LIVING WITH DIABETES: Mark Kenny is a normal teenager despite daily injections and blood tests, writes David Labanyi.
Thirteen-year-old Mark Kenny is a Liverpool supporter and would love to be a professional football player.
He was diagnosed with Type I diabetes two and a half years ago. "Before I had diabetes I was overweight, a bit lazy. Now I am very active."
Although he is too bashful to admit it, he was player of the year with Knocklyon Utd U-14s. He also plays football with his school, Coláiste Éanna in Rathfarnham, Dublin.
Mark's age makes monitoring his blood sugar levels tricky. Growth hormones affect blood sugar readings.
His daily routine involves two injections of insulin, before breakfast and dinner. "Injecting the first time was hard but I am grand now." He tests his blood sugar levels four times a day.
"You have a sort of a pen with a needle in it. And you press a button and the needle pricks you.
"You squirt out a bit of blood and put it on this little meter and it measures how much sugar is in your blood."
The results are recorded in a diary which Tallaght Hospital diabetes clinic uses to decide on the amount of insulin Mark needs.
When Mark's blood sugar levels rise he gets blurred vision and becomes very tired.
"When my blood sugars are low I can't concentrate and I start shaking so I need Lucozade to bring me back up," he says.
Every three months his height and weight are checked at the clinic and his blood is tested to find his average blood sugar level for the last three months. A dietitian at the clinic helped Mark to work out the sugar values of different types of food.
Meat, fish, eggs and chicken are free from sugar but almost everything else, like potatoes, bread, fruit and cereals have carbohydrates of which part is sugar.
To monitor how much sugar he is eating Mark grades his carbohydrates. A slice of bread is described as one and a half "exchanges".
He has three meals a day each with six exchanges. He also has three snacks with three exchanges.
Because Mark plays a lot of sport these guidelines are adjusted almost daily. If he is playing football he eats extra carbohydrates which in turn affects the amount of insulin he needs.
"The hospital works out how much insulin you should be taking daily. You can change it - but not too much. If you were going to have a pizza which is very high in carbohydrates you would take a little bit more."
The eldest of two boys, Mark says the thing he dislikes about diabetes is that his mum worries. "I don't like her worrying."