We want CGM and flash GM funded for everyone in Aotearoa!

The Freestyle Libre was the best medical advice I got from my diabetes nurse, Bonnie. She pushed me to try many things to help me with the tracking of the blood sugars, so without her help and her guidance to the Freestyle Libre, I probably wouldn't be here today telling you my story.

The CGM would be absolutely wonderful, so that you can go out and walk or cycle without having to check your blood sugars while on the go.

CGM is completely free here in Norway, and I am waiting for a similar thing in New Zealand to become available before I move back home.

I sleep better with the CGM - if I don’t have one the worry will keep me awake, not the blood sugars.

The first thing I do when I get an invoice paid is purchase more sensors. I prioritise that cost before rent, before petrol, before groceries.

Glucose monitors shouldn’t need to be the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff. Having blood sugar results constantly, without finger pricks, would pay off hugely for the national cost of healthcare support throughout our lives and particularly in our later years.

I'm a full-time student and I can't afford a CGM. I can't even afford to cover my tuition fees on my own or buy a house. I have lived with this illness for more than twenty years and all I want is access to technology that will lessen the burden, even just a little bit.

This means that I have had diabetes for at least 27 years and over that time would have used 39,312 Caresens test strips – not allowing for the occasions when the tests had to be aborted and / or reconfirmed because I did not believe the result.

Not being able to afford this meter is very frustrating and I strongly believe it’s very important that the CGMs are fully funded for ALL of our population that have Type 1 and 2 diabetes.

There are parents putting their kids to bed, not knowing if they will be alive the next day or getting up several times a night to test them to be sure and that is exhausting whilst trying to hold down a job.

The CGM costs money, money I’m not gonna have all the time. I have plans to go to university… I won’t be able to keep paying for the sensors. I don’t want to have to choose between growing up and living independently or having a good quality of life.