BLOG WEEK ENTRY 2: Please Save Our Children

This is blog week.  We, who are bloggers, have been challenged to write about the same subject matter on a given day with a different topic each day.  Today’s topic is in response to the various petitions that have been circulating the DOC (diabetes online community) of late.  Today’s subject: What/who would we write to petition for change?
I would do two petitions that have a synergy between them.

Dear Person/People Creating a Petition,
The undersigned ask, no-we beg, you to do your due diligence before you create a petition.  Make sure you are asking the right questions and that you are addressing the right people to make ‘the’ change.  The little time we have becomes full of frustration when we are asked to do something that is being done on mere emotion and not a factually based effort.  If the due-diligence is not done, you are wasting your time, the person who receives the petition’s time, and you are wasting our time.

Getting it done for ‘getting it done’s sake’ because one thinks it is the right move is not good enough.   We ask; why just do something when you can do something ‘right’.
<Signatures>
(Editor’s note:  This has been done many times and is not a reference to any one specific petition.  It is a reference to any, and all, that have not been thoroughly investigated before signatures were sought.)

I do not know who I would send this next petition as I have not done any due diligence yet on who should receive it; but I do know that it is a subject matter THAT NEEDS addressing and is almost a continuation of my article from yesterday.

Dear (whoever should receive this petition after we do the homework):
We, the undersigned are outraged and pained to read, once again, that a child was taken to their doctor with flu-like symptoms that also would or could reflect the same symptoms for T1 diabetes and a simple blood test or urine test was not completed to verify or rule-out a diagnosis; resulting that a child was diagnosed with diabetes at the time of their death.

We implore you to take immediate action to implement a policy of ‘best practices’ that could be forwarded to all pediatrician offices, general practitioners offices, and/or school district head medical official/personnel instructing them that they should always be ready to test, and/or order a test, to diagnosis T1 diabetes when questioning when flu-like symptoms are evident in a patient.

It is not up to us to dictate what these exact procedures would include; but in the last year at least 5 children have been diagnosed with diabetes at death and we implore you to ensure that correct measures are implemented to avoid such a tragedy to occur ever again.  In each of these cases, the family visited their child’s medical professional with flu-like symptoms, when in actuality, they were in full-blown ketoacidosis.

We offer ourselves to be included in an immediate ‘focus group’ or ‘think tank’ to correctly fact find the necessary statistics to move this consideration forward.  If this is not within your jurisdiction please know that your are respected highly in your field and may we ask that we at least open a dialogue, so we may know exactly the steps needed to prevent a death from this gross mis-diagnosis to occur ever again.

We seek your wisdom and influence at least; and a course of action if possible.

<Signatures>

That is it for Day 2 of blog week. As a blogger, I have completed the task for day 2; please note that is not merely an exercise for us as bloggers; it is to continue a conversation.  PLEASE reply and/or share and let us know your thoughts.  Thank you.

I am a diabetes dad.

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