Tragedy That Could Have Been Avoided

[gettingby]

This link says it all:

Mother Charged in Diabetic Girl's Death (http://news.aol.com/health/article/diabetic-girls-death/332616)
Don't know whether to feel sad or mad. Am sad for the little girl:( . Mad at the parents:mad: .

[Lizzy]

Totally unexcusable. The mother should have her pancreas surgically removed so she has to go thru what the child did. And the same for the dad. Where were the doctors and CPS when the mother sent in "dangerously high" glucose readings? Someone should have stepped in to protect this child.

"In the years following Chasity's diagnosis, CPS got reports that Jones wasn't adequately managing her daughter's disease but didn't find evidence of neglect." I wonder if they ever tested her sugar when they would investigate? If she was hospitalized five times in 2006 and 2007 they should have found something not right!

[gettingby]

I totally agree Liz. It just makes my blood boil. :mad: :mad: CPS finally jumped in but it was too late for Chasity. Her parents definitely are to blame. They were offered diabetes classes but didn't follow through with it. At least the other children have been removed from that home.

[morrisma]

So sad and even sadder that it isn't an isolated case.

Paraphrasing from the movie Parenthood: You need a license to own a dog or catch a fish but any moron can be a parent.
Mike

[gettingby]

So sad and even sadder that it isn't an isolated case.

Paraphrasing from the movie Parenthood: You need a license to own a dog or catch a fish but any moron can be a parent.
Mike
So true Mike. I work in a clothing store and I see many parents who need a class (maybe Parenting 101) on how to watch out for their children. They will turn their backs, the child escapes, and then we have to spend time walking the parent around to find the child. It's not a big store but a lot of places for children to hide from everyone.:( So yeah, there are a lot of parents who should be licensed and re-examined periodically to have a child.

[Lizzy]

My husband's favorite ball cap out of the at least 1,000 that he collected was........

"STUPID PEOPLE SHOULDN'T BREED"

[art]

When they try her can I be on the jury??

Please, please, please.

Art

[gettingby]

When they try her can I be on the jury??

Please, please, please.

Art
I'm with you, Art. Instead of a jury of her "peers", it should be a jury entirely made up of diabetics. Throw in some with major complications and watch her squirm. Yeah, when it comes to something like this, I can be evil.

[notme]

I don't know what I feel. I feel very sad for the child as she didn't have a clue what she was dealing with in her short life. I am angry that the Mother was neglectful in caring for her child with a chronic illness. However, I also feel very sad for the Mother and Father. They obviously did not have the intelligence to know how to care for their child or what the consequences were if they didn't monitor her care.

Having children is easy. Raising them right and caring for them when they are ill or have a chronic illness is really hard.

I guess I will wait and see what the courts have to say. All I can say is "so sad". This should not have happened.

[Mich]

I volunteer for Jury Duty too.

Inexcusable, and shame on those professionals who were aware of the situation and did nothing.

[Dewey]

I don't know what I feel. I feel very sad for the child as she didn't have a clue what she was dealing with in her short life. I am angry that the Mother was neglectful in caring for her child with a chronic illness. However, I also feel very sad for the Mother and Father. They obviously did not have the intelligence to know how to care for their child or what the consequences were if they didn't monitor her care.

Having children is easy. Raising them right and caring for them when they are ill or have a chronic illness is really hard.

I guess I will wait and see what the courts have to say. All I can say is "so sad". This should not have happened.
Nancy, I agree.

Though I don't have children of my own, I absolutely love kids and know that it's not easy to raise them. I always say "Life doesn't come with a handbook." Unfortunately, some folks don't receive the necessary education when a disease is diagnosed...and, as we all know, this can do way more harm than good. Likewise, while some have access to knowledge, they don't have the funds required to get needs met (medicines, etc.). It's not an easy road by any means.

Of course, I am NOT excusing the mother's actions in this article. She should have attended the Diabetes 101 class, should Not have allowed her daughter to eat such foods (especially if the child's levels were out of control) and should have tried to do whatever she could to get access to necessary meds. It's very sad that this young and beautiful child died so needlessly. :(

[mell1682]

I'm so sad for this little girl. To be in charge of something she didn't understand, why didn't the mom go to the education classes? When I was little, my diabetes was the most important thing to my mom, she even tried to make everyone else in the house eat like I did and she did her very best to take care of me until I got old enough to care for it on my own. Social services got involved when I was 14 because I was not caring for it. They came to my mom's house, looked in her cabinets, interviewed us all, and finally came to the conclusion that my mom was indeed trying all she could, short of physically holding me down. It makes me so sad that some parents really are as careless as this little girl's mom.

