Valentino Worlitzsch (19) is studying music in Hamburg, majoring in cello. We met up with him at one of his concerts near his home town of Celle. Despite intensive preparations for upcoming concerts, as well as a CD recording, he found time to talk to us about his music career and diabetes.

Music has made a great impression on Valentino Worlitzsch since childhood. His parents are both professional musicians. He has been playing cello and piano since he was five, and had already decided to make a career out of music early on. He has been awarded many honours on both instruments. Whether he becomes a soloist, an orchestral member, or a conductor, remains to be seen.

Valentino was diagnosed with diabetes in third grade. It was accidentally discovered by his family doctor who found the sugar content of a urine test too high. Since then, he has received treatment in a specialist centre for children and adolescents, and is today a regular outpatient. 
One of the most decisive events in the course of his treatment was the switch to an insulin pump around five years ago.

DPJ: How did your love for music come about? How many hours of practice have you needed to do in order to reach this level?

Valentino Worlitzsch: My love of music was transferred to me via my parents when I was still in the cradle. I was exposed to music right from the start, and was attending concerts almost before I could utter the word ‘music’. So, it was really just a matter of time until I – along with my two older siblings – started learning an instrument. I started on piano and cello at the same time, and as both were equally important to me, I have had to practice a lot. Practice always ran parallel to school and required much discipline.

Apart from a certain amount of talent, practice and work are the keys to becoming a virtuoso on any instrument. Luckily, I enjoyed practicing – most of the time. 

Diabetes has had absolutely no effect on my progress, as it has never really been a problem for me. I take it for granted, and it plays a relatively minor role in my life.

DPJ: What was your biggest worry when you were diagnosed?

Valentino Worlitzsch: I found out by telephone. My parents rang me from work as soon as they heard about the urine test results. They told me that I had diabetes and to pack a few things ready for the hospital. I was only seven and didn’t really understand what ‘diabetes’ meant. The reaction of my parents was the scariest. I had never seen them as upset as they were in the hospital. They also were not that familiar with diabetes; everything was new, and it came as quite a shock.  

DPJ: Has diabetes influenced your choice of career? Do you experience any special difficulties today?

Valentino Worlitzsch: Diabetes has had no influence whatsoever on my choice of career. I don’t let diabetes dominate my life. I try my best to keep it in the background. Until now, this method has worked very well. 

It is, however, important that I measure my blood sugar before a concert, because hypoglycaemia would affect the agility of my fingers as well as my ability to concentrate. During a concert, one cannot simply take dextrose when one feels like it. Just before a concert, I usually lay my pump aside so that no one can see the catheter. For one to, at the most, two hours, this presents no problem. 

Without being ashamed of my affliction, I try generally to keep my diabetes as inconspicuous as possible. Of course, my closest friends know about it, as well as my professors. Likewise, when I was at school, my class and physical education teachers knew. But, as a rule, I tend to hide it. Most of my friends found out by discovering the pump at some time and, naturally, asked about it.

DPJ: How does testing your blood sugar on the finger tips affect your cello playing?

Valentino Worlitzsch: I do not measure my blood sugar on my fingertips, but on my earlobes. I got used to this right from the beginning, so as not to affect the sensation in my fingertips. 

DPJ: You know what it’s like to be a child with diabetes. How did you find the strength to practice so much?

Valentino Worlitzsch: This question, in my opinion, places far too much significance on my condition. It indeed took a lot for me to practice regularly on top of school which was, at the time, as equally important to me as was my music. I have never felt sorry for myself because of my diabetes. I have always taken it in my stride. I have never allowed it to rob me of my strength. What kept me going was simply my ambition to succeed, which nested itself early on in my love for music.  

DPJ: What did your parents do right? When did you start to manage your diabetes yourself?

Valentino Worlitzsch: My parents have always supported me. In the early years, they used to get up to measure my blood sugar in the middle of the night, every night. I appreciate that now, especially in view of the fact that they were as new to diabetes as I was at that time. 

I once lost consciousness due to low blood sugar. This occurred after a visit to a museum. They succeeded in quickly bringing me round again – they then sat me in front of the TV with a pizza as I watched Germany beat the Saudis 8:0 in the 2002 word cup. That certainly brought me round! 

Also, in the early years, a community nurse visited us regularly after school to help me with testing and injecting. Despite this, I tried as best I could to become independent as quickly as possible, and this I achieved already by sixth grade.

DPJ: As a musician, what piece of advice would you give to parents of children with diabetes?

Valentino Worlitzsch: As already mentioned, it is highly important to measure blood sugar before a concert – preferably to leave it a little elevated. It should be measured around half-an-hour prior to the concert, in order to leave time for a piece of dextrose to take effect if need be. 

Diabetes should never be a cause for worry. It is really no big drama. Everybody gets the butterflies before a concert. And, believe me, before you step onto the stage, blood sugar levels are the last thing on your mind!