A Wellington mother is urging people to sign a petition for Pharmac to fund life-changing technology to help her son and everyone else who has Type 1 diabetes.
Seven Sharp reported the Freestyle Libre glucose monitoring system is not just life-changing, it's life-saving.
For Emily Writes and her seven-year-old son Eddie, their world turned upside down in August.
"Eddie started having accidents, wetting himself and was thirsty all the time. He started vomiting, and basically his pancreas was shutting down. He lost eight kilos," Ms Writes said.
At hospital, they were told, Eddie had Type 1 diabetes.
"My first thing was to say, "did I cause this?" And the doctors and nurses have told us it's nothing to do with diet, or lifestyle. His pancreas just doesn't make insulin and we don't know why," she said, becoming emotional.
Eddie’s insulin levels must be checked constantly, with a thumb prick every two hours, day and night.
"I remember one night he just put his hands behind his back and wouldn't let me get to his hands and he said, "give me one night off from diabetes"," Ms Writes said.
"There are some things you can't change about diabetes, but there are things to make life that tiny bit easier."
And one of those is this The Libre. It's a sensor attached to Eddie's arm that gives an accurate insulin level in seconds with not a drop of blood in sight.
"Oh my gosh, it's amazing. It's given us freedom and him his break. When he's playing I can just scan him."
But it's not cheap. The reader costs $105. The arm sensor costs the same and only lasts 14 days.
"This is a life-saver, this isn't a nice to have," Ms Writes said because the system also tells her if Eddie's readings are on their way up or down.
"We want the government to consider funding the Libre for everyone with Type 1 diabetes," she said.
"Some people say just for children. But I think it would be really heartbreaking for a child to turn 18 having had this wonderful thing in their lives and then be told, "you're an adult now, we're no longer going to support you in keeping yourself alive"."
There are a many costs associated with diabetes. Ms Writes even had to buy a new fridge because they needed one that was 100 per cent accurate with temperature to keep the insulin stable.
The insulin itself is funded.
Libre costs an average of $2700 per person per year.
If you want to help, sign the petition here.
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