In 2018, Arc Infrastructure committed to contributing $300,000 over three years to assist in the development and roll-out of the Family Centre’s young adults and adults’ community.
Gabby Lane, who heads up the Family Centre’s Adults’ Community, said thanks to the funding from Arc Infrastructure the Family Centre has been able to create a place for connection, support, clinical services and inspiration for young adults and adults.
“Importantly, it also gives parents of young children living with type 1 great comfort knowing that the Family Centre is available for their children at every age and stage, particularly when they transition from Perth Children’s Hospital to the adult hospital system,” Gabby said.
Management Accountant at Arc Infrastructure, Adina, shares the story of her son Logan, who lives with type 1 diabetes.
Logan is just one of the many people the Type 1 Diabetes Family Centre supports every day – and someone who will benefit from the young adults and adults’ community in the future.
Meet Logan
Logan is your average ten-year-old boy – he loves spending his free time playing sport, hanging with his dog Zac or gaming with his mates.
Despite being a happy young kid, Logan has overcome challenges many children his age wouldn’t dream. After being rushed to hospital with extreme exhaustion, vomiting and losing consciousness, Logan was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at just three years old.
His mum, and Management Account at Arc Infrastructure, Adina, shares a bit of their story.
"As soon as Logan was diagnosed, our lives changed. I spent one week in hospital with Logan, learning how to administer his insulin and manage his sugar levels before we could take him home.
Once we were home, the biggest fear for my husband, Greg and I was, and still is, that Logan’s blood sugar levels go low during the night, go undetected and he doesn’t wake up in the morning.
Logan wears an insulin pump all day and night that eliminates the need for injections. He also wears a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) that monitors his blood sugar level.
The CGM displays the results on our mobile phones or laptops and alerts us via an alarm at any time of the day or night whenever Logan’s blood sugar level is too high or too low.
Type 1 diabetes is incessant. It affects the whole family 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It affects the food you eat, when you eat it, the activities you can do and it keeps you awake at night.
Each day Logan takes a packed lunch to school labelled with the calculated number of carbohydrates, and he carries a kit containing a blood sugar meter, insulin pen and jelly beans everywhere he goes. He does two finger-prick tests per day and he needs to calibrate his CGM twice a day.
Logan’s teachers are trained each year and a medical plan is drawn up by the school with all activities planned in advance, in consultation with the family. His teachers are also in constant communication from day-to-day to talk through any activity that could impact Logan’s sugar levels.
Arc Infrastructure has been very supportive and flexible, allowing me to work from home, work part-time and be on-call. Without this support, I wouldn’t have been able to rejoin the workforce and for that, I am really appreciative."
Logan and the family joined the Type 1 Diabetes Family Centre when they opened in 2015.
The Family Centre serves people with type 1 diabetes in Western Australia, providing holistic clinical care and mental health support alongside warm and friendly social support, unique education programs, inspirational role models and action-packed camps and events to help people impacted by type 1 diabetes to live without limits.
About type 1 diabetes
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune condition where the pancreas no longer produces insulin, a hormone that is essential for processing carbohydrates in food. Although it can occur at any age, it usually develops in childhood.
Type 1 impacts more than 10,000 West Australians.
A person diagnosed with type 1 diabetes is dependant on injected insulin or an insulin pump for the rest of their lives, and must manage their blood glucose levels around-the-clock.
Type 1 diabetes is not preventable.
Symptoms include excessive thirst, constant hunger, frequent urination, rapid weight loss, fatigue, nausea, vomiting and blurred vision. If you think you or someone you know has these symptoms, seek medical help immediately.
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