00:00Sleepless nights, having to leave work, or rush children to the hospital.
00:05That's what parents of children with type 1 diabetes say they face constantly.
00:10Trisha Jules' daughter, Sierra, is 7 years old.
00:13She was diagnosed with type 1 at the age of 4 and suffers from seizures.
00:18We had two situations where we had to rush her to the hospital.
00:22This was like after 2 in the morning, where she got up screaming.
00:26And like screaming, like everybody in the house woke up.
00:32It was hard for us because we didn't know what was going on.
00:36We didn't understand, you know, seizures.
00:38We never really had one before.
00:40And it's frightening.
00:43Continuous glucose monitors for those who are afforded the opportunity to acquire them
00:48mitigate the panic and health fallouts from the unknown,
00:52allowing for round-the-clock monitoring of blood sugar levels.
00:57The CGM devices have brought comfort to Jules, as well as Penelope Joan Bassoon,
01:02who has two children with type 1, a 9-year-old and a 7-year-old.
01:06Now, with the CGMs, it gives us that first indication when it's dropping below 80.
01:14So we know, okay, she needs to get up.
01:17She needs to get a snack.
01:18So it gives me a level of comfort.
01:21I can actually go to bed and not be worried.
01:24Yes, the alarm will go off to indicate whether they're too high or whether they're too low.
01:28But at least I'm not in that phase where I'm always anxious and nervous to go to bed.
01:34It enables the children to monitor their own levels as well.
01:39And all the information runs through mobile devices.
01:42President of the Diabetes Association of TNT, Dr. Andrew Danus, says
01:46some children have been on and off of the CGM devices, as they are very costly to maintain.
01:53The continuous glucose monitors cost about $15,000 per year.
01:57We've been able to raise funds to get about 40 children onto the CGMs,
02:01but to date we don't have enough funds.
02:04So we're trying to make an appeal to the Ministry of Health.
02:08We're trying to make an appeal to our new government
02:09to get the CGMs for our children with type 1 diabetes.
02:14We have about 200 or so children living with type 1 diabetes in the country.
02:18It costs about $15,000 per year for a child.
02:20As for what the camp held on Sunday for children with type 1 diabetes was all about?
02:25We have 45 children living with diabetes who are between the ages of 4 to 16.
02:33And we also have our sixth form interns here helping them out.
02:35So we are going to be teaching them about taking care of themselves better.
02:39We also have their parents here at the camp.
02:42Alicia Boucher, TV6 News.
02:44So we're going to be teaching them about taking care of themselves.
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