Oak Lawn has teammates in more ways than one

Updated: March 23, 2011 3:50PM

Some quotes just stick with you. Here's two that made my day Wednesday.

"Everybody has stuff they have to deal with."

That's what Oak Lawn senior Christie Lewis said when I asked if she felt different from other kids because she has Type I juvenile diabetes.

"Life is good."

That's what Oak Lawn freshman Mercedes Leon said when I told her it was so awesome to see her smiling as she talked about a condition that likely will be with her for the rest of her days.

It brought to an end an informative - and inspiring - 15-minute conversation the three of us had in one of the dugouts off Oak Lawn's softball field, located in the shadow of Christ Medical Center.

It never ceases to amaze me how so many "afflicted" young people I run into during the course of my job deal with adversity better than some adults I know (including myself).

I mean, imagine being Christie Lewis during Easter season 2009.

She was a happy-go-lucky kid who had made the sophomore softball team at Oak Lawn. Not long before the season started she started having headaches and felt tired and irritable - and not just once in a while.

Her mother, she said, recognized something was wrong and scheduled her for an appointment with her doctor.

What they found, for me, would have been mind-blowing. This child, who had exhibited no symptoms prior to that day, was showing signs of being a diabetic.

Christie was sent to Hope Children's Hospital (a wing at Christ), where the diagnosis was confirmed.

Her reaction? I had to laugh when she told me about it.

"I was running around looking for a window to look out of because my team was playing," she said. "I wanted to watch them."

It never even crossed her mind to get scared. She just told her mom to call sophomore coach Brian Frangella and let him know she'd be missing a few days.

Lewis returned to the team a week later and finished her sophomore season. As a junior, she made the varsity as an outfielder and saw plenty of playing time.

Mercedes Leon was 3-years-old when diagnosed. She said it wasn't very easy growing up with diabetes, that she felt different from other kids and tried to hide it. But she did have plenty of support at home from her mother, Marisol, and her father, Adolfo.

Her older brother Dan, she said, was a role model for her. And when he wanted to play baseball, so did she. Thus began a love affair with sports. Over the next several years she played softball, volleyball and basketball. Her father coaches her on her travel team.

Mercedes entered Oak Lawn as a freshman in September as a three-sport athlete. In volleyball and basketball she played on the freshman level. But in softball she made a quick leap up the ladder as a pitcher

third baseman.

"Why? Well, she's good," Oak Lawn coach Kelly Herlihy said, smiling. "After the first day of practice the sophomore coach pulled her up. Then last week we were looking for one more person to round out our varsity squad. She seemed the best option."

Both Lewis and Leon, while playing, manage their condition - which in simple terms is an unstable blood sugar level due to the pancreas' inability to produce insulin - by using an insulin pump that sends a steady drip through a tube into the system.

Lewis wears hers while she plays, connected through a pocket on her sports bra. Leon wears her insulin pump all day at school, but takes if off during games. Still, she checks her sugar level with a glucose meter on the hour and has her pump ready.

The device, made of what Lewis described as motorcycle helmet material, is very durable. I've read some stories about football players who wear them.

They also keep on hand sugar additives like peanut butter crackers and granola bars they can ingest when they notice symptoms.

"Some days I'm in the dugout four times eating," Lewis said. "One time I had to call my mom up here to bring more food because I ran out."

Mercedes said she used to hide her insulin pump at school until she saw Christie wearing it out in the open. She said now when she meets people she tells them right away.

"When I first saw her I had no idea she was a diabetic," Lewis said. "I was going to softball workouts and she was still in basketball season. A friend on the team was her big sister for basketball.

"I was like, ‘You guys, there's a diabetic girl!' I was alone the whole time before and I was so happy she was coming in. I wanted to be her big sister for softball. But now that she's here (on the varsity), it's even better than that."

You should have seen the smile.

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