26KIT
Blunt talking
Identical twins Jackie and Jan talk about their T1D
diagnoses in the 1960s.
Jackie Stanton and Jan Gilkes
were born in September
1955. Jackie was born 10
minutes before Jan and was
known as 'twin one', while Jan was
'twin two'. They have taken part in
diabetic twins research at Guys and
St Thomas Hospital in London.
Gilkes recalls having had flu and
coming home from school and falling
asleep. She had been very thirsty and
was losing weight. On being taken
to the doctor, the GP guessed it was
Type 1 Diabetes and told her mother
to take her straight to hospital,
where she stayed for about six weeks.
She says, "I was six years old. They
did urine tests on me and started me
on insulin injections. They got me
balanced and I had to learn to inject
using a teddy bear and practicing on
an orange."
That was in February 1962.
Stanton was diagnosed later, in
1966, when she was ten. She says, "I
remember urine tests. It was ages
before we had blood test meters. I
had one injection of mixed insulin
a day to begin with. We were told
very little. Our mother did injections
in our arms, while we did them in
our legs. We were not told about
things like rotating injection sites
and our arms became quite swollen.
I remember the needles used to get
blunt; regular sewing needles were
far sharper! Our mum didn't know
she could ask for more needles. By
the time we were ten there were two
of us to inject. The NHS has kept us
alive, but it was tough in those days."
School days
More memories arise as they think
about going up to secondary school.
Says Stanton, "When we were young
teens at school we were seen as
The NHS has kept
us alive, but it
was tough ~
Jackie Stanton
my diabetes kit