Sally Stoddart, a former patient of Dr. Alok Gupta, Consultant Paediatrician and Clinical Director of Children & Young People Services at Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust (DGT), was diagnosed with diabetes at just 10 years old. She was the first child patient to receive an insulin pump at DGT 20 years ago.
We were absolutely thrilled when Sally’s mother, Sandra, recently reached out to us to offer her heartfelt thanks to Dr. Gupta and update us with Sally’s progress:
“My daughter, Sally Stoddart, was a former patient of Dr. Gupta. I believe she was the first child to receive an insulin pump at Darent Valley. She developed type 1 diabetes at 10 years old and turns 30 this year. I just wanted to update Dr. Gupta on her progress, as he and paediatric nurse Jackie were both a tremendous help to her and a support to us all when she was first diagnosed.
Dr. Gupta might remember Sally as the girl who loved and had horses. She struggled with her diabetes and had gastroparesis. We will always be grateful that Dr. Gupta supported an appeal for Sally to have an insulin pump. It has changed her life and, as technology progresses, has changed it even more so. The pump allowed Sally to travel to Australia and to attend Veterinary School in Liverpool from 2013 to 2018.
Fast forward to 2024, and Sally is Dr. Sally Stoddart, an equine specialist and farm animal veterinary surgeon based in Cambridgeshire. She is now using a Dexcom closed-loop pump. She is expecting her first baby on Sunday, June 16, and the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital are so happy with her blood sugar control that they say her pregnancy has been the same as someone without diabetes. Her blood sugar control prior to pregnancy was in the top 1% nationally, and her blood sugar control has been the best for a pregnant diabetic mother the hospital has ever seen.
The support Sally received as a child from Dr. Gupta was second-to-none, and he instilled in both her and us the importance of good blood sugar control.
I think it would be nice for him to know his care is appreciated.”
Responding to this magnificent feedback and reminiscing of his time supporting the Stoddart family, Dr. Gupta said
“It was very unexpected to receive this from a child and the mother whom I looked after 20 years ago for a few years and has been very motivational, emotional and touching for myself and for my whole Diabetes team.
The credit goes to my team who has been absolutely phenomenal in providing excellent care, help and support to the children and young people with diabetes and to their families on a continuous basis.
We are a very proactive team who rapidly embraces new treatments and monitoring options at the earliest opportunity possible, including insulin pumps, continuous glucose monitoring and hybrid close loop systems.
We are constantly trying to bring various approaches and methods into our service in order to be inclusive, keeping ethnicities and social deprivation in mind when we are considering our various treatment options.
While we run the hospital model for our service, our approach has been very holistic with children’s and young people’s voice in the centre of our service provision.
We do get excellent, inspirational and motivational feedback all the time but Sally’s and Sandra’s feedback has been one of the best ones since the start of this service.
My team and I are thankful to both of them for sparing their precious time and providing this feedback. I would like to extend our deepest gratitude to both of them with our sincere best wishes.”
For many clinicians, heartwarming patient stories like this are their driving force. By supporting and advocating for Sally, Dr. Gupta has significantly improved the quality of her life and helped her fulfil her potential and ambitions. It is truly wonderful to hear about Sally's success and her ongoing journey. We wish her the very best as she embraces the new role of becoming a mother.