'Nobody understood what diabetes was in those days' says Harrogate Deputy Mayor who was diagnosed aged 11
Harrogate Deputy Mayor has talked for the first time about living with diabetes since she was just 11-years-old.
Chrissie Holmes was well known for her years of dedicated work for the community even before she became a councillor for the Starbeck ward in Harrogate Town Council last year, then Deputy Mayor of Harrogate in May.
This highly-respected figure is quietly proud to have received The Robert Lawrence medal which is awarded to people who have lived with diabetes for 60 years.
But she still remembers the day she was diagnosed with Type 1 (Diabetes Melitus) aged 11 back in the 1960s after her parents noticed that the young Chrissie was losing half a stone in weight every four or five days.
Now, with the launch of Diabetes Week, which runs from June 8-14, Chrissie Holmes is opening up about her journey which saw her grow up in an era when diabetes sufferers were often bullied at school and treatment was intrusive and rudimentary to what she says is a far better situation today.
Looking back, Chrissie Holmes said: “I wish I’d known then what I know now, all those years ago.
"Nobody understood what diabetes was in those days.
"It wasn’t even talked about. Kids at school would torment me.
"They thought I was contagious.
"I’ve had to watch what I eat since 1996 but things have improved so much since then.
"But I believe my experience has made me more caring.
"If diabetes is not fully controlled, it can lead to major problems.
"It can cause heart problems or kidney problems.
"Or you can even go blind.”
Thinking back to her childhood, the always positive Chrissie remembers how frightening it was as a young girl to cope with the daily regime of injections.
"One day the nurse came to me with a syringe in hand and said "right, here you go, you have got to do your own injections now".
"I was terrified. I manage to draw up the insulin and eventually inserted the needle but I sat there for a good 10 minutes thinking I was pushing the plunger of the syringe down but I wasn’t, I just froze.
"The nurse was getting impatient with me and told me if you don’t do it you won’t be able to go home and you will have to get use to it because you will have to do it for the rest of your life!
"I was terrified and cried and cried.
"The eventual introduction of disposable needles was a massive step forward.”
Even after she grew up, visits to hospital remained regular in her adult years, says Chrissie.
But she was determined to have a happy and fulfilling life, which she did achieve.
"Motherhood which can be tricky if your Blood Glucose isn’t stable but thankfully, I was blessed with a bouncing baby boy, although spent most of the gestation period under the careful eye of Dr Baker at St James Hospital in Leeds."
Chrissie Holmes says she will be eternally grateful to the crucial advice and support for living with diabetes she has received over the years from Harrogate’s Dr Stewart, Dr Hammond and Janet Carling, a recently-retired and highly-valued diabetes nurse specialist at Harrogate District Hospital.
This busy community organiser and volunteer has given much back, working for more than 40 years service to Diabetes UK.
She believes raising awareness about diabetes has never been more vital than now.
"It’s become more important than ever because diabetes is on the increase in the UK, not just Type 1 but the more chronic Type 2.
"The treatment of diabetes is far, far better than when I was a child.
"One day I hope there will be a cure for it."