[cherokee_psh]

While I'm not arguing Mom shoulders blame in this precious little girls death. I am asking, "Why just Mom?". This little girl had a Dad too! If Mom refused to learn all she could to best care for her daughter, why didn't Dad step up and take resonsibility in his daughters care and treatment. Where are the charges against him? He has some amount of responsibility in his daughter's death too.

[gettingby]

While I'm not arguing Mom shoulders blame in this precious little girls death. I am asking, "Why just Mom?". This little girl had a Dad too! If Mom refused to learn all she could to best care for her daughter, why didn't Dad step up and take resonsibility in his daughters care and treatment. Where are the charges against him? He has some amount of responsibility in his daughter's death too.

Susan, I definitely agree with you. Both parents should be blamed in this terrible tragedy. The help was offered but they refused.

I'm so sad for this little girl. To be in charge of something she didn't understand, why didn't the mom go to the education classes? When I was little, my diabetes was the most important thing to my mom, she even tried to make everyone else in the house eat like I did and she did her very best to take care of me until I got old enough to care for it on my own. Social services got involved when I was 14 because I was not caring for it. They came to my mom's house, looked in her cabinets, interviewed us all, and finally came to the conclusion that my mom was indeed trying all she could, short of physically holding me down. It makes me so sad that some parents really are as careless as this little girl's mom.
When I was a freshman in high school, the doctor I was seeing from diagnosis time (in 8th grade) to the middle of my freshman year, was treating my diabetes incorrectly. My high school threatened to call Social Services because I was missing so much school. When they were informed by my new doctor just how sick I was, they backed off. My mom did the best she could. She did everything the doctor told us to do but he didn't really know what he was doing (and didn't send me elsewhere either). My mom carried a lot of guilt for a long time. Back in the '80's, they didn't have classes like they do now.:(

[patricia52]

My daughter-in-law is a T! and worked at a daycare for a short time. A little boy in the daycare was also T1. He was feeling bad one day and my DIL checked his BG. It was over 600. The administrator at the daycare reluctantly allowed her to give him a small amount of insulin and brought his BG to 400. The administrator would not let her give him more insulin. My DIL talked with the mother. She replied that it (D)was more than she could deal with. I don't know if she has improved her attitude. Also don't know is the daycare administrator has educated herself about caring for children with D.

[kgm0612]

This is a sad situation and BOTH parents should be blamed, not just the Mom!

Karen

[dar917]

My husband's favorite ball cap out of the at least 1,000 that he collected was........

"STUPID PEOPLE SHOULDN'T BREED"

I have a keychain somewhere that says that. ^_^

I'm not sure which is worse--this one, or the ones who let thier kid with diabetes die because they refused to get medical treatment and instead thought they could heal the kid by PRAYING. :mad:

[IrishJoe]

I'm not sure which is worse--this one, or the ones who let thier kid with diabetes die because they refused to get medical treatment and instead thought they could heal the kid by PRAYING.

I agree Dar...

I do think this is worse as they force fed the kid sugar... though the praying people's child suffered more...

It angers me as I was 21 when I was DKA this kid was 9 so it must have been a lot worse.

[Erin]

I feel very sad about what this little girl went through. But does it bother anyone else that the article made it seem like we'd all drop dead if we ate a cupcake? Or that the diet was the major issue? Sure diet is an issue, but i eat junk all the time, and bolus appropriately and it's no worse for me than it is for everybody else. grumble grumble.

Wish this child's parents got the education that they so obviously needed...

[AngelKitty]

Such a sad tragic story - poor little angel.
Bad parenting, bad social network, bad outcome.
Real justice would ensure that the sentencing judge was a diabetic themselves.

Oh and Erin - I'm with you - I'm so sick and tired of the public misconception that T1s have diabetes because of sugary food consumption.

[yannah]

I hesitate to judge this mother. I don't know if she had the where withall -so to speak - to handle this situation. I don't know what her knowledge was, I don't know if anyone explained consequences to her, maybe all she could afford was noodles? I just don't know...I hesitate judgement, however this is soo very sad - so very preventable, and just sad.

[gettingby]

I feel very sad about what this little girl went through. But does it bother anyone else that the article made it seem like we'd all drop dead if we ate a cupcake? Or that the diet was the major issue? Sure diet is an issue, but i eat junk all the time, and bolus appropriately and it's no worse for me than it is for everybody else. grumble grumble.

Wish this child's parents got the education that they so obviously needed...
I agree with you Erin. That's the way the media operates. You can't educate them. My first doctor instilled in my mind a similar way of thinking. I never knew that carbs were bad and sugar was allowed in moderation. It wasn't until I joined this site that I found that out. For years I was told to avoid all sugar and starches. I didn't learn carb counting for quite a long while.:(

Even sadder is that I feel we may never hear how this tragedy ends. The media got their sensationalism out of it and now it will probably fade into obscurity. And that is truly sad. :(