April 27, 2005
Honeymoon, Other
Question from Scranton, Pennsylvania, USA:
My eight year old daughter was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes two months ago. She was hospitalized for a week at the time of her diagnosis and has been on intensive management since then, testing a minimum of four times per day and having five injections per day. We have gradually gotten good control of her blood sugar levels, most of the time, and last week she went down to three shots per day.
She has been only under the care of our family physician, who says she doesn’t need to see a specialist. I haven’t pursued this so far because we have been in “crisis mode” since her diagnosis, making the adjustments, and because there aren’t any specialists in our immediate area, the closest is about a one and a half hour drive. During our last office visit, I asked our doctor about ketone testing, which I had read about, and he told me I didn’t need to worry about that. That seems to contradict everything I have read. Do you feel that as a rule, all children with type 1 should be under the care of a specialist?
Answer:
Children clearly benefit from seeing someone who is well-versed in the intricacies of caring for children with diabetes. Many pediatricians do a great job of caring for kids with diabetes. Family physicians are less likely to have a significant number of kids with diabetes in their practice to be as skillful as a pediatrician. Pediatric endocrinologists, when they are available, can also be a good resource for caring for kids with diabetes.
Ketone testing is an integral part of caring for kids with diabetes. Please read more about Hyperglycemia and Ketone Testing.
MSB
