Meet Hilary

Hilary, 14 years, type 1 juvenile onset diabetes and coeliac disease.

In grade 3, Hilary began to complain of feeling tired all the time, she began to lose weight and had frequent bouts of vomiting.

One day she felt sick and stayed home from school. By evening she couldn’t walk and her mother, Megan, took her to the doctor’s where a urine test came back full of glucose. Hilary was taken immediately to the RCH. Doctors stabilised her and by morning “we had our little girl back again,” Megan said.

Hilary also has coeliac disease, an autoimmune disease where the body mistakenly produces antibodies that attack its own tissue. As a diabetic, Hilary needs to eat carbohydrates which have a low glycemic index, but many of these foods she can’t eat because of her coeliac disease.

Hilary is also on an insulin pump, which means she can automatically inject herself via an infusion line, rather than injecting herself twice a day.

“Diabetes is a serious but manageable disease if you recognise it, get good care and stay updated with changing treatments,” Megan said. “We are so thankful to the RCH for the stunning care they provide and all they do to help us manage this serious and relatively common disease.”