What Would You do---Question for everyone

[Scout-Mom]

There is no Right or wrong answer to this, I just want to know what you would do, and why?

Lets say you met a family either via Cafemom or in person that has a child with Type 1, but they did not have insurance or an endo, and after paying for insulin out of pocket could not afford to go to an endo.
This family's child was only recently diagnosed, and is still recieving the same doses as he/she had set at diagnosis.
The childs BGs are terribly out of whack, and they need help figuring out how to make insulin changes, and ask you for advice.

What would you do?

[08mpayne]

That is tricky-they need to be seen so I chose the first. That said-since I know how to adjust insulin I would help them adjust their dosing!

[Elizabeth2384]

I said other... because I would try to get them help through government aid I would also try to help get numbers under control and I would also (if we were using the same stuff) give them some of our extra supplies.   I think though that if they refused the government help and didn't try to do anything to better the circumstances I would probably end up callig child services.... I just know how hard it is to take care of my little guy with our endo and all the supplies we need and with insurance... I could not image doing it and having any type of control without all of that and eventually it is going to become harmful to the kiddo and I see it as a form of neglect.  I understand everyone has their issues every now and then, but if they refuse to get help then someone needs to do something for the kiddo... so thats what I would do... try to help and if they don't accept the help call child services.

[bennysmama1009]

 i would refer them to government assistance AND if i was able, help them all i could!!

when ben was diagnosed, we were 3 days from signing our approved loan to buy a bar---if we'd done it before ben was dxd, it would have been nuts. we were lucky enough to have thanksgiving to push our bank meeting back and praise god that ben was dxd when he was. of course i wish he was NEVER dxd with type one...but you all know what i mean : )

but without signing the loan, my husband has stayed in his job (which is a GREAT JOB) and we still have our outstanding insurance.....buying the bar we would have been health care free....yikes.

either way though, we would have made it work. being a mom gives you that super power.

[Scout-Mom]

The replies so far have been interesting, now here's how I see the situation, but remember no opinion is wrong and this is just that my opinion.
I know that depite medical conditions you have to qaulify for state insurance.
Some families cannot afford private health insurance but do not meet the required low income status for state insurance.
As long as they can afford the insulin and supplies, I would have no problem helping them with insulin changes, I wouldn't go as far as to call it neglect or child abuse, just because they havn't seen and endo,since diagnosis as long as they are learning what they can and are working to control their childs BG Numbers.
After all, just about everything that is done at an Endo office can be done with a PCP, it's just harder to get more spceialized care, and ideas such as, the PCP may not be as familiar with pumps and may not work to stablize the BG numbers as well as an endo would.

Anyway, that's my 2 cents on the whole situation and look forward to see what more of you think :)

[JoyceLynn]

I chose the 3rd but was also leaning towards the 1st although that one depends on the state they live in.  In GA, there's a program called "Peachcare For Kids" which is their alternative for the people who make too much $ to qualify for Medicaid so that every child has some type of insurance.  Now, the reason I chose the helping one is because of my Ex-hubby.

We were married for 15 yrs by the time our divorce was final.  Of that entire time due to insurance issues, he only saw his doctor twice -- it was only because he was hospitalized due to busted stomach ulcers that caused his BS to go out of whack.  Since Austin's dxd, he realized the importance of leading by example & decided for them to do tests & shots together, which I've commended him for.  Basically, I know it's possible to regulate it without an endo.  He put it like this to me once..... just watch the pattern of highs/lows during certain points of the day & adjust accordingly.... if you wake up with lows, decrease the cloudy (NpH) at night.... if it's high in the afternoons, increase cloudy in the morning shot.  The clear (Novilin in Austin's case) is the instant-acting & cloudy is the time-released.  A huge thing to note is that with the Humilin NpH, it can become useless if it gets too warm.  If you see it separating instead of remaining cloudy, chances are that this has happened & can be the cause of consistent highs.  So a good tip is to check that status & possibly get a new bottle before adjusting levels.

[Trisha42276]

This is a good one, I chose other because, I believe that I would cover all of them.  I have been this mom, I didn't have insurance until about 2 weeks ago.  And my son has never seen an endo, but he has seen many diabetes educators, and his pedi is the one who handles his insulin adjustments (actually I do, I make the adjustment and then talk to the pedi about it and see what he thinks.)  We are almost to the point where if at his next A1C, if his numbers aren't better we are going to be making a road trip to see a pediatric endo.  And get him switched to Lantus.

[Karens4boys]

I chose other because when my son was diagnosed they gave me a number to call when we needed things and there were people donating the meds and such, and if someone needed they had one doctors name who did pro bono visits, if need be.  I never had to use it , thankfully, and knowing that if they put a story in a newspaper, or had a charity drive, wouldn't work forever, but for the time being, pay for the meds and the endo. But who knows, a different idea could pop up tommorrow.

Karen

[Scout-Mom]

I'm loving the variety of these answers they show the differnces of thinking and life challenges we all have and have faced! :)
Keep em coming ladies!

[momof4131]

We live in Michigan, and even though my husband has the best insurance around, the hospital staff still had us fill out the apps and stuff to apply for Michigan's insurance for special needs children. Our hospitals here do it, everyone who needs it should be educated on how to find insurance.