"Excellent treatment at Margaret River Hospital"

My child is a type 1 diabetic. They have been a diabetic for 8 years.

During the last week of the 2018 school term we had to deal with our first ketosis episode.

My child returned from a school excursion with very high blood glucose levels and on looking at my child's history I saw that they'd had very high levels all day.

I changed child's insulin pump site and noticed some blood in the cannula which indicates that it may have become blocked and my child hadn't received any insulin for a while. I gave them a correction dose of insulin and got them to drink lots of water. My child was feeling quite well at this stage, so I wasn't too concerned. Then my child started vomiting, I checked their ketones and they were above 3 which is not a good sign so I called the PCH (Perth Children's Hospital) endocrinologist for advice. They recommended I give my child an insulin injection and take them straight to hospital.

I was reluctant to go to hospital as I had heard from other parents of diabetics the frustrations of doctors and nurses on duty not having a good understanding managing type 1. The PCH endo assured me I needed to get there promptly and ask the doctor to call her when I got there.

From the moment I walked in I was impressed with the speed and efficiency of the staff. Even though the triage nurse was busy with another a patient, I drew her attention to my child's situation and she immediately sent us through to a cubicle and arranged a nurse and doctor to see my child. Dr Sean was more than happy to call the PCH endo for advice and as soon as he received it things swung into action.

My child has no memory of having insulin shots when they were younger, so  was very reluctant to have injections and they handled my child very well.

My child was put on drips and monitored and when it was apparent we would be staying the night, we were moved to a very comfortable twin room. The first time I have been offered a bed in a hospital visit! I have spent many nights in a bedside chair in the past.

We were sad when there was shift changes for nurses, but there was no need to be as each new nurse was equally as friendly and professional. I had to duck out in the morning to check on my other child who was with neighbours, the staff made me feel very confident to leave my sick child. I bumped into the first nurse that had treated us and she immediately asked how my child was doing.

The hospital orderlies/carers were also outstanding, very friendly and attentive.

There were no laborious forms to fill out as they had us on record and when we left we were free to go without more form filling etc...

Of course all of this happened while my child's father was away, adding extra stress to the situation. However from the moment I got to the hospital I was put at ease and knew I was in good hands.

All in all my favourite hospital visit so far. I will have no concerns if we ever have the misfortune to be hospitalised in Margaret River again.

Many thanks to Dr Sean, Nurses, Andrea, Cathy, Mel 1 and Mel 2 and Marie.