When it comes to accurately describing outback Australia, the remote Queensland town of Blackhall literally boasts a memorial to the iconic ‘black stump’.
But while the Turner family has always enjoyed living and working in isolated locations, when (then) seven-year-old Fred violently vomited and then slumped against his mother, Emma, on Anzac day in 2015, they suddenly felt a very long way from help.
Emma is an experienced rural midwife, nurse and a highly regarded health educator – but in this honest and insightful Episode #89 of the Flying Doctor podcast, Emma admits that nothing fully prepares you for the moment when your child is diagnosed with a life-long illness like Type 1 diabetes.
After Fred appeared to be taking a long time to recover from the flu and also began wetting the bed at night, Emma soon realised his symptoms were adding up to Type 1 diabetes.
Fred was a text book example of the four Type 1 Ts. Tired, toilet, thirsty, thinner.
From a daunting flight on an RFDS plane to a whole new world of testing and medications, this is an episode of the Flying Doctor that every parent and caregiver will want to hear
