Getting back in the game
Disease management allows Zecobie King to resume NFL dreams
For the first several years of his life, the closest 11-year-old Zecobie King got to his dream of playing football was playing video games in his room. His uncontrolled asthma would act up every time he tried to join his friends in an actual game. They all wanted the biggest kid in the neighborhood on the field, but he couldn’t exert himself without having an attack. And he didn’t know how to manage his condition.
In 2006, a severe asthma attack sent Zecobie to the Emergency Department at Children’s. Tests performed that night revealed that he was also pre-diabetic. His health was in danger of spiraling out of control and taking his football dreams with it.
Thanks to the Disease Management programs at Children’s, that experience did not result in Zecobie going home and getting sicker. It served as the first step in the care and instruction that enabled him to finally play real football games.
Learning how to sleep
After his asthma emergency, Zecobie followed the advice of the Disease Management experts at Children’s and began taking his asthma medication regularly — but he still felt weak and tired. His mother, Zsa-Zsa Turner, told his pulmonologist that she noticed he had trouble breathing while sleeping.
“He could be in his bedroom with the door closed, and we could hear him snoring over the TV in the living room,” Turner said. “And you could tell that he would stop breathing in between snores. I was very worried.”
Zecobie underwent a sleep study at the Sleep Disorders Center at Children’s, which revealed he also had obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). This was causing him to wake up several times every night to catch his breath. Consequently, Zecobie never went into a deep sleep.
“I was always sleepy,” Zecobie said. “Even if I just slept a lot, I’d get up feeling tired.”
Zecobie enrolled in the OSA Management Program at Children’s to learn how to control his symptoms. The experts there taught him how to use a Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) machine, a device that keeps his airway open during sleep. Since getting on the CPAP machine in May 2008, Zecobie’s energy has increased, his grades have improved and he has only missed school to attend scheduled doctor appointments.
When losing wins
Zecobie enrolled in another Disease Management program this summer, the LEAN Families Program, which is teaching him how to eat healthy and get fit. Losing weight should significantly reduce his asthma symptoms and could eliminate his OSA and pre-diabetes.
“I like fried foods better, but being healthy is worth eating baked and broiled food,” Zecobie said. “It keeps me from having to worry about asthma and diabetes and sleep apnea.”
The lessons Zecobie has learned from the Disease Management programs have also enabled him to finally play football with his friends. He says his favorite part of the game is the physical contact. Now, he can make tackles without having to sit down to catch his breath afterward.
His mother already knows the first thing that she will ask him to buy for her if he makes it to the NFL.
“A nice comfortable chair,” Turner said. “I’m going to need to sit down, because I get so excited when I see him play.”
-i-t.jpg){kind=small}
