My son's green Ping will be delivered on Monday, and it will be 1-2 weeks before we actually have pump start, but I am a little nervous about training our daycare provider, my son's grandparents, etc. on how to use the pump when they care for him. Is it hard? I am most worried about my mother in law who is not computer literate. She is great about calculating doses and giving shots, but I am just worried she will be freaked by having do everything from a machine. I know we'll figure it out, but any insights from those who have gone before are appreciated!
we have also not found a babysitter yet for evenings out (bummer!) and do people think it is easier to train someone to use the pump than train them to give shots?
Call up your pump provider and ask them for extra training books! these books are great forr helping you learn as well as your family and care providers. Grandparents can attend training if they want too! Whatever you do, don't undersetimate peoples ability to learn. =) Your mother won't freak, she will be nervous, but that is okay because you are too.
You can also invite your babysitter to this website! I'm sure we could lend support.
when my daughter got her pump Medtronic had a local nurse that worked for them provide training for the whole daycare. then when Courtney went to 4k this year, they came back to train the teacher and school staff. i am sure all of the pump companies would provide something like that. I would call and ask. what was nice about Medtronic coming in was that they made it very basic, no more than they needed to know and they all had empty pumps to train on. It was great!
my mom was that hardest to train. Although she raised me and i am T1, she was unfamiliar with the pump because i think I was about 25 when I got it. i gave her simple notes and made her do the pump work when we were visiting. she still gets nervous but she can figure it out. and she too does not know how to use a computer. we are still struggling with a sitter so i have no suggestions for that. Good luck!
Most people are going to feel more comfortable giving insulin through a pump than giving a shot. Plus with the Ping, you use the meter as a remote. There are only 3 buttons and it is easy to figure out. We had no problem training my son's preschool teachers to bolus his snack. For my mom, I leave her a little cheat sheet or she calls me and I walk her through it....though my 7 and 4 year old know what to do too. If everything is set correctly, then the pump will determine the correct amount to bolus as long as the correct amount of carbs are entered. It is great that your mil is used to calculating and giving shots because she will be familiar with how much insulin to carbs he usually gets so will know that the amount the pump recommends is right on. The trainers at Animas are great...they should come out to your home for the first few weeks till you are comfortable with everything. Have your mil and any babysitter come to the training also. You and your son will love his ping! It is a bit of an adjustment over shots but the flexibility it gives is priceless. Good luck!!
In my opinion, there's a big advantage of training a grandparent, teacher or babystitter with insulin infusions on the pump. Needles and syringes are just so intimidating and scary for people who don't have to administer a shot regularly. A pump bolus "feels" less invasive for them since they don't have to break skin. Furthermore, the pump can offer more control on the amount to give.
The one exception we ran into was with Cassie's grandmother, Mollie who has dealt with type diabetes her whole life. Cassie's uncle was diagnosed over 30 years ago at the age of 3 and Mollie was used to giving shots. The pump was more intimidating for her at first, but now she's quite comfortable with the system.