Hero all…I am back with needing info on how step daughters diabetes being handled, again…
13 yr old girl, under 5 months, not even doing all her own shots…said hurt and hard to do , mom got Dr to put her on pump and also a chm… she only used the chm for afew weeks, said it kept going off (working wrong). Now been on pump less then 4 months and says hurts 24/7 so mama without Dr input has taken her off pump and back to a pen…which parents and others half to due all injections except for arm ones… my question is shouldn’t they have talked to Dr first ??? Should she be earned off or anything done or be doing different ?
Struggling with no info until after but thankful for your help
Sorry words changed on me before I looked at… cgm and weened off? Thanks again
Hi, Stepmom! Others can chime in with advice for helping your stepdaughter feel empowered, but on the immediate safety question, it sounds like she’s getting what she needs, which is insulin. Whether it’s injected with a pump, a pen, or a syringe, as long as she’s getting the right amounts at the right times, the delivery method isn’t crucial. Some folks have a strong preference one way or the other, but it all works. Hope this helps!
Greetings, Stepmom. 13 is a tough year. I started giving my own injections when I was 12, so I could go to sleep-overs without my mom or dad having to show up in the morning. One thing that might be of help is to use syringes that have a shot needle. I’m 47 now (diagnosed at 7 years old) and I am now using a 6mm needle. I find any needle longer than that to “hurt”, as it sometimes get into the muscle. As a kid, I was athletic and didn’t have much body fat to work with and the needles on the syringes were thick and long back int he day. I totally understand your step-daughter’s unwillingness to be injected. It may help to contact your closest JDRF office and have them set up a mentor with a long time diabetic to have a sit-down with your daughter to chat about growing up with diabetes. It helped me back in the day. Best regards!!!
I agree with everything Srozelle and RkyMtn have said. I do think it’s important to talk with a doctor (or diabetes educator) before making changes, especially so early on, but so long as she’s checking her blood sugar and getting insulin, it doesn’t matter whether it’s with a cgm or finger sticks, with syringes, a pen, or a pump. What matters is that she’s getting the right amounts of insulin at the appropriate times. I’ve been on multiple daily injections for almost 23 years. No desire to use a pump. But your step-daughter will need start self injecting soon and pain at the injection sites isn’t going to help.
I was really scared of needles when I was a kid (actually, I still am) and it took me 5 years to get over the fear enough to start self-injecting. I was 16 when I finally took over my diabetes management. I had no lack of support from friends and family, and I definitely missed out on some stuff as a kid because of it, but I needed to come to it in my own time. Sometimes the support/pressure from my family just made it harder. Frankly it was the things I was missing out on and my desire to be with my friends that finally helped me to get over my fear.
One thing that also helped was using an inject-ease autojector. Pushing a button is a little less scary for me than stabbing myself. (Diabetic Care Services | Diabetes and Pharmaceutical Supplies). There are similar devices for pens, too. The one I tried years ago was hard to use because it made the pen so long it was difficult to hold. But there are several different varieties and your step-daughter’s doctor might be able to get you some to try for free. (http://www.owenmumford.com/us/healthcare-professionals-product/autopen/ or http://integrateddiabetes.com/Articles/insu/Injection%20Aids%20Article.pdf) I’ve also heard from other parents that the shot blocker helps reduce pain, though I’ve never used it myself. (http://www.bionixmed.com/MED_Pages/ShotBlocker.html)
I hope this helps! Good luck to you and your step-daughter!
This is a tough situation for all of you, but mostly for your step daughter. Has someone asked her how she thinks she can best manage her needs? Has anyone asked her about her preferences? The delivery method isn’t what’s important. As long as she went back into the same dosing and everything as before the pump.
My daughter was diagnosed as an adult, just before her 19th birthday and even she has had much difficulty adjusting to this new life. She wanted to use a pump so bad in the beginning and once she started, it gave her nothing but pain/problems and 6 hospitalization a in a years time. She had better control with injections but was still out of control. She just managed to stay out of the hospital for over a year then. She recently went back on the pump and was suggested by a new doctor that the previous infusion set wasn’t right for her. That idea never came up with the previous doctor. The pump is working perfectly without pain or issues this time. Now there are other issues, oddly enough brought on by consistently normal blood sugars for the first time ever… Go figure!
Anyway, the tension between the divorced parties is showing in this situation. T1D is hard enough to deal with. It’s already hard for our kids (even when they’re adults) to constantly have everyone questioning everything they do and to have to deal with it all. it’s significantly delayed my daughter being able to be fully independent. At 21, she had to postpone college and has had trouble keeping jobs until more recently because of being frequently ill.
I know your step daughter is only 13 and will have to be reminded, monitored and helped to do all of the things she needs to in order to stay healthy. But, she wasn’t given any choice about T1D, I’m sure she will appreciate having some choices in how it’s managed.
My son is 10 and we do his injections for him via pen. He was dx’d a little less than 2 years ago and did not want to even tell anyone or get injections at school. He now wears a Dexcom and we still do the injecting of pens, he does the math and gets pen ready but we inject. Every child moves at their own pace and we want to make things as positive as possible (although we have our moments of frustration).
We plan for Omni pod. Late this year the Dexcom is set to release a NEW version of their injector and sensor - one button injector and sensor should be 30% smaller. So maybe she will try it then …teen age girls have body image concerns.
A JDRF mentor is a good idea.
Use “Nano” needle tips on pens- these are smallest available we were NOT offered these at first and now my son does not complain as much.
Infusions sites are trial and error - several sometimes need to be tried before they feel comfortable, that said, most teens don’t want to wear one.
It’s definitely not easy what you are going through…find social networks locally, and Facebook has a great amount of Type One groups - usually find one in your state where you can get feedback from others.
Thank you all for the insites just hoping the extra information can help and we are trying to get her an entire but her mother keeps saying she doesn’t need one she has mama… we are going forward for her to get one and have been attending the local summits…