“It controls her whole life”, Isle of Wight mother Lauren Gallop said of her daughter’s Type One Diabetes which forces her to “think about everything she’s doing, constantly”.
Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service days before World Diabetes Day (14th November), the parent representative for the Paediatric Diabetes Team at St Mary’s Hospital wants to spread awareness of the condition which she said has become “drastically” more prevalent.
10,500 IW diabetic diagnoses
It comes as the Isle of Wight’s Diabetes Group reports over 10,500 diabetic diagnoses on the Island and after recent research from Diabetes UK shows nearly nine in ten people with Type One Diabetes experience blame and judgement for it.
The condition is where your body cannot make insulin, a hormone that helps use glucose (sugar) for energy, according to the NHS.
It generally begins in children and young adults but can occur at all ages, caused by a problem with the immune system.
Gallop: “It controls her whole life”
Lauren (pictured centre above) said,
“My daughter’s a Type One Diabetic – she was diagnosed at nine years old during Covid. She’s found it really hard. She’s got two siblings at home and they can obviously eat and do what they want, whereas she has to account for everything that she’s eating and it’s been a massive change on her – it controls her whole life.
“She has to think about everything she’s doing, constantly, plan ahead for everything, she has to carbohydrate count…everything that’s carbohydrates, she has to count for and put it into her pump before she eats so that that controls her blood sugars.”
Family support
Two friends she described as “great family support” since the diagnosis, echoed her daughter’s plight.
Kayleigh Williams said,
“It’s a pain…as a child you don’t want to have to be doing that every time you want a snack.
Beth Trueman added,
“And it makes you feel ill all the time – you’re thirsty all the time, you get headaches all the time, you need to wee all the time.”
They also pointed to misconceptions and a need to break the “stigma” around Type One Diabetes, with many believing “you’ve eaten too much”.
New buddy system
Lauren said there is “not a lot” of support for the condition on the Island at present, but parent representatives have recently suggested a new “buddy system” for the hospital, providing a point of contact such as a parent or child in the same situation for people who are newly diagnosed.
Awareness is important for early diagnoses where “less damage is done” and there is quicker treatment, she explained.
Her next steps include continued fundraising to host more parent-led meet ups and to have a “community on the Island that comes together and supports each other”.
“Unless you know about diabetes, when you’re thrown into that situation it’s really lonely and rubbish.”
This article is from the BBC’s LDRS (Local Democracy Reporter Service) scheme, which News OnTheWight is taking part in. Some alterations and additions may have been made by OnTheWight. Ed
