Charlotte copes with ‘sleeping pancreas’

Press, 24 January 1986, Page 9

Charlotte copes with ‘sleeping pancreas’

By LOUISE WRIGHT Some people might think Charlotte Grant leads a glamorous life for an eight-year-old. After all, her father is a diplomat in Wellington, and she has travelled with her family around the world.

But Charlotte has something else that makes her different from most children her age. She has diabetes.

Charlotte is one of 42 diabetic children on the national children’s holiday camp organised by the Ashburton Diabetic Society. The week-long camp began on Sunday at the Pudding Hill Leisure Resort, near Methven. The camp organiser, Mrs Audrey Leath, said planning a camp for diabetic children was more complicated than for healthy children. “Because the camp involves a lot of physical activity, children have to

be watched constantly so their blood sugar level does not get too low,” she said.

“We had one instance, yesterday, when a young boy became hypo-active (suffered low blood sugar) and we had to give him glucose.”

Medical staff doubled as camp parents, so if any problems arose there was always someone there. > “We’ve tried to discourage parents from coming to the camp. If the kids get homesick, there are normally fewer hassles without Mum and Dad," Mrs Leath said.

Three full-time nurses were at Pudding Hill to take the children’s blood sugar reading before each meal. A diabetic educator from Ashburton Hospital, Mrs Jean Jones, and a local doctor, Murray Wackrow, were among camp parents. A dietitian from Nelson, Mrs Jenny Kingston, was

also at the camp. “Blood sugar readings befdre each meal take about three minutes for each child, so they are very time-consuming,” she said. “Because the children are so busy we have to check them all the time.”

The best judge of the camp’s success would be the reactions of the children.

Charlotte Grant says the best parts have been riding in a beach buggy for the first time, watching a friend fall in the water in a jet boat trip, and sleeping in the top bunk.

Charlotte said her mother had told her about diabetes, but she had learnt a lot more at the camp. “The nurse told us the pancreas is asleep so it does not work anymore. “That’s why we have to inject ourselves to help the sugar dissolve,” Charlotte said.