Summary
Rockhampton Hospital is changing young patients’ lives for the better thanks to a new insulin pump service for paediatric patients with diabetes.
Experts from Queensland Children’s Hospital visited to offer support and training for Rockhampton nurses and doctors as part of an agreement to provide and establish an Insulin Pump Service at Rockhampton Hospital
The first patient to receive an insulin pump was 16-year-old Taliha.
Her new Ypso hybrid closed loop insulin pump means even more than giving away the 10-15 needles she was having every two days.
She is also now able to get her learner’s licence to start driving thanks to her stabilised blood glucose levels, and it also means she’s about to join the Army Reserves next year, on her way to applying for her dream of joining the Army.
Taliha learned she had diabetes aged 9 back in 2019. Since then, she’s been a regular visitor to the school office to do her regular needles for blood sugar monitoring.
After becoming the first Rockhampton Hospital patient to have an insulin pump fitted, her monitoring and insulin administration is all taken care of via an app on her mobile phone. It’s discreet, and her mum can keep an eye through her phone as well.
Rockhampton Hospital Paediatric Diabetes Educator Cassie Buckley is delighted this service is now available in Rockhampton.
Director of Paediatrics Dr Kongolo Kalumba said the use of insulin pumps was recommended internationally for youth with type 1 diabetes by the International Society for Paediatric and Adolescent Diabetes, and he was pleased the local team is being trained to offer the service locally.
“It provides better control of their diabetes with reduced episodes of hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar level), means less long-term complications and lifestyle-wise is much better with less stress for the patients and their families,” he said.