Hi, All…
We passed our one year anniversary in January and my daughter (turned 4 in February) was always very cooperative with shots…until about a month ago. Now she says “I don’t want to eat (insert meal here), Mommy” and, more often than not, it’s because she doesn’t want her shot. I don’t want to go all behavior mod on her because I’m trying to keep things as neutral as possible. This is just a part of our lives, good, bad or indifferent. But it’s very obvious that things are wearing very thin for her. We’ve talked about a pump but, after her one week cgm trial, she does not want to do that. Any ideas of ways to make things easier for her? She doesn’t like the idea of numbing cream, either.
Thanks in advance
Oh…forgot to add. She’s become all fidgety on me, basically creating a moving target for the syringe. At times she’ll almost swat my hand away. Gah! Scary. We’ve talked about it and it’s getting a little better but…
The thing about a cgm trial is that you still have to take shots, so you don’t really get the experience of going shot-free and eating whatever you want whenever you want. I know that’s hard to impress upon a 4 year old but it was life-changing for my son. Also - the cannula of a pump feels different than the metal of a cgm from what I’ve heard. My son started on the Omnipod - a month before his year anniversary, and sometimes he forgets where he’s wearing it - since he can’t feel it. He hasn’t had a shot in 8 months, and it’s amazing. If there is any way you could get to a kids’ diabetes conference, a family camp, or anything where she could see other kids wearing them she might be more likely to do it. That’s what happened to us - we went to the Friends for Life conference in Orlando where he was able to wear the Animas for 15 minutes (and begged the entire time for it to be taken off his stomach) and then the Omnipod, which he put on his arm and immediately fell in love with.
It really hit home for us since my son started wearing the pod on the day of my husband’s big summer pot-luck for work. My son filled up his plate, and looked at me with this huge grin and announced - “I’m going to decide if I want dessert AFTER I eat, to see if I’m still hungry.” The fact that he got to choose because it just meant pushing some buttons instead of deciding between a shot and dessert (or picking his dessert before he ate his meal) was such a big deal to him. He even says now that having diabetes “isn’t so bad” with the Omnipod. Obviously not his every day attitude, but it’s nice to hear every now and then. : )
If pumping truly isn’t an option - have you looked into an inject-ease? (sp?) It’s like a little port they wear and you inject into that. Kind of the same result as the pump as far as the number of actual injections that they feel. We never did that but I have heard a number of people with little kids have done it and really loved it.
Ice? Some people say using ice on the area before injecting helps.
Sorry I can’t think of anything else - I’m sure there are more experienced people on here who would have other ideas!
Natasha made a lot of good comments below. David was older when he was diagnosed (10). He would often ask for a second helping at lunch or dinner and would change his mind and walk away from the table when he realized that a second helping meant an additional shot.
He started on a pump shortly after his 14th birthday. He grew over a foot in height that year. So quickly that he has stretch marks up and down his sides. He is now just short of 6 foot two and a solid 205 lbs. I don’t think that he would have reached his natural growth potential if he had not had the opportunity to go on a pump. The real benefit aside from growth and good health has been a significantly improved A1c.
We didn’t really give him a choice about a pump, I just kept talking to him along the lines that a pump is where we are headed to improve his daily care so that he could get used to the idea. If the choice had been soley his, he would still be doing shots as anything new creates a certain amount of fear and he wasn’t at all sure how he would manage a pump with all of his sports activities. The first few weeks were difficult, but once we got a handle on site changes and so on, pumping has been a huge improvement over multiple daily shots.
Cheryl
I’m going to have to agree with Natasha’s post. My son was diagnosed last July and is still on shots…ordering the pump as we talk here…he’s hardly given me issues with the injections but there have been times so we started discussing the pump months ago. I have a nephew who’s been pumping for 8 years and they’re the one’s who pushed us to switching and everything I’ve read for kids is all about the health benefits.
We are going to the Friends for Life conference in Orlando this year and he’s going to a day camp for D’s near our home town in June which was all his idea. When he was first diagnosed we made a trip to Florida to stay with my sister so he could spend some time around my nephew…that was huge! For him to be around another D was so beneficial and I think that would be the best direction for you and your daughter. Get her around others.
We have talked about how having a pump would mean no shots and that is attractive to her but, at 4 years old, it’s hard for her to understand how much it would change our lives. We haven’t been to any family events and she doesn’t know any other kids who have pumps…the only other diabetic child we know is a friend from our Mommy group and she was diagnosed 6 weeks after Taylor. They haven’t progressed to a pump yet either. So, that’s something I’d like to get on…getting her around kids that are close to her age who are pumping. That might help.
Thanks for all the suggestions. We’ve talked about the iPort (sounds like the inject-ease you were talking about)…my “sensitive flower” wanted nothing to do with it! I want to give her as much control over her own body as I can but I think I’m going to have to start gradually nudging her toward a pump.
Yeah, she’s definitely going through d-burnout and trying to establish a bit of independence at the same time. Makes it challenging but I’m sure we’ll get through it!
I really don’t have a lot to add… everyone has given great advice. The only thing that I can think of is letting her choose where the insulin is injected into whether it is her stomach, hip, thigh, or arm. That way she may feel that she has some say as to what is going on with her body. Good luck.
I also agree with Natasha, the pump will be life-changing for your daughter. My daughter has the Minimed Revel and we love it. She hardly feels it when the set is inserted. The cannula is only 6 mm and it is very flexible. The pump also comes in some fun colors like pink (my daughter’s choice), purple, and blue, along with clear and smoke.
Have you thought about getting a demo kit and letting her see what the pump is like. That way she can see it and it will be more substantial to her and not just something scary and new.
Hmmm…demo kit might be a good idea. I do let her choose where her shots are for the most part (sometimes we have to rule out the belly because that’s her favorite…too many pokes there!) but then she’ll stall and stall and stall “I’m still thinking Mommy”. If I let her, she’d go on for 10 minutes or more (I know because I’ve let her go on for 9! LOL). How would I go about getting a demo kit?
Oh I completely agree. My 4 year old is testing every single nerve I have.
Contact the pump companies I think. I know that Omnipod will send you a pod to wear if you want to see what it would be like on your body. I would think your endo’s office would have a Minimed and/or an Animas Ping if the company wouldn’t send you anything. Every company has their sales people all over though, so since they want to sell them I’m sure you could get one somehow. When my son wore a demo pod for a couple of days, every time he ate we would point out that if the pod were real, he wouldn’t be getting a shot right now!
we have the opposite problem. our son will take the insulin to get the food almost everytime. When I say no to a food (not necessarily to do with diabetes), he will smile sweetly and say ‘extra insulin?’ i can’t say how many times he had 2 shots at a meal cause he wanted more and was willing to take the extra insulin to get it:) lol.