Scott Irvin and his family went from one emergency to another – bracing for a cyclone while rushing their six-year-old son, Parker, to the hospital, where he was unexpectedly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.
Parker had been feeling unwell for a couple of days, but by Wednesday night, he began vomiting.
The next morning – the day before the Ex-Cyclone Alfred was predicted to kick off, Scott took him to the doctor, who immediately suspected diabetes. Faced with an urgent decision, Scott opted to drive Parker straight to Gold Coast University Hospital.
“They pretty much told me straight away that it was possibly type 1 diabetes,” Scott said.
“He was in critical care for a couple of days because his blood sugar had gone so high that his ketones also went up. They had to be really careful because if they brought it down too fast, it could cause complications.”
By the time they arrived at Gold Coast University Hospital, Parker had lost significant weight, was visibly weak, and appeared dazed.
Doctors worked carefully to stabilise his condition, bringing him back to normal health slowly and gently.
“Everyone here has been amazing, honestly,” Scott said.
“They did an amazing job. We’re very lucky to have this medical system in Australia. If this had happened two days later, we might have been stuck at home in the storm, not realising how serious it was.”
Meanwhile, Scott’s wife Melissa was at home caring for their three-year-old and seven-month-old baby, unable to stay at the hospital.
With the cyclone approaching, Melissa’s father drove up from Sydney to help manage the chaos at home.
Now, as things return normal post-cyclone, the family is adjusting to a new normal.
“We are adjusting to the sudden influx of medical information, trying to grasp the lifelong implications of type 1 diabetes,” Scott said.
This isn’t the first major health crisis the family has faced. Their second son was born with a heart defect, diagnosed just six hours after birth. Now, with Parker’s diabetes, the family feels like they’ve been dealt another tough hand.
Despite the shock, Scott is finding comfort in connecting with others who have managed diabetes for years, including his sister who was diagnosed with the same condition in her 20s and now works as a nurse.
“It’s just a new lifestyle,” he said. “We’ve got lots of hospital visits, lots of counting carbs, injections, all that sort of stuff. But we’ll manage.”