Macie’s story
Leigh Sharland had a gut feeling about what was affecting her daughter Macie, but the GP wouldn’t listen. Two years on, Leigh recalls the frustration.
Macie with Jerry the Bear and her cat Sassy
Macie was 23 months old and she hadn’t been herself for a while. I have a best friend with type 1 diabetes and I was starting to recognise the signs in Macie. She was wetting through three to four changes of clothes daily, not sleeping a full night, and eating like she’d never been fed. When I say eating a lot, I mean more than our eight-year-old!
We took her to the medical centre and saw a locum GP. When I expressed my concerns, the locum told me there was nothing wrong and Macie was just being a typical toddler. I asked the locum to do a blood glucose test via finger prick but she refused. She said that because Macie had just had a muesli bar, her glucose levels would be through the roof.
I thought this was strange so, later, I asked my friend who has type 1. She said the muesli bar wouldn’t do anything if Macie didn’t have diabetes, but her blood sugar would be very high if she did have it. A week later, Macie’s carer expressed worries that Macie wasn’t herself. My husband David called the medical centre again to see if they could see her. They said they couldn’t. David said in that case, he’d take her to A&E. The receptionist said, “Well, that’s your choice then.”
David and my mum took Macie to Greymouth Hospital and I rushed from work to meet them. Once we got through to a room, I asked for a finger prick test, again explaining my concerns.
The nurse took the test, but wouldn’t show me the number on the screen. We waited for the doctor, who did another test, and another, and another. Four tests in total. He told us we weren’t allowed to leave and said we needed further tests, but I knew then that it was true. Macie had type 1 diabetes.
We were transferred to the children’s ward where Macie had more blood tests, then we were told we needed to be transferred to Christchurch Children’s Hospital.
We had an appointment booked for Macie with our GP for the following day, so my mum went in to cancel that, explaining that Macie was being transferred to Christchurch due to her diagnosis. The manager overheard and rang afterwards to apologise. We later laid a formal complaint with the Health and Disability Commission.
Even though I’d suspected it, Macie’s diagnosis was a big shock.
At home we packed our bags, ready to stay at Christchurch Hospital for the week. It was a three-hour drive and Macie was given enough insulin to get us there.
Welcomed in Christchurch
At Christchurch, the team met us with open arms. They were, and are, amazing. They sat us down and brought in a bag full of supplies and a buzzy bee toy for Macie, which she loved.
They talked us through everything that would happen. We were told that we were lucky we’d had her diagnosed now. If we’d left it longer things could have got way worse. This was horrible to hear and, of course, made me even more angry with our medical centre.
I stayed with Macie in the hospital, and our social worker booked a room for David and our family at Ronald McDonald House for the week. Like the staff at the hospital, they were amazing, making life that bit easier for us all while we struggled to come to terms with all the changes that would be happening in our and Macie’s life.
Leigh, David, Macie and Bella
After a week, we were released from hospital “on leave”. That meant Macie was still technically under their care, but we were in a home-like environment at Ronald McDonald House in a fully furnished and equipped room to see how we coped.
It was my 30th birthday on the Saturday night, so Macie’s lovely Gaga (Grandad) looked after her while David and I had dinner out and got to relax and be a couple for the night.
On the last night in Christchurch we stayed at David’s cousin’s place before heading off home. Unfortunately, we ended up back in A&E because Macie’s levels were very high and not coming down. Thankfully we were released quickly. We returned to David’s cousins before heading home to start a life like we’d never known before.
Almost two years later, we are still under the Christchurch children’s diabetes team. We have clinic every three months and we’re very lucky that they come over to us.
We still have our ups and downs but overall, Macie is doing incredibly well.
Diagnosing type 1 diabetes
Symptoms:
Thirst
Passing more urine
Weight loss
Very tired
Mood changes
May also have:
Abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting
Skin infections, thrush
Extreme hunger
Poor concentration and performance
Poor concentration and performance
People with a blood relative with type 1 diabetes are more likely to develop it. However, type 1 often occurs in people who have no one in their family with the condition.
Diabetes is diagnosed by blood tests which can be organised through your doctor. If you or your child are very unwell, seek medical assistance immediately.