Hello! My name is Sarah Gatward and I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in March 1972, a few months after my seventh birthday.
Although this was 50 years after the first patient was given a life-saving injection of insulin, the treatments available remained very unsophisticated and a long way from replicating the workings of a pancreas in a person without type 1.
In the years since I have been diagnosed, I have seen huge changes in the treatment of the condition. I am very fortunate that in the early years of diagnosis, my parents continuously tried to find better ways to manage the condition. They were not afraid to question the health care professionals when accepted treatments did not work well for me. This in turn led them to encourage me to participate in research projects, as opportunities became available….
School photo taken in autumn 1971, 3 months before diagnosis
My family in 1978 – Mum, Dad, Debbie and me -before our 3 year stay in Connecticut, USA
The Gower Peninsular in 1998 with Izzy, me and Tristan
Me, Tristan, Izzy and Neil visiting Strasbourg in April 2018
Me and Neil, April 2018
Herbie – a different type of glucose monitor. He would not move until I treated a low blood glucose.
Me, Mum and Dad with my Alan Nabarro medal
Me
…I am grateful for the care and support shown by many health care professionals in the field of type 1 diabetes. It is a challenging condition with no easy solutions and those that recognise this and work in partnership with me as I strive to maintain good control have been invaluable in helping support me with my ongoing management of the condition
This site contains blogs looking at my life with the condition. I spent the 2021-22 year writing a series of blogs looking at different aspects of life with the condition over my first 50 years of diagnosis. I have also written a series of blogs looking at the difficulties of managing type 1 whilst going through the perimenopause. There is very little information available to help women with type 1 navigate this stage of life and I hope that these blogs will be helpful for others to know that they are not alone in experiencing these difficulties.