"Ok, let's put all this in the kitchen...
...and we can start to look at what we're going to have for dinner."
I'm Kate
and I'm Clive, and our six year old son Charlie
has type 1 diabetes
but he's a great kid isn't he?
He is a great kid.
"ok guys, we are going to have chicken stirfry tonight"
So Charlie was diagnosed when he just turned five, 9 months ago now.
"So we'll chop it up into nice little pieces.
Can you do that?
Can you do it by yourself?"
There was a very steep learning curve, learning about sugars and carbohydrates, and what the
relationship is between those and Charlie's condition and insulin management.
"Alright, in goes the coriander."
"Oh, sorry mum!"
"That's ok."
When parents find out that they have a young child with diabetes,
it can be really daunting initially.
But with some help and some support and some education, most families get into a really
good routine at home.
And their children thrive and do very well.
Straight away we were looking at packaging and hidden sugars, and making sure that he
wasn't having any of those.
So that can be a challenge when other kids are eating things, ice-creams, particularly
in the summer.
He has to learn now that he can't do that.
Charlie will typically ask if things are sugar-free, so I guess that's part of Charlie's
learning curve as well, to develop his own awareness around foods.
"How many carbs is there in this capsicum, mum?"
"Well capsicum is a three food, so there's no carbs in it, so Charlie can eat as much
as capsicum as he likes."
We did always have a healthy diet before diagnosis, so it hasn't changed too much.
We certainly make sure we have really balanced meals.
We always have carbohydrates, particularly now that we're carb-counting.
Protein, dairy.
"Ok Charlie we're going to do a quick finger prick, alright mate?"
"Sixteen point two, that's a little bit high, we need to give you some extra insulin for
that Charlie."
So what we're going to do today is we're going to sort these foods into the five food groups,
and look at what healthy eating is for a small child with diabetes.
We're doing quite a number of studies on food in the Institute at the moment, we're looking
at the relationship between fat and protein and insulin requirements.
We're learning that foods that have a lot of fat and protein in them, like pizzas and
lasagnas, might need a little bit extra insulin.
There's a phone line parents can ring and speak to one of the nurses during the day,
so there's always someone here to help.
"Frances needs to exercise and eat lots of healthy food..."
Emily is Charlie's older sister, she's certainly become fully immersed in it and changed her
diet, and she knows a lot of information about type 1 diabetes now.
"But keeping fit and healthy puts everyone in a good mood."
Kids with diabetes can live normal lives, they can eat normal healthy food that all
other children eat.
Looking after a child with diabetes just takes that little bit of extra planning and work.
I think you learn tricks of the trade, so I spend time on a Sunday getting things ready
for the week.
Freezing meals, things like that, that you can pull out in the week.
I think an important thing with type 1 diabetes is that you try very hard that it doesn't
define your child or your family, and it's something that you learn to manage and live with.
You don't need to think of it as a restricted diet, it's just a healthy diet.
Charlie is a happy little boy, he loves his superheroes, he's full of life and...
... and he does love his food as well, he does love to eat.
And he enjoys the food that we provide him, so that's awesome.