Emily Bernstein is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Tempe Preparatory for AZPreps365.com 

The napkins, silverware and plates were set on the table for grandma’s homemade meal to be shared with the family. In John Shroll’s grandmother’s house, not only is the family well-fed, but grandma never fails to make sure the refrigerator is always stocked up with juice for the two of them to share. 

“Whenever he is up here, I always ask if he has checked his carbohydrates after I baked something for the whole family,” his grandma Shirley Haberlack said. 

At four years old, Shroll was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at Phoenix Children’s Hospital. He is now a senior tight end and defensive end at Tempe Preparatory Academy, but when he was younger, he was losing weight rapidly. His parents were concerned. 

“(They) never thought it was going to be diabetes,” Shroll said. 

He spent five nights in the hospital after his diagnosis. It was a shock for not just Shroll, but his family as well.  Now in his senior year of high school, Shroll lives his life by participating in his favorite activities physically while monitoring what his body needs in his 24-hour job living with Type 1 Diabetes.

“It was a hard struggle at first for my parents and I. I started off with syringes to take insulin and cried every time... I soon got used to it and the pain went away,” Shroll said. “I feel completely normal in society today because it is something I have lived with for as long as I can remember.” 

Eventually, Shroll switched to a more advanced insulin pump, which allows him to maintain his blood sugar easier during the day. He uses a Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM) that keeps track of his blood sugar throughout the day and night. Whenever Shroll explains diabetes to people who are uninformed, they usually ask the same question: “So did you just eat too much candy when you were a kid?” Shroll said.

“There being two types of diabetes, it is easy to mix up the two," he continued. "Most people seem to know what diabetes is, but when I explain it to people who don’t know, they have a hard time understanding.”

Type 1 diabetes is usually diagnosed in children, teens and young adults, but at the age of 60, Shroll’s grandmother had a rare diagnosis of Type 1 at her age. 

“Usually it is people after 40-years old. It is usually Type 2 (diabetes) and they can control it with a diet, exercise and pills. (However,) Type 1 is more dangerous, (due to the lack of the) hormone insulin, and you have to test several times a day and do insulin injections,” Haberlack said. 

Not alone in his battle

Shroll was diagnosed before his grandmother. Once she found out, being able to share that connection with her made him feel like he is not in this battle alone. It was a shock when his grandmother found out, however, the knowledge that the Shroll’s family had gained from the Phoenix Children's Hospital was shared between the two of them. 

“Whenever we were around John, we tried to make it a joyful time,” Haberlack said. Even though it is a disease we did not want him to feel isolated.” 

Both Shroll and his grandmother have developed a relationship by working together by always checking in on each other. 

“My grandma taught me that no matter what, I can always have (a positive) attitude toward my diabetes,” Shroll said. 

Haberlack described Type 1 diabetes as a 24-hour job. From the minute Shroll wakes up each morning, he is aware of what his body needs when it comes to constantly checking his glucose number and gives himself the right amount of insulin before he eats. He enjoys his dinner at a certain time at night to make sure his glucose numbers do not rise or drop, but ends up having to wake up at least three or four nights every week to correct his numbers by eating the right carbohydrates. 

“John has never spent the night away from us. Either my husband or myself has had to be in the same place with him,” Shroll’s mother, Tifni Shroll said. “John’s alarms will go off while he sleeps if he goes too low or high, but he doesn’t hear it and will not wake up. We hear it and can help him.” 

Shroll now has a new insulin pump that has an auto-mode feature to help keep him in a better glucose range for the purpose of preventing lows and highs from happening.

“I am hopeful that this is how he will make it without us in the future,” Tifni said. 

On top of that, Shroll is a student-athlete and is always on-the-go when it comes to biking with his dad or participating in various activities outside of sports.  

“I think that John’s diagnosis is a motivator for him,” his girlfriend, Tori Cord said. “It is a chance for him to show others that although he has to do twice as much to get to where they are, that extra work is giving him a much more advanced mindset than others our age.”

Shroll has to listen to his body on a microscopic level compared to other athletes. 

