MICHAEL BRUNTZ / Lincoln Jounral Star | Posted: Thursday, October 21, 2004 7:00 pm
Something wasn't right.
Mike Railsback started getting headaches the kind that start as a small prick of pain and spread like wildfire across the temples.
Then blackboards began to blur at school the letters melted into a chalky mess of cursive at the front of the classroom.
Even his skills on the basketball court were slipping. The powerful jumper who ran varsity track and field in his first two years at Lincoln Southeast struggled to keep up in YMCA pick-up games.
The odd symptoms landed the high school sophomore in the doctor's office where he stepped on a scale and found he'd dropped nearly 20 pounds in 10 days.
"Basically your body starts to consume itself because it can't use the nutrients you're putting into your system," Dick Railsback said.
A doctor told Mike to go immediately to a hospital in Omaha, where he was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, a disease where the body isn't capable of producing adequate amounts of insulin.
Nearly 17 million Americans have the disease, and a new case is diagnosed every 40 seconds. Though insulin helps control Type 1 diabetes, there is still no cure.
The disease already controlled Mike's life before he left the hospital. He tested his blood sugar levels by pricking his finger five to seven times daily, then gave himself insulin shots based on his blood sugar levels and a complicated formula that would leave Bill Nye scratching his head.
"I was deathly afraid of needles," said Mike, a runner at Doane College. "But when you have to give yourself a shot to live, you get over it pretty quickly."
When track season rolled around in March, Mike was still working to get the diabetes under control. Track meets were a dizzying routine of events for Mike before the disease, but adding blood sugar testing between warmups and heats made his effortless gait a little more challenging.
The weight loss and adjustments took a toll on his performance and he missed qualifying for the state track meet by one spot as a sophomore.
Diabetes was a word that forced its way into Dick Railsback's vocabulary three years ago. The disease had found his only son.
He began raising money for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation through walks and other fund-raisers, while raising public awareness of the disease.
This week, Dick and a group of nine others from Lincoln are in Death Valley, Calif., for the Ride to Cure Diabetes. The trek has the group trekking nearly 100 miles through the desert to raise money.
Many in the group have been affected by diabetes. Dick said Mike's situation gave him incentive to act so far, he has raised about $3,670 from the cycling trip.
"The average person knows nothing about it," said Dick, who was a pole vaulter at UCLA. "But when you have a reason to learn, you get more involved."
He began preparing for the ride in April and has logged more than 1,000 miles on his bike (while also dropping 30 pounds). He said he's riding to increase awareness about the disease and to help fund research to find a cure.
"People don't realize what Michael's gone through," Dick said. "He's had his battles and it's been a challenge for him, but he's met the challenges pretty well."
It has been nearly three years since Mike was diagnosed. Since then he has won a state championship in the 110-meter hurdles as a senior at Lincoln Southeast, and then he chose to run collegiately at Doane College after wading through scores of scholarship offers.
Last winter Mike qualified for the NAIA National Indoor Track Championships as a freshman. He will run in a variety of events this year.
Mike has long since replaced the needles and syringes with a pump that supplies a steady stream of insulin throughout the day instead of the sporadic boost that comes with shots.
The device is connected to a small, clear tube that supplies his body with insulin just above his belly button. Most people confuse the pump with a pager.
Since being diagnosed, questions about the pump, the disease and its effects have become commonplace. Mike can't escape the prying eyes of airport security who demand a doctor's note to bring a pump on the plane, or curious classmates who see the pump and ask questions.
Though the explanations get old, Mike sees an opportunity to educate the public about diabetes.
"It gets repetitive after a while, but they're learning about it," he said. "Which is always good."
Reach Michael Bruntz at 473-7254 or mbruntz@journalstar.com.