DHBs struggling to cope with increase in type 1 diabetes in children (NZ)

[Northerner]

Jonathan Spurgeon has to test his blood sugar levels as many as 20 times a day. By doing this, the 14-year-old by checking his blood constantly he can enjoy a bit more freedom.

But it has been a 10-year struggle to get to this point, and mum Karen has chosen to pay a private GP to work with Jonathan, because she believes the care is far superior to that provided by her DHB.

Her experience is backed up by a new study that says the public health system is struggling to deal with increasing rates of type 1 childhood diabetes.

DHBs are under-resourced, and treatment for Kiwi kids is so "ad hoc" that it could put young lives at risk, the study by a group of paediatric and diabetic experts says.

When Jonathan was about 5, his mum moved him from a regular diabetes clinic in Hawke's Bay to the care of doctor Janet Titchner and adopted an American-style flexible insulin regime.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/hea...-with-increase-in-type-1-diabetes-in-children

 

[Annette]

Might I suggest that testing 20 times a day is far too much? Assuming he sleeps for 8 hours a day, and his mum tests maybe 2-3 times during that time, that means he is testing more than once an hour.
I know I'm not a mum of a diabetic kid, but I still feel that that level is far too much, and will affect how the child sees themselves (as someone controlled by their diabetes rather than the other way round).

 

[Northerner]

Might I suggest that testing 20 times a day is far too much? Assuming he sleeps for 8 hours a day, and his mum tests maybe 2-3 times during that time, that means he is testing more than once an hour.
I know I'm not a mum of a diabetic kid, but I still feel that that level is far too much, and will affect how the child sees themselves (as someone controlled by their diabetes rather than the other way round).

I raised an eyebrow at that as well I remember reading once about a mother who micromanaged her child to the point of treating them on injections as though they were on a pump with CGMS. This entailed endless fingerpricks and injections/corrections and the upshot was that the child had a total rebellion in late teens