Anxiety among parents as government diabetes project reaches its end

Growing up, 12-year-old Nick was never able to join a sports team or take an extracurricular activity with friends and his parents regretfully had to say no to summer camps and sleepovers because he has Type 1 diabetes that needs to be constantly monitored and treated. Thanks to a pilot project that started in February, Nick has been making use of a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) which his mother, Patricia, said brought a sense of normality to the family’s life and more freedom to Nick, whose teens are on the horizon, in better managing his condition himself. Like his father Rodney, Nick developed diabetes at a very young age and much of the family’s time has been spent on managing the condition, which has no cure. “Diabetes is incredibly serious but most people underestimate how deadly it is,” Patricia said. “Because it becomes a mundane part of our lives, we make it look easy but the implications are very serious. When you have to raise a child with diabetes, it becomes scary and complicated because the potential health issues and conditions that could arise if not managed properly are terrifying.” In February, the government gave CGMs to Nick and about 200 other children,...