bbc1 tonight.. childrens emergency.. diabetic coma

[ilovekandi]

i'm gonna watch it now and probably have a good cry 🙂

 

[topcat123]

i watched it myself this morning dont think i would be as calm if it was my son unless the mum was screaming behind the camera that would be more me

 

[bev]

Not sure I quite agree Bev, the final discussion between him and his mother is that he agrees to take his diabetes more seriously and does his blood tests etc. I agree that hypos can come from nowhere, but it does also sound as though he had become a bit rebellious and neglectful, and this was a wake up call for him. You could sense how relieved his mum was 🙂

I am not saying that the boy was blameless as he did agree to test more - its just that the phrase 'Thomas has now got his diabetes under control' makes out to the general public that this is a rather easy thing to do and that if all diabetics just followed some simple rules then these sorts of things wouldnt happen. I think if there was a problem with his management of his diabetes then this should have been explained a bit more in depth. Also, if the child was struggling with managing his diabetes - the last thing that should be done is to point the finger at him and especially on television! If you want to make a teenager rebel - this was the perfect way of doing it. Of course, permission was probably sought from the mother for the filming so they must have all been fine about it - I just felt that the boy shouldnt have been 'blamed' as such - he should have been asked what help he needed to help him with his daily management as opposed to making him feel guilty. I am absolutely certain that he would have got the message about not testing after suffering from fits and being in a coma - it was stating the obvious really. Bev

 

[Northerner]

I get your point Bev, thanks. I do wonder how much the general public would take in though if they had expanded on it. Perhaps one good thing to consider is that many teenage diabetics might have seen it since they have a particular interest, and it might have shocked them into resolving to take better care.