As a mother....I feel it's my right to brag, as all mothers should! :)
Last Sunday (10 days ago), Quinton transitioned to the pump. As you can imagine, I was worried sick! Last week was quite daunting with extremely unpredictable BG numbers. One minute his BG would be 410 and two hours later it would be 60!!! I was a nervous wreck.
Adjustment after adjustment has paid off! Quinton has had amazing blood sugars for the last 6 days and is smoothly transitioning into the pump club!
He's had to change his set three times since he started and he's done every single one of them by himself! I couldn't be more proud! This pump thing is the best thing that's happened to him since diagnosis. I just love that kid so much!
He was so funny....the Sunday he got the pump he begged me to take him out to dinner so he could eat a special meal without an injection. He plead with me saying "I haven't been able to eat anything without a shot for 8 months...c'mon mom". How could I resist that! So, off to Red Robin we went and he ordered whatever he wanted. A finger poke, a push of a button and voila, he was free to chow down. I guess it's the little things that make us happy these days! Way to go Q!!!!
Thanks everyone! I just read this post to Quinton and it made him beam that I was so proud of him. Quinton is 12. His Birthday is in April, so he's got a while to go until being a "teen". The amazing thing is that Q was just diagnosed in January of 2010 and approved for the pump in June. That's right, only 6 months of T1 and he was ready!!! His A1c is 6.7 and he's owned this disease and manages it primarily by himself.
The only negative experience we've had with the pump was the process of actually GETTING the pump. Medtronic, our insurance company (Providence) and the medical supply company (Edgepark) were HORRIBLE to deal with. Don't get me wrong, the individuals I dealt with were very polite, but it was a case of the left hand not talking to the right hand. It was EXTREMELY frustrating that none of the companies were taking charge and put me in the middle to communicate between the companies. We were ok'd for the pump in June and what should have taken 3 weeks to process took nearly 8 weeks! All because these companies weren't communicating with each other. What infuriated me the most was that each of the companies were blaming each other......to ME! I don't care what your internal company problems are....figure them out because the only person that is suffering from your shortfalls is my son! ARRRGH! Sorry, reliving this mess still stresses me out.
Anyway, good luck to all of you who are transitioning to the pump! I'm sure it will be just as exciting and successful as Quinton's was. To the parents out there....get ready to feel like you have a newborn all over again. Waking up every 2 hours throughout the night to check blood is quite exhausting! Exhausting, but well worth it.
If I can help anyone or answer any questions, please feel free to contact me!
Great Job Q!! My daughter loves her pump and we wouldn't know what to do without it. She loves having the freedom to eat without having a shot. And it helps when she wants to go to a birthday party and she doesn't have to have a bunch of shots (one for food, one for cake/icecream). It has felt like we have a little bit of our life back. Love it!!
Congrats again, I am so glad he is happy with it and it has given him some freedom back!
A finger poke, a push of a button and voila, he was free to chow down. I guess it's the little things that make us happy these days! Way to go Q!!!!
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This is not a little thing! My first day with the pump (as a 19 year old) I was so excited to eat everything! It's a huge difference to not have to worry about the math and the needles and feeling self conscious.
Its awesome that you've had so much good luck. I hope it continues to be awesome for you.
<snip>Way to go! My daughter was dxed in dec 09 and wants nothing to do with the pump.
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I hope that as Riley gets more experience, she will get interested in getting a pump. In my own case, I did injections for 52 years, starting at age 10, before starting my first pump, 15 years ago. I have had much better control using a pump, to say nothing about the convenience.
Way to go! My daughter was dxed in dec 09 and wants nothing to do with the pump.
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Jessica,
Has Riley had a chance to meet any other Type 1's her age? About a week after Sarah was diagnosed, I met up with a mom and her daughter (Amanda). Amanda is about a year older than Sarah, super active in sports and stuff, adorable as can be. Anyway, she wears a pump and told Sarah all about it. Sarah's been chomping at the bit ever since. And (woo hoo!) her Animas Ping arrives tomorrow!
What is it about the pump Riley doens't like? According to Sarah the insertion felt like less than a shot (she compared it with the finger prick). She think's it looks super cool and can't wait to show her friends her new device.
Shelly, Quinton is doing a great job! Tell him this old man with type 1 for 64 years is very proud of him! I am not familiar with the Red Robin restaurants. Is it a diabetes restaurant? How did Quinton know how much insulin to use unless he knew the exact carb count? I go to restaurants that are listed in my Calorie King book so I will not have trouble with dosages.
That is super that Quinton is changing his sets ate age 12. Be sure he rotates sites and uses different body parts occasionally to avoid scar tissue.
I'll make sure to let Q know that you are proud of him! That will definitely make him feel good.
Red Robin is not a Diabetic Restaurant. It's a chain that specializes in burgers. We always ask for a nutrition menu when we go out so he knows how many carbs he's eating. About 70% of the restaurants have them. The others that don't, we rely on an iPod app that he has called "food facts". He searches for what he's eating and it tells us all the nutrition facts of what he's having. It's a GREAT app. We also use hte Calorie King book. I love that thing!
He does rotate his sites. On Friday when he changed his site the wierdest thing happened though. He pulled off the adhesive around the canula and the area was VERY red and irritated. This was to be xpected because I have super sensitive skin as well. Within 2 minutes, he developed 4 blisters all within the area of the adhesive. I immediately called his pump trainer who told us to call his PCP.
The PCP said that if the blisters aren't infected or ruptured, just to watch them. Well, they did rupture, but mostly it was just water with a little blood swirled in the fluid. I called Medtronic and explained to them the sensitivity that was happening. They sent us out an adhesive sample pack with all sorts of barriers/tapes/fluids/etc in it. He'll be changing his set again tonight so we'll start experimenting with the different adhesives they sent. They sent us Tegaderm, IV 3000, IV Preps (which we currently use), and some other suture liquid stuff that Docs use for open wounds to "glue" the wound back together. If none of this works, we'll have to meet with an ostonomy nurse to figure out what can be done to minimize the reactions. One thing that was suggested was the "sandwich method" and that's probably what we'll try tonight.
The one thing I'm concerned with though is even the paper tape that they use for regular IV's and the Tagaderm that is used for IV's still break me out in a huge red rash. I've never had blisters though. I'm just hoping that one of these things that they sent will work. Of course, none of it is covered by insurance, but it is a necessity, so I'm gonna have to find a way to pay for it.
Shelly, i have the same problem with the paper tapes. I bought a box of Skin Prep wipes at my drug store. I rub the area where the tape will go and let it dry. It feel kinda sticy then. It helps holds the set in place and protects the skin from irritation. I have not had any more problems wit reddness or blisters. I also bought a box of Uni-Solve wipes. When the set is removed there is some residue on the skin from the tape and Skin Prep. The Uni-Solve wipe will dissolve the resudue and cleans the area nicely. Both Skin Prep and Uni-Solve are made by Smith&Nephew. There are competing brands, but these work great for me.
That's so exciting! I was the same way when I got my pump and I was 20 years old! haha I'm surprised how many people are now getting pumps so early. I was only diabetic for 5 months before I had my pump! I had an incident about 2 months ago where my pump completely stopped working and I had to be at my internship that day for 7 hours, I was so afraid to go back on shots that I ate no carbs all day!!