My Golden Childhood XI

Summer of Terrible Thirst...

In the summer of 1972/73 I turned 10 years of age. I had always dreaded needles and had been told that I didn't have any vaccinations due until January '73 when I had turned 10. Whew! What a relief. During that Winter, though I don't recall it now, I apparently suffered a really bad dose of the flu and took a good while to get over it. Then I seemed to fade away loosing weight steadily all year. 1972 was a big year for us. My eldest sister married in the October. This was a huge event for me as a junior bridesmaid but I was teary and emotional all through it. By the long Christmas holidays I was getting thin and lethargic. I was constantly thirsty...dying of thirst... and constantly running to the toilet. To Dad and Mum the symptoms were familiar. They took me along to the doctor and sure enough I was diagnosed Type 1 diabetic (Juvenile onset it was called then). I spent a week in the local hospital getting stable and learning how to manage this new condition and headed home, with an injection to look forward to every day for the rest of my life!

Dad took on the giving of injections each morning and mum ably looked after my diet. Since we ate very well this was not too big of a deal. Mum also supervised the urine testing a couple of times a day. I had to collect the urine and then we put a few drops in a test tube with the testing tablet and the colour change indicated the amount of glucose present. One morning Dad was late in from the dairy and Mum suggested she administer my insulin. From that day forward I gave my own shots!

Urine testing for glucose, in a test tube.

In the May school holidays of '73 and '74 I attended the Diabetic children's camp at Tallebudgera on the Gold Coast. This was both a scary and an exciting adventure for the little girl from the Central Queensland Bush. It was also a great learning experience for me.

Being diabetic did affect my school life, particularly before it was diagnosed and managed, when I was unwell. Once I got stabilized I pretty much carried on as normal and once again started to achieve good academic results and excel at sports.

I remember well my first hypo (hypoglycemia - low blood sugar). Traveling home on the school bus I began to feel woozie and put my head down. Every thing felt and looked furry and I was quite spaced out! Our dear bus driver, who knew us well and had been forewarned by Mum and Dad kindly drove us up to the house to spare me the kilometer walk. This was the talk of the school, not so much my hypo, but that Mr W. actually drove someone right to their house! Unheard of...

Thankfully, test strips became readily available for testing urine before I had to go to boarding school in 1975. These showed glucose, protein and ketones by the colour changes present.

Initially I used glass syringes and metal needles which required frequent boiling up to sterilize them . Over time these were replaced by disposable syringes and tips which were also much more convenient.

Boarding school was definitely the biggest hurdle for me especially with the need to keep my diabetes well controlled. No doubt it was a huge thing for Mum and Dad too, but you know as a kid, I only saw things from my point of view and it was only years later that I discovered just how difficult this had been for them. Added to that my sister had died in 1969, really only a few years before, primarily from complications of diabetes.

These days having diabetes is not the terrible thing it was then. We have glucometers which test blood glucose in a matter of seconds, meaning that our diet can be more flexible, improved insulin, and good medical services in all areas of care. I do have four injections a day now but while this is an inconvenience it also produces a much more stable control and long term better outcomes.

I have never wanted to be identified as that girl/ woman with diabetes, preferring to be identified by other characteristics, but I have to admit it has been a huge factor in the course my life has taken. In my late teens and early 20s I had many "close calls" and hospitalizations due to ketoacidosis and consequently did to myself a lot of long term damage. I did not get my act together until the Lord graciously saved me, but those complications have been a big factor in my working life, bearing of children and health to this day.