Medtronic 512 Insulin Pump (on left) & Meter
I picked up the donated pump on Friday. They sent along the meter that links with it as well. I still haven't heard from our clinic about a final verdict on whether we'll be allowed to use this pump. I trust that all will work out for good. Even if we do have to buy a new one, I know all will be at J.J.'s best interests.
We may end up holding off on the pump until fall when J.J.'s insulin needs have increased. We may see good results with MDI this summer with the extra outside activity. Then as his honeymoon wears off and he needs more insulin in the fall it may be beneficial to put him on the pump. We'll have to wait and see. We are still going to proceed with pump training, so when the time comes we'll be ready.
Since our endo appt, we've kept J.J.'s numbers lower, but unfortunately as we predicted they are a bit too low for our comfort level. Although I do like seeing the average lower on his meter, I just hate that he's truly going "low"---i.e. below 60----or he is in the buffer zone a lot ----60-80. So basically, what do "the forces that be" want.....high or low? We'll keep tweaking a bit.....maybe a good middle ground can be reached.
Thanks to the D.O.C. for the Smarties tip!! Smarties have been perfect for raising J.J.'s low(er) numbers. J.J. doesn't really need the full 15g of carbs to get him up, so just one roll of Smarties at 6 g's does the trick!! Plus it was one of his favorite treats before being diagnosed. I grabbed a whole bag on clearance at Wal-mart this week. Doesn't quite compare with Scott's stash, but it will do for now!! Plus they are perfect for him to tuck in his pockets!! When the N.E. showed us the glucose tabs in the hospital I nearly choked......or knew J.J. would choke if I tried to give him one!! They are HUGE......but Smarties are just right!! So thanks for the tip guys....love it!!
As I end today I just want to say that as any household we have our good days and bad days. The weeks that Jason is out of town are harder, and especially the weeks he's out of town and I'm in that "tired" week of the month.....the two always seem to coincide....hmmmmm....I wonder if he does that on purpose!!! I'll have to have a chat with that man!! At any rate I wanted to end with a good day, and a "fun" picture.
This was taken Friday afternoon. Jason came home early and surprised us with a few kites. Here is J.J. flying a kite for the first time!! As I look at this picture I can see the fullness coming back into his face. Yippee!!
8 comments:
Congrats on getting the pump and I hope it works out for you guys. I just got approved for the pump last week and I am supposed to have it in my hands tomorrow, but then have to go through the training.
Congrats!
And you know where you can come to get filled up on Smarties when you're in the cities! :-)
Looks like he's having a blast flying that kite!
Those Smarties are great, aren't they?
The picture of JJ flying the kite was the highlight of my day. He looks so happy and healthy. It made me smile & brought a tear to my eye. It's okay; it was a happy tear. :)
He's absolutly beautiful Lynnea.
It breaks my heart to look at that cute face and know what he goes through every day.
Sorry, don't mean to be so somber. I'm not in the best of moods today.
If I could be so bold to make a few suggestions...its just that in the 4+ years that our 6 year old daughter has had diabetes, we've had 3 different Endocrinologists (from moving a few times), and our current one we disagreed with nearly everything she said in the first appointment.
First of all, its more difficult with smaller children...but anything you can do to give insulin 20-30 minutes before eating is helpful. This will become much easier with the pump, as you can give 1/2 the insulin early (covering an amount of carbs you KNOW he will eat), and then give more later as he eats.
So even without changing any basal or bolus ratios, this will help lower the post meal high.
Depending on how long JJ goes between snacks and meals can determine very different basal and bolus rates. Caroline tends to go decently long periods, so we actually have a low basal rate in her pump, and a more aggressive bolus. We found with higher basals we were just forcing ourselves to check more often and give more snacks to prevent lows.
Also, and this is pump specific, two main thoughts:
1) The pump will remember how much insulin is on board and therefore won't correct most of the time for higher numbers...you will learn that you can and should override the pump to give extra insulin. So get ready for that.
2) Remember that you have control down to less than an hour for what JJs basal rates will be with a pump. For Caroline from 7-10 we more than double her basal, and then the next 3 hours are about 50% higher....this is designed to mimic the fact she is still digesting a lot of her dinner but not burning any of the sugar off.
I guess my main point in all of this is that you will be able to take the pump and vary ratios and everything down to the hour if you want/need to in order to mimic your own situation and needs with his schedule. It may sound like a lot, but it will be a BLAST.
One last thing before I forget, you will also be able to turn the basal off or reduce it rather than give juice/sugar. We do this a lot at night. Last night Caroline was 66 at midnight, so I put her basal at 0 for 1 hour and she woke up at 150. No juice, no nothing.
YOU WILL LOVE IT!
Your son is so cute!!
Good luck w/ the pump!
k2
Thanks all for thinking my little guy is cute!! I think so too!!:-)
Scott..I may just have to "swing by" when we're in the cities...you couldn't possibly eat all those yourself!!:-)
Brett..so... what are you saying? We'll like the pump? So much more to learn, but I'm sure we'll end up liking it. Just taking it one (slow) step at a time.:-)
what a beautiful, beautiful boy!
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