Sprinter Outruns Doctors, Diabetes

At 5-7, 127 pounds, with a body-fat content of only 8%, Staci Leach is the embodiment of the superbly conditioned female athlete. On the track, the Thousand Oaks High senior runs with powerful strides in hurdle and sprint events. She makes running fast look easy.

But for Leach, running probably will never be easy again. Last June, Leach was diagnosed as a diabetic.

Diabetes is the failure of the pancreas to produce the proper amount of insulin, the hormone that carries sugar to muscle cells.

Leach is a Type I diabetic, which means that her body produces no insulin and she has to take insulin intravenously every day. A Type II diabetic produces insulin, but the body doesn’t use it properly.

Initially, Leach only suffered from diabetic symptoms occasionally, but after the state track championships last June, she lost 19 pounds, felt exhausted, had problems with double-vision and became easily confused. She was also drinking abnormally large amounts of water.

Amazingly, just three weeks earlier Leach had finished third in the 300-meter low hurdles at the Southern Section 4-A track championships. She also ran the third leg on the third-place 1,600-meter relay team and anchored the 400-meter relay team to fifth place.

Leach was devastated when medical tests confirmed that she had diabetes. “The doctor basically told me that I’d probably never be able to train hard again,” she said.

“I’ve been competing in track since I was 9 years old, and I didn’t want to give it up unless I absolutely had to.”

She didn’t. Bill Carlson, a diabetic who has competed in the the Iron Man Triathlon, put Leach in touch with the Diabetes Treatment Center at the Tarzana Regional Medical Center.

After spending a week at the center in September, undergoing physical tests and learning about the disease, Leach’s athletic future remains bright.

Mark Currie, the exercise physiologist at the center, said that Leach can do anything she wants. “As long as she does what she’s supposed to, she can train as hard as she did before,” he said.

Leach must adhere to a strict daily diet of 2,800 calories and take her blood sugar levels five times daily.

All of the extra work has made Leach more appreciative of her athletic talent.

“Just being able to work out and not feel exhausted is very satisfying,” she said. “I’d like to make the Olympic team someday but the most important thing to me right now is to just be able to compete.”