Get ready for HOSPITAL

“I was pleading for insulin. They said I had to wait until after the ultrasound, but the ultrasound kept being delayed. Eventually I fell into a coma and I don’t remember what happened for the next few days.” As someone who has had type 1 diabetes since infancy, this story of another type 1’s experience in hospital encapsulates my worst fears.

Difficulties accessing insulin and tools to manage diabetes when hospitalised for non-diabetes reasons are not uncommon.

Anecdotes abound: the emergency doctor issuing instructions to withhold insulin for five days after a hypo, being denied access to a basal insulin dose because the type 1 patient isn’t eating, and type 2 patients not having access to blood glucose monitoring are just a few examples. Stories such as these from people with diabetes no longer surprise me.

What did surprise me is how well known and documented the problem