Knowledge, determination and luck
Niamh O’Sullivan reveals what it’s like for a dietitian to be diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and coeliac herself.
Irish-born Niamh O’Sullivan was in her third year of Nutritional Sciences at University College Cork in Ireland when she was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. She says, “It turned my world upside down.”
With her final exams just weeks away, she was hospitalised for several days and then, after discharge, had to deal with all the life changes that follow diagnosis. She vividly remembers the way blood-sugar highs and lows played havoc with her brain as she tried to study. But she persevered and, to her amazement, passed.
Until then, she hadn’t been sure what she wanted to do with her nutrition degree. ‘Now I thought I could turn a negative into a positive by combining my insight into diabetes with nutritional knowledge.”
She applied for a scholarship to study a Masters in Dietetics at King’s College in London. “I doubted I’d even get through to the interview stage, but in my application I wrote about my diagnosis and how it had made me a stronger person who was more focused and determined than ever.
“The day I opened the email and read those words telling me I’d been accepted, I broke down in tears. It was the defining moment in my life that showed me things would be OK.”
After qualifying as a dietitian, Niamh worked in the UK, then followed her partner across the world to New Plymouth. “I’m so fortunate to have moved to a community that’s given me a home, great friends and lots of opportunities.” She works for Sport Taranaki’s Future Champions programme and on the healthy lifestyle programme Whānau Pakari. She also volunteers tirelessly, especially for Diabetes Youth. “I want to pay my good fortune forward and give back into the community that’s supported me.”
A NEW SURPRISE: COELIAC
Niamh says, “Coeliac disease came into my life two years ago, and it was all down to my professional knowledge that I got diagnosed.
“I used to take an outpatient clinic in London where I saw a lot of coeliac patients. I learned that sometimes coeliac disease can present as mere fatigue; you won’t always have all the gut symptoms. I knew that the risk of getting another autoimmune condition is higher if you have one already, so when I started noticing how tired I was, I went to the doctor and begged for coeliac tests. Had I not been a dietitian there’s no way I would have gone unless I had physical symptoms, so I might not have been diagnosed for years.
“After my positive results came back. I told my whole family they should be tested, as it has family links. Sure enough, my sister – who thought she had IBS for years – has coeliac disease too.” There’s a silver lining: “It makes family events a lot more enjoyable not being the only one with coeliac. My husband’s sister also has coeliac disease, so I’ve plenty of people to be swapping recipes with!”
Niamh says, “Dealing with a gluten free diet and carbohydrate counting can get overwhelming. I really feel for people getting diagnosed with coeliac disease who don’t have an interest in nutrition beforehand ... If you have cooking skills and can prepare most food at home yourself, going gluten free gets a lot easier over time.” But she stresses, “Being a dietitian doesn’t in any way make me immune to slipups. I try hard, but occasionally I let something creep into my diet that contains gluten, such as a recent nut bar debacle! I pay the price with fatigue and stomach aches.
“There’s also the ‘third party influence’ that none of us can control – chefs and friends that think they’ve made an item gluten free but accidentally added soy sauce or stock and don’t let you know. We need to trust in the training that chefs are getting and maybe try to help our friends at dinner parties by looking through their recipes in advance. We’re all human, and if we can try to limit these experiences, then that’s the best we can do.”