The long-term effects are what she is worried about most, the finger-pricking every few hours at school, the waking in the night, and the complications if things go wrong: diabetic comas, heart disease, nerve damage and kidney damage.
The Government funds finger-pricking kits, insulin and pens to inject it with. But it doesn't fund blood sugar level sensor kits and patches that cost hundreds of dollars a month, so Molony is having to raise funds for these items that she says, will "improve life immensely".
The sensor and patches would mean Rougan could "go to school without having to worry that he needs to be finger-pricked five times".
"All he would do is scan the sensor and it would immediately come through to my phone, and I wouldn't have to wake him up in the night and watch him get upset because I've just hurt him."
And if Pharmac funded the sensors, she "wouldn't have to worry about how to pay for the next lot", Molony said.
"We are a family of five on a low income," she said, and even with the cheapest brands of sensors and patches, the child disability allowance of $50 a week still leaves a shortfall of more than $100 a month for someone using an insulin sensor and patches.
Molony is also trying to save for an insulin pump in the long-term, which are partially funded by Pharmac and cost about $6000 per year in New Zealand.
Rotorua boy Max Robinson was diagnosed just before he turned four, in September.
Insulin equipment used by diabetics. Photo / File
His mum Anita Robinson told the Rotorua Daily Post the lack of government funding for blood sugar level sensors was "a really big shame".
Her family has been able to afford a sensor and patches for Max but she said it would be "logical" for them to be funded by Pharmac and "it is frustrating they're not".
"If we didn't have the sensor we would be getting up during the night, like we did when he was first diagnosed and waking up a child at 2am to do a finger prick every night is not the most enjoyable thing."
For the Robinsons, the sensor brings "peace of mind" because "Max doesn't necessarily understand the symptoms at his age".
Blood sugar levels recorded in a notebook by a diabetic. Photo / File
Publicly funding a sensor for everyone would allow people "to more easily manage their diabetes and stay in the target range to reduce the risk of complications", Robinson said.
She believed this would save the health system money down the track, reducing hospitalisations.
In a statement, director of operations, Lisa Williams, said Pharmac had two funding applications in for continuous glucose monitors and monitoring systems, including blood sugar level sensors.
She said one of these, the FreeStyle Libre Flash, "has been reviewed by the Diabetes Subcommittee and recommended for funding with high priority".
"Possible opportunities for investment in new medicines will always exceed the budget Pharmac has available, therefore, comparative ranking is an intrinsic part of Pharmac's work.
"Pharmac makes more medicines and medical devices available to more New Zealanders every year and will continue making the best choices we can," Williams said.
In 2015, the Ministry of Health released a medium-term plan called 'Living well with diabetes'.
Some of the plan's goals were that by the end of 2020, more people with type 1 diabetes would "have a more seamless experience with the health system" in New Zealand and "have improved access to insulin pumps and glucose monitoring".
Type 1 diabetes
• Serious, life-long condition
• Affects an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 New Zealanders, including around 2000 children and young people.
• When the body does not create enough insulin to keep blood glucose (sugar) levels in the normal range.
• There is no cure and the cause is still unknown, but if you have a blood relative with diabetes you are more likely to develop it.
• Of all the people with diabetes, it is estimated that about 10 per cent of them have type 1 diabetes.
• Type 1 most often occurs in childhood, often in children aged 7–12 years, but it can occur at any age.
Source: Diabetes New Zealand and Ministry of Health
