Star Spotlight: Keira Roman
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Written by Madison Hartman
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Written by Madison Hartman
Meet Keira, a level 4 gymnast from California and one of Destira’s models! You may recognize her from modeling some of the newest Destira gymnastics leotard styles we have, but this mighty gymnast serves as an inspiration to Team Destira.
Imagine waking up one day being a normal kid excited to go to school and gymnastics and ending the day with a new routine and a new lifestyle. While lab testing and diagnoses take longer than one day, it still happens all too fast, especially for a young child.
When she was just 5 years old, Keira was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is a chronic medical condition in which the pancreas produces little to no insulin. While there is no cure for type 1 diabetes, it can be managed by monitoring your blood sugar, taking insulin when needed, and living a healthy, active lifestyle.
Keira and her family have become experts at managing her diabetes throughout the years. She balances a healthy diet with plenty of exercise at gymnastics and at home. Plus, Keira wears a Dexcom, a glucose monitoring system for diabetics. With her Dexcom, Keira is able to monitor her blood sugar through an app on a phone. Every 10 days she has to replace her Dexcom and put it in a new position on her body, but her favorite place is on her arm.
Not only did Keira need to learn to adapt to her new routines, she had other pressures around her regarding her diagnosis. One of the big challenges she feared was meeting new people and making friends. “It felt like no one would want to be my friend because I was different,” says Keira. The great news is that did not happen! Keira felt encouraged, even though she was different, as her teammates, classmates, and friends were (and still are) always checking in to make sure she felt good.
The Roman family has provided us with this infographic on spotting symptoms of Type 1 Diabetes in children and adults from the Cleveland Clinic. They stress the importance of an early diagnoses as it can help save a life.
