To think this is the start of type 1 diabetes

[NeuroSpicyCat]

Hand hold please.

My 13 year old son informed me tonight that he wet the bed last night.

This has never happened before.

His late father had Type 1 diabetes which started around this age.

My son also has a sore tummy (that comes and goes) and sore calves (that come and go).

He seems to have low mood also.

He's always been really thin.

My husband (his stepdad) is driving to A&E with him right now. I’m staying home with the other 4 children. (I can’t drive).

I’m autistic and scared. I’m so worried for him. AI said he is highly likely to be diagnosed given his symptoms and family history, and he’s likely to be urgently admitted to hospital.

Has anyone been in a similar situation?

I literally said referred to GP

You are so desperate to be right that you're arguing nothing at this point

seeing a nurse practitioner or other clinician IS ongoing care after triage. You aren’t referred back to your GP or given a prescription by the triage nurse. That simply does not happen. You seem to think that if you aren’t seen by a doctor it doesn’t count, which is frankly really weird. Triage DO NOT SEND ANYONE HOME. You may see another practitioner, but they will not just send you home. That’s not what triage is for. Which you would know if you’d bothered to just read the actual guidance.

Nowhere have I said you have to see a doctor. Not once. I have said very clearly that you are not directly discharged at triage. It is really weird that you can’t just read the evidence.

Which is not the point is it. The argument was that everyone who attends A&E has to see a doctor and that’s not the case. You are ignoring what I’ve said in favour of your own narrative. The triage arrangements quite literally state that after triage assessment you can be referred to onsite GP if there is one, alternative urgent care services, back to your own GP, sent home with a prescription, or sent home with instructions for self care. None of which necessitates seeing an A&E doctor. All of which are designed to keep waiting times down by signposting to alternative services where appropriate. That was the point.

My whole bloody point was that you don’t necessarily need to see a doctor after triage. I’ve posted evidence to that effect saying that after triage assessment a number of options are available. This argument started because a poster way upthread said that it wasn’t significant that OP’s son was asked to stay and see a doctor because everyone sees a doctor. They don’t. They are assessed and signposted to other services where necessary. Not everyone sees a doctor. That was my only point. And just to point out that upthread you posted that you wouldn’t have waited around but gone home and come back the next day. That’s discharging yourself against medical advice and goes on your medical record. It’s also not followed up by A&E so any opportunity for treatment would be lost. And on attending again the next day, the whole triage and wait process starts again. Utterly pointless.

Are you drunk? You clearly said triage staff can send you home. Specifically, at 15:34 yesterday you said “Triage staff assess and determine if A&E is appropriate and if so, the level of priority. If not, they signpost to other options, which could be a referral back to own GP, other, more appropriate urgent care centres, and sending people home with self care advice. My DH has type 2 diabetes and has attended A&E several times with concerns. And he hasn’t always seen a doctor - many times he’s been signposted to the diabetic clinic, GP or had blood tests and been sent home. All by triage staff who know what they’re doing. Or do you not understand what the word Triage actually means ?”

Nobody gets sent home by triage. If you have seen another practitioner then you have been seen by someone who wasn’t triage. Triage DO NOT SEND PEOPLE HOME, and you have insisted multiple times that they do.

Nobody has said everyone sees a doctor, they’ve said you aren’t sent home by the triage nurse, that’s not their job, you will always be told to wait to see someone else. You have said repeatedly that triage nurses can just discharge you.

Stop trying to back pedal when people can literally see your previous posts 😂

And let’s not forget this little gem at 9:50 -“Absolutely not true. Triage nurses can and do discharge patients after assessment if they decide that the condition is not serious enough to warrant A&E treatment.”

They've said they are leaving about 4 times and still keep coming back

I think they just need to be right

My point was that it’s not the triage nurse who makes the decisions to send you home. You will ALWAYS been seen by a more senior person to the person who triaged you. As I stated, triage is there to sign post you to the right more senior person for your treatment. In most cases that is a doctor, particularly where children are involved.
The point I was trying to raise was that the fact OP’s son had been told he needed to wait and see the doctor wasn’t because he was extremely ill or an urgent case, but simply that’s it’s protocol. This was when you started arguing that triage can send you home or refer you back to your GP. They can’t. Under no circumstances. You have to be seen by a more senior member of staff once you have presented at A+E, regardless of what trivial thing you have gone there for.
That was my point. That the fact he was told to wait for a doctor did not mean they had decided it was a serious condition. Yet you seemed to infer that only the serious cases get past triage and that OPs son must be seriously ill because they’d told him he needed to see a doctor. That’s where I tried to tell you were wrong. And others are now trying to tell you.
Dear god.

THIS

Any update @NeuroSpicyCat ? I know this thread has been taken over by people yelling at you but I hope you come back to tell us the outcome. Many of us are keeping our fingers crossed for a good outcome x

https://www.elsadiabetes.nhs.uk/ This is a study which looks at a young person’s risk of developing type 1 diabetes. It is a simple finger prick test which you do at home. I think there’s pros and cons to taking part. In my opinion, pros are that if the test does come back as having positive antibodies for developing type 1 then you will be monitored and potentially can have medications to delay the onset of full type 1 and if it comes back negative (although this does not 100% mean you won’t go on to develop type 1) it might reduce your anxiety. The cons are that if it comes back positive it won’t tell you when you will start developing symptoms so could be months or years.

They likely would have told her to go to a chemist or an OOH’s GP and done a finger prick blood test. They certainly wouldn’t have said go to A&E now

Is there any update @NeuroSpicyCat ? I’m hoping it was good news?

Big apologies for not updating.

They were there all night whilst the doctors ran tests.

All tests were fine for diabetes (thank God!) However they said my son is anaemic so have prescription for iron for 3 months.

Thanks for the update, NeuroSpicy. I'm sure he'll be fine after the iron course, needs to take care of his diet from now on.

Great it is not T1. However, with a family history of T1 and unexplained anaemia in a child, you need a test for coeliac disease, especially given digestive discomfort and being slim (underweight?)

Am pretty sure they won’t just let lie unexplained anaemia in a kid, and will instigate tests to find out why. Even very picky eaters who are males would not normally be anaemic, certainly not if they regularly eat darker cuts of chicken, any lamb, or beef. Or other sources of non-haem iron with complementary nutrients to promote iron uptake.

But FFS, go to the GP about it, not A&E this time!

I second this @NeuroSpicyCat . I have Type 1 and had to fight for my DC to have a coeliac screen. Some GPs are reluctant to do it because of cost. The average length of time to get a coeliac diagnosis is something like 13 years! I’m not saying your son definitely has this but it needs to be ruled out. Ask your GP for blood tests. Do not remove gluten from his diet in the meantime.

I really really have to contain myself in this reply, but for the benefit of anyone reading, going to A&E in a suspected Type 1 diabetes case IS THE CORRECT THING TO DO!
It is a medical emergency, you’re risking death here when ketones are at play.

Also, onset of Type 1 diabetes in some people can’t take anywhere from a couple of months where you’re asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic all the way to a year in some cases.

As a T1 myself, 111 will send you IMMEDIATELY to A&E.

Also as a Type 1, a teenager wetting the bed once and having sore legs does not require an A&E visit.