One Walk towards a diabetes cure

Her daughter, Audrey, 18, was unexpectedly diagnosed with T1D at six.

There was no family history of the condition, instead, hers was brought about after having a virus that weakened her immune system.

She had all the warning signs of T1D — weight loss, aching legs, fatigue, thirst, vomiting, stomach aches — but the cause was unrecognisable to parents who were unfamiliar with the condition.

Thankfully, Ms Currie recalls, Audrey was diagnosed before she became really sick.

After a couple of days of treatment in a Ballarat hospital and a blood test to confirm the diagnosis, the family were sent home to navigate an intimidating journey caring for their now high-risk daughter and sister.

Ms Currie said aside from the shock and the influx of information they had to process, there was also a period of grief.

“The life you thought your child was going to have changes,” she said.

“Your emotional state, temperature, physical activity, what you eat — everything has an effect on blood sugar.”

There was a time Audrey was subjected to 12 finger pricks and 10 injections a day.

It meant setting an alarm every three hours, even through the night, as her blood sugars went up and down like a yo-yo.

Ms Currie has seen many advances since their world was turned upside down 12 years ago.

T1D-positive people now have access to CGM (continuous glucose monitoring) trackers, worn under the skin, which allow them to keep check on their glucose levels at all times without the need for finger-pricking.

But even though Audrey has lived with the condition for two-thirds of her life, the family still runs into new challenges 12 years later as she gets older.

Now, she’d like to party with her friends without having to monitor everything she eats and drinks.

If one day she decides to have a baby, pregnancy will complicate her condition’s management further.

Ms Currie said T1D was vastly different to type 2 diabetes, a detail largely unknown to the general public.

It’s an autoimmune condition that more than 130,000 Australians are living with, growing by eight each day.

It occurs when the body mistakenly attacks cells in the pancreas needed to produce insulin and it cannot be managed with diet or lifestyle changes.

“You can be plodding along living life and it comes out of the blue,” Ms Currie said, noting that she knew of cases where people had been first diagnosed as babies, right through to 92.

“It’s an isolating condition where people feel defined by their illness.

“You can die within days if you stop paying attention.”

Besides the time expense to manage T1D, it also comes at a huge financial cost.

An insulin pump is $14,000 and needs to be replaced every four years.

There are consumables, such as canulas, needed to run the pump on top of that.

“It’s for life. Once you have it, you have it for life,” Ms Currie said.

“There is no known cause, no cure for this autoimmune disease.”

The JDRF One Walk — a worldwide event — raises funds for medical research, finding cures and causes.

The initiative invites participants to fundraise for their ‘special some1’, a loved one affected by T1D, in the lead-up to the free walking event that everyone is welcome to join in solidarity and support with diabetics, their friends and families.

“I do believe in Audrey’s lifetime there will be a cure,” Ms Currie said.

Shepparton’s JDRF One Walk will take place this Sunday, March 23, at Tom Collins Dve from 9am (the walking component of the event begins at 10am).

Supporters are invited to wear blue and orange and bring a picnic lunch.

Drinks donated by Woolworths, including sugar-free varieties, will be available to purchase for $1 each, as will coloured hairspray.

Ms Currie said the event was an “amazing opportunity to not only raise money, but for people to make connections” for both younger or newly diagnosed people and those who’ve been living with the condition for any length of time.

∎ For more information on the walk, visit: walk.jdrf.org.au