Dynamic duo conquering diabetes
Dr Brian Harrisberg was determined to help his son Drew conquer his type 1 diabetes. Today, the father-son duo helps thousands of people to improve their experience and quality of life
Seven years ago, at the age of 22, Drew Harrisberg became constantly hungry and thirsty, and found himself waking up multiple times throughout the night to go to the toilet. “I was exhausted to the point of falling asleep driving, napping every afternoon, and
I even fell asleep in a job interview,” he explains. As someone who had always been a health-conscious and sports-loving guy, Drew began to realise something wasn’t quite right. A blood test revealed abnormally high glycaemic and autoimmune biomarkers, which led Drew to a diabetes educator who pricked his finger. The results for his blood glucose levels came back with 16 mmol/L (normal is 4-6mmol/L) and, upon further testing, a diagnosis of type 1 diabetes was confirmed. “That was the most difficult day of my life,” he recalls.
Starting from scratch
Drew – now an exercise physiologist, diabetes educator and Fitbit ambassador – knew very little about diabetes prior to his diagnosis. “I’d only studied the basics at university,” he explains. “It wasn’t until I was diagnosed that I realised how complicated, serious and lifechanging it would be.”
His father, Dr Brian Harrisberg, sat next to him on the day he was
diagnosed and remembers it as the worst moment of his life. “I honestly would have preferred it to be me,” admits Brian, an ophthalmologist who, coincidentally, specialises in diabetic retinopathy and other diabetic eye-related issues.
“It was a sickening irony when Drew was diagnosed with the disease after all the years I’d spent trying to save people’s vision loss due to poorly controlled diabetes,” says Brian. “It wasn’t until I witnessed Drew turn his life around that I began to feel like myself again.”
The magic of exercise
On the day of his diagnosis, the clinic told Drew to continue his normal routine, but to keep in mind that he would now need to frequently log and monitor his BGLs – especially before and after meals and exercise – to help identify any lifestyle-related trends that affected his levels prior to calculating his insulin requirements. “I remember eating a banana before going to the gym that day and my BGLs shot up to 22mmol/L,” he says. “I was devastated. I went to the gym and did my usual full body workout,
which consisted of lifting weights and cardio, for about an hour.
“After my workout, I checked my BGLs again, and my reading was 6mmol/L. I was shocked! I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. That was the first time I discovered how effective exercise really is.
“I always say exercise is a form of medicine that we can freely and happily administer our ourselves,” continues Drew.
“Whether it’s a walk after meals, a session in the gym, or a run in the park with my dog, I never stop moving.”
The father and son keep each other active and motivated through exercising together, as well as playing golf and heading out on adventures, which fuels Brian’s love of nature photography. They both track their activities on Fitbit – Drew aims to walk about 3000 steps after each meal to reach a minimum 15,000 steps each day.
Exercise aside, Drew also eats whole foods and spends time soaking up the sun, as well as swimming in the ocean each day.
“Since being diagnosed I’ve been able to achieve a 70 per cent reduction in insulin requirements and very stable blood glucose levels, simply by leading a healthy lifestyle,” he says.
Acceptance and success
“By understanding and accepting your diabetes, you’re setting yourself up for a healthy and triumphant relationship,” says Drew. “I’ve not only accepted living with the disease, I’ve learned to love it and manage it so that it doesn’t manage me.
“Your relationship with diabetes should be no different to your relationship with someone you love. It’s the way in which we perceive our diabetes that will ultimately lead to a healthy or unhealthy relationship.
“Embrace it, get to know it and learn to control it.”
The big change
While Drew’s diagnosis changed his life, it also drastically altered Brian’s perspective of diabetes from a conventional ‘specialist approach’ to a more holistic approach. “Sure, I’m an eye specialist, but I like to treat the person attached to the eyes,” he says. “Because, at the end of the day, there’s not a system in the body that exists in isolation.”
This meant Brian needed to find a way to further encourage good nutrition, exercise and other forms of positive daily habits among his patients, beyond simply caring for their vision; and that is where their father-son bond grew. “Nobody knows their disease like the person actually living with it,” says Brian.
Today, Drew works alongside his father at a clinic at the Royal Prince Albert Hospital Medical Centre in Sydney, creating a multi-disciplinary team combating the three main long-term complications of poorly managed diabetes: retinopathy, nephropathy (when kidneys begin to incur damage, which can ultimately lead to kidney failure) and neuropathy (damage to the nerves). Brian performs eye-related diagnostic and treatment procedures for people with diabetes, then refers patients who will benefit from lifestyle modifications to Drew.
Applying suitable modifications to improve their glycaemic control and avoid further longterm complications, the duo helps people thrive with their diabetes, and live happier, healthier lives. “Diabetes was the catalyst that allowed me to figure out what my calling was,” says Drew. “I’m an exercise physiologist, diabetes educator, sports scientist and, most importantly, a happy and healthy guy thriving with type 1 diabetes who wants to inspire and empower others to succeed.”