Valerie Eidam is 22 years old and since the summer of 2008 has been studying Applied Cultural Science at the Leuphana University in Lüneburg. Hamburg is not far from there, so she is able to make the most of all the cultural offerings of a big city.  Valerie Eidam also loves sport, going to the cinema and visiting museums.

She is interested in foreign languages. A great opportunity to learn a new language presented itself with a year in Hungary straight after the completion of her matriculation. Professor Karin Lange, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Diabetes-Parents-Journal, met up with Valerie.

During a holiday in Holland, Valerie Eidam and her family realized something was not quite right. Valerie was drinking five to six litres a day, and was constantly fatigued. Everything that she would have otherwise loved to do, such as swimming and bike riding, were now too exhausting. When they got home, her father took her to a paediatrician. Diagnosis: diabetes. Valerie was immediately admitted to hospital. She was just 10 years old.

Valerie Eidam: At 10 years old, I didn’t understand what having a chronic illness meant. I was very sad about having to stay in hospital and not being able to go back to school after the holidays. I still have good memories of the time is spent in hospital though—probably because I felt so much better.


What helped you the most at that time? What was it that kept you going? What tips would you give to parents today?

At 10 years old, one does not realize what it means to have a chronic illness that is incurable but very manageable. I remember feeling overwhelmed and upset when I saw my parents worrying about me and my future.
What really kept me going at that time was the natural way in which my parents and medical staff dealt with me while I was in the hospital. I was very happy to learn all about my diabetes. Right from the start, it was very important for me to learn to be able to inject myself and how to calculate exchanges.
This would be my tip to parents: the more natural you can be with your child and the more you can involve him in the treatment, the sooner he will become accustomed to having diabetes. I think that, in the beginning, the parents do more worrying than the child! The child doesn’t know as much as the parents do about future complications. And this is a good thing! Also, later on, living with diabetes is made easier with a positive attitude. Although parents should help the child through this new situation, they should try to see things from their child’s point of view and not transfer their worries onto the child.    


What should parents avoid?

They shouldn’t be too overprotective of their child and treat him as if he were ill. When diabetes is well managed, the child feels good. Of course, I don’t mean that the parents should abandon their kid to do everything alone; just not to meddle too much in the treatment. Let the kid have a sense of independence, and let him take over much of the responsibility.


Many parents are afraid of puberty. How was it for you?

Until then, diabetes had never really bothered me anyway. I had never let it get in the way of what I wanted to do, so I didn’t experience any phases in which I got sick of my diabetes.

What did your parents do especially well at the time? What helped you in particular?

My parents continued to allow me freedom, that is, helped me manage my diabetes without tying me down. I was allowed to do what my friends were doing, and was never forbidden from doing anything because of my diabetes. My diabetologist was nice, and always took time out to explain the meaning of my readings, and didn’t make me feel guilty when they were sometimes not that great.


Why did you spend a year in Hungary after finishing school? How is diabetes treatment there?

I had always wanted to go abroad. This possibility first presented itself after school, at a time when I didn’t know what I wanted to study. The reason behind going to Hungary was rather incidental, but now I am very glad I did it.
Diabetes treatment was more complicated there than in Germany. Different food, and the excitement—which caused me to forget my diabetes sometimes—frequently led to high blood sugar values. With a little extra discipline, however, I was able to bring the values back to normal, even under very different circumstances. Nobody needs to fear spending time abroad.
In Hungary, I worked in a children’s hospital and met a little girl with diabetes. It was very interesting for me to see how the hospitals were in Hungary, and how diabetes is treated. All in all, my experiences have taught me that it is always best to be very open about one’s diabetes. It is not too difficult to ask for drinks without sugar, for a little time out to measure and to inject, or even help in times of hypoglycaemia.  


Did diabetes play any role in your choice of study?

Diabetes didn’t play any role in my decision as to what to study and where. There are enough pharmacists and doctors in Germany!
Cultural science is a faculty with a very open-ended career path. I do not as yet have an exact picture of what I will be doing later in life—maybe something in the field of cultural education. I do not expect diabetes to be of any hindrance in my choice of career. I consider diabetes to be compatible with nearly every profession.