VOLUME 7 NUMBER 3 • SEPTEMBER 2010
111
SA JOURNAL OF DIABETES & VASCULAR DISEASE
V
iv Skinner and his wife, Ruby, are two of the
lynchpins of the Pietermaritzburg branch of
Diabetes SA, along with their colleagues, Felic-
ity Giles and Sheila Pillay. They give their services free
of charge and are well known in the community for
their commitment to diabetes education and support.
Local general practitioners have been known to refer
patients to them, advising, ‘They know more about
diabetes than I do’.
‘We probably do’, says Ruby. ‘I am a type 1 dia-
betic who has lived with the condition for 49 years and
I’ve been on insulin all that time. I can therefore bring
first-hand insight into my
counselling and guidance
that most doctors can’t.
For example, I can guide
patients in respect of
dealing with the need to
inject themselves.’
Viv describes their
operation as a support
group with three main
areas of focus. The first
is the ongoing support of
existing diabetics. To this
end, three counsellors,
trained at the Centre for
Diabetes and Endocrinol-
ogy in Johannesburg, are
available for consulta-
tion three days a week.
‘We also work to make
this expensive condition
cheaper’, says Viv, ‘selling
a range of testing equip-
ment, recipe books and
diabetic-friendly products
at reasonable prices’. Ruby adds that they aim to en-
sure that the diabetics they work with lead as normal
a life as possible.
The second focus area targets Pietermaritzburg’s
undiagnosed diabetics. To this end, the three coun-
sellors go out ‘along the highways and byways’ as
Viv puts it, setting up tables and undertaking random
screening at shopping centres, for example. ‘We have
identified quite a few undiagnosed diabetics this way’,
he says. They have also partnered with large firms in
the area such as Hulamin and Illovo Sugar. ‘We have
attended wellness days and tested entire staff com-
plements, thus raising awareness and “spreading the
gospel”, as it were.’
The third priority is children, whose needs are dif-
ferent from those of adult diabetics. Every year Felicity
Giles and her husband are instrumental in arranging
camps for juvenile diabetics, usually at a wilderness
area. ‘These camps give them the opportunity to mix
with other diabetic children, which allows them to
realise that they are not alone, as diabetic children
can feel very isolated when constantly surrounded by
“normal” siblings and classmates. We help them come
to terms with the fact that diabetes will require a life-
time of accommodations, but that there is “life after
all” following a diagnosis. It is very rewarding to see
diabetic children gain control and excel, both at sport
and academically, often as a direct consequence of
the healthy diet and disciplined behaviour the condi-
tion requires. One might almost be tempted to say that
for some children it can be good to be a diabetic’,
comments Viv.
When it comes to challenges, the branch faces
many of the same issues that confront other diabe-
tes educators, notably the anger and denial that fol-
low diagnosis, along with what Ruby describes as the
perception that diabetes is a ‘death sentence’ and
A happy group of children attending a children’s camp for
diabetic children, which is held annually.
DIABETES – A LIFESTYLE, NOT A
DISEASE
Diabetes Personality
S Afr J Diabetes Vasc Dis 2010;
7
: 111–112
