Medical research offers Paul the gift of life
“So much life to live…and it’s just getting better each day.”
At 28 years of age, life was good for Paul Jones…but he was about to get some news that would turn his world upside down.
Paul really enjoyed running and training for marathons. As a shift worker in the Port Kembla steelworks (now BlueScope Steel), Paul worked hard but, he admits that on his days off, he would also play hard.
“I was a 30-plus a day smoker. I was going out and having, what I thought at the time, was fun by drinking heavily. But, generally, I was in pretty good health.”
Then, in 1992, things began to change. He recalls, “I noticed I was urinating a lot, and I always seemed to have a real thirst that I just couldn’t quench. I was feeling fatigued and was shocked to realise that I’d lost 10 kilograms in about a fortnight. When my vision began to blur, I decided I needed to visit my doctor, who sent me for a blood test and to have my eyes checked.”
Despite these frightening symptoms, Paul was still working, until things took a turn for the worse and he became ill during a shift at work. Luckily, Paul’s mum Gwendolyn realised how sick he was, and before long, Paul was in the Emergency Department of his local hospital. He spent three days there, critically ill, but finally received a diagnosis. Paul had type 1 diabetes.
During his hospital stay, Paul began the regime that would become his day-to-day life – finger pricks; blood glucose tests; insulin injections; medical appointments; prescriptions and meal plans.
Depending on his blood sugar levels, Paul would have to force himself to eat, even though he was full; or starve himself, even though he was hungry.
“I always had to have fast acting sugars on hand, in case my blood sugar dropped too low. Even now, I can’t stand the smell of jellybeans or raw sugar. They remind me of being sick.”
Paul was able to feel the symptoms of his blood sugar levels rising but was increasingly less aware when they were dropping. This is known as hypoglycaemia unawareness, or a ‘hypo’, and it would leave Paul shaking, confused, dripping with sweat and needing help from his wife, Vicki. On a number of occasions, an ambulance was needed to treat Paul’s extreme hypos.
“Really, what kind of life is it to live each day, frightened of your own glucose levels?”
It was his wife Vicki, who first saw a procedure called pancreatic islet transplantation on television and wondered if Paul might be a suitable candidate for the procedure.
Pancreatic islet cell transplantation is a surgical procedure where donated pancreatic islets are transferred into the pancreas of a type 1 diabetic, allowing the body’s immune cells to start working, making and releasing insulin into the body. While this procedure is still in its infancy, it is achieving life-changing results for many patients.
After rigorous testing, Paul was told he would be a suitable candidate for the procedure, and he was placed on a waiting list for a potential donor. Almost a year later, Paul received what was perhaps the most important phone call of his life. He headed to hospital for the first of three islet transplant procedures.
WIMR’s Professor O’Connell and Professor Natasha Rogers are part of Paul’s transplant team.
Following the procedure, they continue to monitor his progress, and adjust his medication accordingly, in order to help maintain his blood sugar levels and prevent rejection of the transplanted cells.
Since Paul’s last transplant procedure, he says, “I don’t require any insulin injections over the day, and I have much better control over my blood sugar levels.
“It’s going to be an ongoing thing in my life, but I look at the bigger gains – I have the opportunity to live a longer, healthier life. I couldn’t be happier.”
Paul adds, “I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to be part of this trial. I now have a very personal understanding of why medical research is so important, and why it needs all our ongoing support. I encourage everyone to support medical research in Australia, and I also encourage everyone to register to become an organ donor.”
“Medical research offers the gift of life, and what could be more important than that?”
PAUL JONES
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