THE DAY Shannon Vize took her two-year-old son home from hospital after discovering he had diabetes was almost more frightening than taking him home as a newborn.
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Diabetes educators gave her a run-down of essential knowledge for Cooper’s care before he was discharged.
Balancing blood sugar levels and administering insulin then became part of the routine she would need to master to keep her son alive and healthy.
“There’s a lot to learn,” Shannon said, reflecting on the diagnosis more than six years later.
“If you mess up, they could be in harm’s way.”
Shannon and Cooper are among a number of families in the Bendigo area living with type-1 diabetes.
An online support group for Bendigo-based parents of children with the chronic autoimmune disease has more than 50 members.
More than 120,000 people are living with type-1 diabetes, nationwide, and more than 2000 people are diagnosed each year.
The peak age range for diagnosis is 10 – 14 years.
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It has been almost four years since Phoenix Macrae and his family found out he had the condition, which ruins the body’s ability to produce the hormone insulin.
It happened just before Christmas, during a 10-day stay in hospital.
With the benefit of hindsight, Phoenix’s father Peter Gale said the symptoms were evident.
They included insatiable thirst and frequent urination.
“He just wasn’t himself for a week or so. We thought he was sick,” Peter said.
When a blood test revealed sugar levels of 27, Phoenix was rushed to hospital.
Caring for a child with type-1 diabetes is no easy feat.
“Trying to give insulin to a two-year-old is like trying to give vegetables to a two-year-old,” Peter said.
In addition to checking blood sugar levels during the day, both Shannon and Peter know what it’s like to get up in the early hours of the morning to check their child’s levels are still stable.
Health outcomes seemed to be the furthest thing from mind for Cooper, 8, and Phoenix, 5, while meeting with the Bendigo Advertiser earlier this week.
“They’re just champs,” Shannon said.
“Diabetes doesn’t hold them back.”
About 200 people are expected to attend this year’s JDRF One Walk fundraising event in Bendigo, which supports research into type-1 diabetes.
Registrations open at 8am at Lake Weeroona on Sunday, ahead of a 9am walk.
Free activities – including a jumping castle, face painting and live music by Sherri Parry – will run until about 2pm.
Emma D'Agostino
Covering general news and Bendigo council.
Covering general news and Bendigo council.
