co-captains for Port Angeles (12-0), which host Franklin in a state
semi-final contest tonight at 6 on the Stevens Middle School field. The
winner advances to the B division state championship game on Saturday at
Mercer Island High School. Cline had five goals during a the Riders' first
meeting with Franklin, which the Riders won 11-6 on April 20.
Franklin has the league's top two scorers, Robert Valdez
and Vu Thach, who combined to score only three goals against the Riders
earlier this season.
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