Nancy Wallace and her daughter Colleen Wallace
Welcome to Breakthrough T1D NorCal’s blog, One on 1, a series of interviews with people who live with type 1 diabetes (T1D). Members of the community talk about how T1D affects them, how they manage it and what they have accomplished despite it. With Mother’s Day approaching, we caught up with T1D Mom, Nancy Wallace, and her daughter Colleen Wallace who has lived with T1D for 57 years.
What was it like when Colleen was diagnosed with T1D 57 years ago?
Nancy: In 1964, my husband and our six children took a road trip to visit family in Washington state for Christmas. As we drove up, the boys kept saying, “It’s not fair. Colleen is drinking all the Kool-Aid.” We saw old friends and neighbors, including the doctor who had delivered all my children. When I told them about Colleen’s constant thirst, he said he would send me something to test her. At that time a urine strip was the only thing available. When I called to tell him the color of the strip, he said to get to the hospital right away. It was heartbreaking to see that skinny little nine-year old when they told her she would have to start getting shots several times a day. Her dad was a hero when he let her practice on him.
Colleen: We had nothing more than the urine strip to know how much insulin to inject. We now know those strips gave us a 20 minute late reading. I injected insulin and often bent the needles shooting in the same areas. I ate a lot of carrots because my doctor said I could eat all I wanted of those.
How has your outlook of T1D changed over the years?
Colleen: I remember when I was young I heard one of my mother’s friends say that I was not a normal child anymore – I would always be considered an abnormal person now that I had diabetes. When I heard that comment I decided I would prove her wrong – I am a very normal person living my life with an abnormal disease.
Tell us about your athletic accomplishments.
Colleen: I have always been very athletic, playing basketball and softball all through school, including college. I did small triathlons along side my brother as I grew older. He moved on to do the Hawaii Ironman, but I knew my limits. As I continue to age, I still l run 3-4 miles and bike 25-30 miles. I walk 18 holes playing golf on a very up and down golf course. I like to be “on the go”. My older friends still call me abnormal but that is only because I still stay very active.
What impresses you most about Colleen?
Nancy: I am so proud that Colleen has always and still leads a very normal, active life. She never let diabetes get in the way of anything she wanted to do.
How are you managing T1D today?
Colleen: I now wear every diabetes mechanical gadget you can wear – the Dexcom continuous glucose monitor, the Omnipod insulin injector which has helped tremendously. I do have low and high blood sugars but I carry a 6.7 A1C average. I still consider myself as an older normal adult living with an abnormal disease.
What do you want people to know about Breakthrough T1D?
Nancy: We are telling our story in the hope of encouraging others to continue to support the future of Breakthrough T1D. Research to control T1D has been amazing but there is still more to be done. The progress over the years is the remarkable result of the research funded by Breakthrough T1D.