Well all the discussions are over, the saline trials, the insurance discussions etc. Today my son will meet at the hospital and start pumping. I have the date set on the meter and pump, the skin on and clip attached and tried to read thru the book but didn't get far. I am a bit excited for him but nervous also.
Its going to be a change but shots have gotten routine and not sure I remembe every thing from the saline trial.
I know he is not the first 14 year old with a pump but he is my first 14 year old with a pump. I would appreciate any feedback from fellow pumpers out there who can kind of fill me in on what to expect for the first week or so - did you have to test your BG more times, how was the learning curve etc. He has the ping.
first - don't panic. it's different but it's still taking insulin and by now I am sure you are both used to that. I would say - if you can get the phone number for an Animus Trainer/Rep it would be the best thing because the know their product and can help you and your son navigate the menus and shortcuts.
I would encourage you, if you can, to be with your son during training with insulin.
Cheers and good luck.
PS the pump is really hard to break - I was a little scared to move and bump it the first day but I have since leared it can take and absolute beating and keep working.
I do have the phone number of the Animas person . We also have a great resource at Childrens Hospital. Those advanced menu items and menu's in general seem overwhelming. I do have the ez manager but have not done anything with it yet. Its still in the box. My wife and I will both be with him for the training with insulin. I am glad you mentioned the durability of the pump - when you have a 14 year old that is always a concern. During the saline trial someone bumped into him at school and pushed him in the wall and pump took the shock. I know we will get thu it but support from this community is really appreciated.
My 4 year old son started on the pump (Ping) just over a month ago. It has been AWESOME!
Our clinic started us for 2 weeks with the advanced menu options turned off. That was good, then we were still calculating his doses ourselves, just like with shots - so meal times were no different. Even if they turn this on and you find it overwhelming, just use Normal bolus and you just punch in the amount of insulin you want to give.
The trickiest/most intimidating part was the first few infusion set changes. I am hoping your 14 yr old won't scream, kick and twist as much as my son does during them. :) I think it has just been scary because it is new. He does better now, but still doesn't like the site changes.
If anything, BGs for the first few days, weeks were on the high side. THis was because they started on a conservative basal rate and bolus ratio because his doses had been as small as we could give him on shots (0.5 units a lot of time) and we were fighting daily lows. But then it was so great to be easily able to correct with the pump without having to give the extra shot. Yes, be prepared for some extra testing (like a couple middle of the night checks) but we only had to do that for 5 days or so. After the first weekend we had to call the clinic with his numbers and made a couple adjustments and things have been good ever since. At our 2 week follow-up, they were really pleased with his numbers. As was I!
PUmp durability is good - yes, a concern with a 4 yr old boy too. Please let me know if you have any questions - I hope things go great!
I am so grateful for your help. I am glad your 4 year old is doing well. I was a bit worried about the advance features (how have they been for you??).
My son did o.k. - on the infusions during the saline trial. He changed it 3 times. When we ordered supplies they gave some of those short infusions and some of the automatic spring loaded infusions. I think he will do much better with the spring loaded infusions.
Matthew runs on the high side almost ALL the time. In the last 90 days he has had one or two lows and every thing else high. My guess is that they will eventually adjust with more insulin to counter the highs which I hope do not start producing more lows.
In the past two weeks how have his numbers been - range wide - is he more within range now than he was with the shots. I certainly will have many questions and I appreciate your offer to listen. My many thanks
He is more in range now. But he has a pretty big range: 80-200. (Which on shots we were 100-200). They said we'll watch how it is over the next couple months and probably dial down the top of his range to 175 or 150. We are still seeing the occasional 350 which kind of sucks, but I'd say 4out 6 tests per day he is in range.
We are working on figuring out post-meal highs right now, so I am monkeying around with various basal rates. When we started he had 1 and then after the first three days they added a different basal rate for the evening - which helped with bedtime highs. I'm an engineer by training, so I kind of like this 'problem solving' part of it. (Though, don't get me wrong, I would like it a lot more if I didn't have to do this and my kid didn't have T1D!)
We use the inset 30s, which are spring loaded, we didn't even try anything else cuz he's so thin. I like them, they're pretty easy now.
My perception is that you will be able to get your son's numbers down gradually, but in a pretty short period of time. I know from reading that teenage years can be hard because most other hormones increase BG. But again, it is easier on the pump to correct for highs and you can give tiny amounts. Where as on shots, there were times that he would be 250 and we were supposed to give 0.5 units but wouldn't because if we did a few hours later he would be crashing low. Now on the pump, I can give him 0.25 units and I know it is accurate and on the next check he is in range. So that makes me feel better that we are correcting as we need to, but now over correcting.
I forgot to add that the advance features are pretty nice. I find the food list takes too long to go thru on a normal night, probably because I know the carb counts of all the foods. But at least it is there if I am ever out. Wish there was an easier calculator feature since mental math seems to take me forever!
LOVE the ezBG feature. THat is so nice that I don't have to remember the correction scale - the pump does. And it calculates the insulin on board, so you don't over correct and I also don't HAVE to wait 3 hours since his last dose to give him a correction.
But again, you don't have to use any of the advance features right away. You can just use normal and just use the pump as a more convenient delivery system until you get more comfortable with it.
when the meter is on and you haven't done a blood test, hit the "ok" button. then select "ezcarb". when the ezcarb menu shows up, scroll down to "food list." then you can access foods by category (such as beverages, cereals, dairy, etc.)
when the meter is on and you HAVE done a blood test, select "bolus", then select "ezcarb" and follow the same instructions.
while the food list is convenient to have, i've only used it once. i used to have a deltec that also had a food list and i never used it.
I did do that and selected bolus and it brought me to bolus awaiting an entry not to EZ Carb. I called tech people and they said that was an advanced feature but she did not sound very sure. Anyway, when I selected bolus I do not the get the Ez carb option as the video or you mentioned so I was wondering if it is really an advanced feature that needs to be turned on.
hmm. it probably is then. i turned on all the advanced features as soon as i got the pump, so i've always had it available. i got the pump a few months ago, so i can't remember all the set up now. sorry :o(
Congratulations on the big step to more independence. Pick up Pumping Insulin and Think Like a Pancreas: A Practical Guide to Managing Diabetes with Insulin. Both if these book have valuable and insightful information on managing diabetes and using the insulin pump.
Would you happen to know how to get to Calorie King on the Ping meter.??
[/quote]
Keith, I use a mm pump, but I always though you can program your favorite foods (carbs) directly into the Ping. There is Calorie King handboook and software, but I do not know if you can store that much info in the Ping pump, I am guessing no. No worries as carb counting is the same for a pump as MDI, and you won't believe the human capacity for remembering carbs after a while =) sorry I couldn't help more.
Keith, my daughter started on the ping last Thursday. It has been a huge change but has also been very rewarding. I did my first infusion change on Saturday and was petrified. I went through the book that came with the pump and found nothing on insertion. Luckily, our training at Children's Hospital was wonderful. I was able to successfully change the infusion set with no tears or screaming! My little girl hugged me when I was done and told me what a great job I was doing. I have been in contact with our local rep and she seems to be very supportive and anxious to help and hear about our experience. I did go to our school and sat with every person that she comes in contact with just to make sure everyone knows of the change. The teachers all suggested that they notify the class of her new pump so they could keep an eye out for her as well. So far we are loving it and will love it even more when we stop doing blood sugar checks every 3 hours around the clock! Jessica told me last night that "she loves her new life". I guess that says it all. Good luck to you!