By BRITTANY PIASENTIN
LEADING a normal, healthy life is the key to living with diabetes, according to Martin Bacon, who has lived with the condition his whole life.
On 15 October, Pakenham resident Martin Bacon was among over 30 Victorians to receive the Kellion Victory Medal for living with diabetes for 50 years. The award recognises the lifestyle and choices that enable diabetics in Victoria to live as normally as possible, although Mr Bacon sees the funny side.
“I laugh about it with my sons because it is quite funny that they give you a medal for living for 50 years,” he said.
Mr Bacon’s message to diabetic people is to live a life that is as normal as possible, exercising regularly, relaxing scheduled meal times and trying to fit in the world rather than making it fit in with you.
He saw the proof of his own philosophy when he attended the award ceremony for the Kellion Victory Awards.
“I noticed and was very impressed to see that every recipient of the award was in shape, and had obviously looked after themselves. The only person in the whole ceremony who was in a wheelchair was not a recipient,” he said.
Mr Bacon was diagnosed at 13 months old, when his health continuously deteriorated while he was in hospital for over a month. A student nurse suggested testing for diabetes, and after rapidly improving, Mr Bacon has since been told that he became a benchmark for the testing for diabetes on babies.
In the 50 years that he has been living with diabetes, Mr Bacon says that much has improved in the treatment, medication and monitoring of diabetes, and has been able to live a healthy life with the exception of a change of insulin.
“There was a bad time when they changed the insulin medication; I was taken to hospital in an ambulance 32 times in one year. My wife at the time recognised the symptoms that everything was not OK and saved my life.”
In Pakenham, 1630 residents live with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. Recognising the symptoms when a diabetic is in trouble is something that Mr Bacon encourages friends, family and colleagues of a person living with diabetes to be aware of and look out for, especially during the night. Common symptoms include confusion, fatigue and the diabetic acting as if they were drunk.
The 22nd World Diabetes Congress will come to Melbourne on 2-6 December with internationally renowned speakers and exhibitors, sharing their expertise, research and discoveries in all fields of diabetes. To register for this event, visit www.worlddiabetescongress.org
