Diabetes New Zealand is calling for more education and awareness around Type 1 Diabetes after a Morrinsville teenager went through what he calls "medical hell".
Austin Wynd had his appendix out, an abscess drained, was treated for a stomach ache and lost nearly 20 kilograms before he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.
He and his mum now want more testing for the chronic disease.
Austin was living his teenage dream - young, fit, and healthy, working at a demolition site in Morrinsville.
But now he’s bedroom-bound, medicated, on a strict diet, and slowly rebuilding his life - after two months of what his family calls a medical nightmare.
"It just makes me mad," the 16-year-old said simply.
On March 5, Austin had sharp pains in his side.
It was after hours at the nearest clinic, so his mum Kirsty Mcleod drove 30km to Waikato Hospital.
But after waiting for several hours, they gave up and returned home before a surgical assessment.
But the pain didn’t go away, so they returned to the hospital, where Austin underwent surgery to remove his appendix.
"They then found out his appendix was fine, there was nothing wrong with his appendix, he had a cyst on his kidney," said mum Kirsty.
The cyst was drained over several days and Austin was sent home with antibiotics.
But then he started vomiting.
He also displayed three common symptoms of type 1 diabetes - excessive thirst, constant need to urinate and rapid loss of weight.
He refused to go back to the hospital so his mum took him to a local doctor.
"I got told he probably had a tummy bug," Kirsty told Newshub.
He went home with some anti-nausea pills but still went rapidly downhill.
"It was like he couldn’t move. I can’t even describe how he was on the bed," said Kirsty
"His cheekbones were out - he had already lost 19kgs."
They returned to hospital, where they told the medical staff his symptoms, and had blood tests.
Again, after waiting for hours, he went home against medical advice.
But things got worse. By midnight, Kirsty thought her son was dying and called an ambulance.
"I told them straight away what was going on, they pricked his fingers, sugar was through the roof, that was it, off to Waikato," she said.
The ambulance staff, she said, suspected Austin had type 1 diabetes - and he had a serious complication, diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), where the body can't produce enough insulin.
"You go into a diabetic coma, or you die, I mean it’s scary stuff," she said.
Austin was raced to hospital for insulin. But mum and son say he had to wait more than five hours.
"If you are left in a DKA state for too long, you get inflammation of the brain, it’s dangerous mate," said Kirsty.
Austin feared he was going to die.
"I felt like I was barely breathing... I didn’t have a pulse on me," he told Newshub.
He was finally given insulin and improved immediately. But Kirsty believes the damage has been done.
"He can get really angry and shitty really fast, there’s a lot of differences - emotionally and mentally."
Now, Kirsty wants more regular testing for diabetes.
"You have to prick these kids. It doesn’t matter who you are, if you’ve got these signs, you prick them."
Diabetes New Zealand says education and awareness are key. So look out for thirst, weight loss, tiredness and frequent urination.
"So it is educating parents to be aware of the symptoms and also the GPs to be aware as well, it's easy to misdiagnose," said Heather Verry, Diabetes NZ CEO.
In a statement, Waikato Hospital told Newshub that the family's description of care doesn't align with their patient records. And specific claims are incorrect.
It also noted that blood sugar levels are included in the suite of tests which are conducted routinely, and no complaint has been received from the family.
After releasing the statement, the hospital and the family did meet to discuss Austin's care. Staff apologised to the whānau.
Kirsty says she's now glad it's over, hoping "no-one else goes through what Austin did".
