LIVING with type1 diabetes for 50 years is no mean feat and an achievement that hasn’t gone unnoticed for Patricia Aitken.
The Altona resident is one of 19 Victorians to be given the Kellion Victory Medal for living with diabetes for more than five decades.
“I’ve always lived my life first and worried about the effects on my diabetes second,” Mrs Aitken says. “When I do something, I think how it’s going to impact my diabetes and try to fit it in with my lifestyle rather than say I can’t do it.”
For people with type1 diabetes, the body produces little or no insulin, as insulin-producing cells have been destroyed by an autoimmune reaction.
Mrs Aitken, who was diagnosed with diabetes at age 10, consults with an endocrinologist (diabetes specialist), educator and dietician to manage her condition.
Since she was diagnosed there have been many improvements in the type of insulin used and advances in how it is implemented.
Synthetic insulin has replaced that derived from animals, and instead of a needle a pump is more commonly used to administer a slow but steady supply of insulin.
Mrs Aitken trialled the pump while she was pregnant with her now 23-year-old daughter.
Maintaining a healthy diet is important, Mrs Aitken says, but sweet things can be eaten, provided insulin levels are monitored.
“You can pretty well eat anything, but at the same time you should eat a healthy diet because there is a relationship with heart disease and diabetes.
“You would be pretty silly to eat a high-fat diet,” she says.
“Basically, when I first got it [diabetes] there were really strict rules about not eating lollies and cakes.
“These days it’s more relaxed. As long as you eat a healthy diet and compensate with insulin then it’s manageable.”
The Kellion medal was named in honour of the late Claude Kellion AM, a Sydney businessman who established a foundation to promote diabetes research after his 38-year-old son died from diabetes complications.
Diabetes Australia Victorian chief executive Greg Johnson says Kellion recipients are an inspiration to others with the condition.
“These people who have lived with diabetes for 50 years or more deserve our absolute respect and admiration.
“We can learn a lot from their determination and attitude towards life,” he says.
