Help Keziah to beat Diabetes

Our first daughter Keziah is now a type one diabetic (T1D), and has been since September 2017.

Our main reason for looking to you all for your help with funding technology is because we have had to deal with a severe Hypo (Low) episode in the middle of the night. This resulted in a trip to Wellington Hospital in the middle of the night and we were so close to losing Keziah because there was no early warning system. As a parent it was one of the scariest things we had had to deal with.

You may be wondering how this all works so here is some background. A healthy pancreas produces insulin, a hormone that enables people to get energy from food. The pancreas of a person with T1D doesn’t produce any insulin. Without insulin, the glucose builds up in the blood, causing high blood sugar, or hyperglycemia. In people without T1D, the pancreas maintains a “perfect balance” between food intake and insulin. When a person eats, the pancreas puts out the exact amount of insulin needed to turn the glucose into energy. If the person eats a lot, the pancreas produces a lot of insulin. If the person eats just a little, the pancreas produces a small amount of insulin. Since people with T1D can’t produce their own insulin, they must put insulin into the bloodstream through injections with a syringe or an insulin pump. If people with T1D inject too much insulin (or eat too little), they may have a

hypoglycemic reaction. Hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) is the most common complication in children and adults with T1D.

We have a solution - CGM technology with alarms and trend monitoring. This technology is not currently funded in New Zealand.

So this is why we so need your help.......the funding will will allow us to stay in front of Keziah's diabetes and improve the quality of life for Keziah and for our family!

We can't thank you enough for the support you will give.