“This gives him an advantage when training and practicing. He knows what fuels him and what drags him down,” Cord said. “This ability will be extremely helpful to him in all aspects of his life and I am excited to watch it unfold.”  

Shroll does not let his diagnosis defeat him. He knows that he has to be in charge of what his body is telling him; he is aware of it, but does not broadcast about it to other people as an issue. 

“I can show normal people that I can do anything they do, because I can control my diabetes, rather than it controlling me,” Shroll said. 

A learning moment 

When John and his girlfriend first became friends, she told him about her exchange trip she had taken that summer to Germany and how he should do something like that.

“He then showed me his insulin pump and said, ‘I can’t do something like that.’ It made me realize how lucky I was to be healthy and not have to worry about something so meticulous on a daily level,” Cord said. 

Within the year of their relationship, Cord has learned so much about the world of diabetes.

“One step of helping him was downloading an app that showed me his glucose levels,” Cord said.

Technology has advanced in a way that when she goes on the phone app, Dexcom, she can watch Shroll’s blood sugar levels. 

“When it comes to football, you can always see me and his mom with our apps open, looking at John’s number while he is playing. Being able to help John be the best athlete he is capable of (being) makes me very happy” Cord said. “I love being able to watch John succeed on the field and help him get there.” 

During football games, Shroll saw every snap on defense. Meanwhile, on offense he was on and off the field depending on the personnel. “I have to do my best to check my blood sugar. Sometimes football can be unpredictable, so I might not have a chance to check it,” Shroll said. 

Shroll likes to play with his levels around 150 mg/dL, so he is at his best throughout all four quarters of the game.

“When my blood sugar reaches 250 mg/dL and over, I am unable to play because of athletic trainer regulations,” Shroll said. “During a game I need to have insulin to keep my blood sugar down because they will start to rise as soon as I take off my pump.”

Shroll is able to live his life and participate in his favorite activities from the outside, but on the inside, he is always monitoring what his body needs. 

“John did a wonderful job showing the team that you can overcome any diagnosis, like diabetes and play at a high level on Friday nights,” head coach Larry Cain said. “From the moment John stepped on the practice field, he was instantly deemed a leader, because of his ability to play between the whistles and over anything thrown his way.”

This was Cain’s first season coaching Shroll for his senior year of Tempe Preparatory Academy Football. 

“I consider myself a very proactive coach when it comes to my player’s health,” Cain said. 

Throughout the season Cain wrote a note at the top of his practice schedule everyday, “to ensure I did not forget to ask John how he feels and if he needed to step aside and check his insulin level,” Cain explained. 

“At times, during our first two weeks of practice, I could tell John was becoming irritated by me asking him how he was doing,” Cain said. “But by the end of the season, John realized I asked because I cared so much about his health.”

Cain has spent so much time watching Shroll and his mannerisms that even after the completion of a drill or play, Cain formed a nonverbal communication that has helped him in his coaching for Shroll’s needs. 

“I could tell by his body language how he was doing and energy level during the play a drill,” Cain said.

Cain spent this season teaching his team eight-man football, while Shroll taught him how Type 1 diabetes can affect a person and the way they play.  

“I wanted to ensure John’s safety and he would play the game like everyone else,” Cain said. “I did a ton of research on his condition, so I could be as helpful and knowledgeable about what he was dealing with.”

Raising awareness

Shroll’s day to day life illustrates that living with Type 1 diabetes cannot stop him from accomplishing anything he sets his mind to. 

Shroll’s relationships with the people that he has in his life and his Nana who lives with the same diagnosis have all first learned about Type 1 diabetes differently. However, they overlap in how each of them has been open to learning and understanding more through Shroll’s diagnosis, and that has changed the way they view living with Type 1 diabetes. 

“Being open to learning and understanding the highs and lows, creates better experiences for athletes with Type 1 (diabetes). For example, John’s coach always made sure that there was juice for him at practice and (it) could be seen often during games (of the coach) checking in with him and the athletic trainer to see how John’s glucose number was,” Cord said. 

“All it takes is simple education to help make a difference.”