This morning I received a phone call from BBC Wales today, to ask if I would like to come and film a short interview for them on what it's like to grow up with diabetes. The timing of the interview coincided with the launch of the new study I mentioned in yesterdays blog. The study talked about how children with diabetes in Wales are five times more likely to be admitted to hospital than children without the condition. The study was pioneered jointly by universities based in the south of Wales and south West of England. And was led by my former paediatric diabetes consultant, Professor John Gregory, who I'm very grateful to, for putting me on a positive diabetes path when I was first diagnosed. I remember both Professor Gregory and his fantastic team encouraging me to do whatever I wanted to do, whether it was sleepovers or sport, as a teenager with diabetes.
 |
| Myself and BBC Wales Today Reporter Caroline |
During the interview, the BBC reporter Caroline Evans asked me questions about what it was like to grow up with diabetes and of my experience of hospital admissions as a young person. One particular situation I did mention about was when my insulin pump broke a few years ago. I remember that it was a Friday evening when my pump broke, and back then I didn't know what the protocol was to manage my diabetes in such a situation. So I thought the best thing to do, would be to ring NHS direct to ask for advice, after speaking to my insulin pump manufacturer. Although lovely to speak to the nurse on the end of the line at NHS direct was unable to tell me where or how I could get insulin to make up for that which I was losing through my pump failure. So I was then referred to the out of hours GP. Again, he was very kind to me, but was unable to get my doses correct should he be able to get hold of the insulin I needed. From there I then had to be admitted to A and E where I could be monitored in terms of blood sugar levels. The type of insulin I was normally on wasn't available at the hospital, so I had to stay on injections at the hospital, until my new pump arrived a few days later.
The point in my story being, that when I went into hospital I wasn't unwell. But deteriorated because the emergency didn't happen during working hours. I believe that diabetes nurses do a fantastic job caring for both children and parents of children with the condition. However, I just wish there were more of them available to cover out of hours emergencies too. The response to the news story that went out was overwhelming on social media, and I was really grateful to the BBC and Diabetes UK for highlighting such an important study.
 |
| Professor John Gregory |
0 comments:
Post a Comment