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Schenk matches wits with tough foe - diabetes
By BRADY BINGHAMPro golfer says disease helps him keep focus
Living with blood sugar levels eight times higher than normal, Barry Schenk should have been comatose, or even dead.
"I just finished playing the Valley View Amateur," remembered the former Weber State star golfer. "I couldn't see the flag stick. Earlier that week, I had cramps, charley horses, all the way up and down my legs.
"And I was so lethargic, so tired," he admitted. "I had no idea what was wrong with me."
Later that evening, after a trip to the emergency room, Schenk learned he was living, somehow, with a dangerously high level of Juvenile Type 1 Diabetes.
"They said my levels read at 836, which is basically comatose level," Schenk said. "With normal about 100 to 130, that was eight times too high, and I was like that for about five or six days.
"They said I should have been in a coma, or even dead," he continued. "My organs were about ready to shut down. My kidney and my eyes, everything was out of whack."
Still a teenager when he was diagnosed, Schenk never thought he had diabetes. He believed he simply had some bug, that he had a bad cold, or that he was dehydrated.
"I was drinking probably 500 ounces of water a day for four or five days and it was going right through me," Schenk said. "I was drinking (sports drinks) and that was terrible for me, because it had so much sugar."
Certainly, Schenk did not fit many people's stereotype of a teenager with diabetes. He's neither obese nor waif, and his amount of exercise could best be described a regimented, consisting of playing golf nearly every day of the week.
Today, with golf still at the forefront of his lifestyle -- he turned professional two years ago -- Schenk chooses to fight his disease with driver in hand.
"People have so many horror stories. It's not that scary if you just learn to manage it. Sure you are at a higher risk for things, but you just manage it," Schenk said.
"It's a disease that can get you down if you let it. I'm not going to let it," he said. "If you get control of it, you can live a long healthy life."
Schenk keeps a meter in his golf bag and checks his blood levels at least twice a day. He injects two types of insulin -- a long-lasting level that he takes every night, and a fast-acting level that he takes before or after every meal.
"I go shoot up," Schenk jokes about the way he'll be at the course and walk into the rest room to take his medicine.
But other than being a nuisance, Schenk believes living with diabetes has actually helped his life and his golf game.
"It just gave me another responsibility. It didn't really affect the way I play," he said. "I think it has actually helped my golf game. You have to be fit and you have to eat right to play better. So I think it's actually helped."
Schenk carries sandwiches in his bag and he eats a lot of protein. Soda pops and candy bars are no longer on his menu.
"My diet is the biggest thing that has changed," he said. "I just can't eat a lot of sugar because I am insulin dependant."
Schenk would also like to be a role model for other victims of the disease, showing them how he has succeeded and thrived with diabetes.
"I'm not embarrassed by having it. Not in the least. Actually I'm kind of proud about it," Schenk said. "There are so many kids that let it get them down. If I can be a spokesman for them and show them, say, 'Look at me and see I can play with it.' "
Schenk's sponsor is Greg Blackbourn, who presents "Driving for Diabetes," an annual golf tournament at Thanksgiving Point that raises money and awareness for a cure for diabetes.
"It's something we will have a cure for soon," Schenk said. "But the more awareness we can make about it, the better things are going to be."
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This is one of the great reasons why i play this great game of golf! Creating awareness of this Disease and helping people see that diabetes doesn't control u unless u give it control. I believe that helping people understand that this disease can be managed and can be a blessing is one of my purposes in life and I am honored to do it. Good article Brady Bingham!!
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