We just received approval from our insurance company to get the pump for our 6 year old son. He was diagnosed in May. I am excited to move forward, however I am not sure what to expect as far as adjustments. If we got it on a Friday, would he be ready to go back to school on Monday or should I expect to keep him out of school for a few extra days to monitor? I was thinking about waiting until his school break in October but he doesnt want to wait that long and we are anxious to get it as well.
We live in Thailand and his endo said that the pump that is available is the Medtronic.
Any help on what to expect regarding the transition is greatly appreciated! Also, whats the process for your younger kids that are in school when using the pump?
My daughter has been on the pump for only a month now the first couple nights I checked her BG frequently. After tweaking her Basel rate once it has been a blessing. We went to six flags that same week! She started school and doesn’t have to see the nurse but once a day now right before lunch. She checks her sugar on her own in class before p.e. with the nurse before lunch and and at the end of the day in class. She loves her new freedom. Socially it has been much better for her. You and your son will enjoy it. In my opinion I would send him to school. That way you can make sure his Basel rate will fit his activity level. Good luck! We love life on the pump!
My son received his pump last October. He stayed home the first day only because of moderate ketones. We downloaded his pump everyday for about 2 weeks and had to make several daily adjustments with his pump nurse. He too only had to go to the school nurse before lunch and a bus check. We love it! The only anxiety we had in the beginning was going out to eat. Because we have to be more exact with carb counting and a lot of restaurants still don’t have nutrition menus. You both will love the new freedom but you definitely want to get some rest before beginning. I had to check my son every hour then every 2 hrs through the night for a week. Adjustments are a tad more difficult due to the new factor -basal rates. But you will get used to it soon enough! Good luck to you both. You are in my prayers!
As long as you stay in contact with your endo he will do great on the pump my daughter has been on the minimed pump now for about 5 years now and we just got the cgm for her it will take a little bit to get use to but it will get easier
I have two girls pumping on mini meds. I agree with everyone above that there is an initial adjustment period that requires more frequent testing. It is exhausting. If you send him to school right away have them test more frequently until his basals are settled.
congrats on getting to pump. In our case, I don't think we could have gotten this far without one. We use Medtronic Veo with CGM initially (though not now). It's a life-saver. However, I think you could say that it took us the better part of a year to have it make a real difference to her A1C. Even today, (she's 13, dx at 10), there are times we're testing every 3 hrs (through the night), especially when a growth spurt, or oncoming illness or whatever strikes.
Still, the ability to top up a dose without taking another injection (she was on 5-6 before) is priceless. The first few days are really only about finding some usable settings for basal/bolus. But these are settings that you'll be chasing every few weeks/months. For example, today we're using 50% more insulin than a few weeks ago - puberty at play. And because you have so many more settings now, you'll need to take account of basal settings at different times of the day/night as well as bolus ratios during the day too.
Still, it's really worth it and I wish you the very best.
My six year old has been on a pump since she was three. we love it! That being said - there was alot of adjustments for the first month. Our practice starts the kids with a low basal rate (based on their MDI dosages) but we had to keep upping her for the first month - so my advice would be don't get discouraged it might take awhile to get the basal rates, correction factors and insulin to carb ratios correct. Our daughter was resisting the needle when we put her on a pump (10 months after diagnosis) so only having to wrestle with her once every three days instead of several times a day was great! Also, it is great to be able to stop/lower her insulin when there is a lot of activity. My child has to go to the nurse to be tested (usually 3x a school day) and the nurse delivers the insulin(they call me every time). As she gets older, they will allow her to test in the classroom but when insulin is needed, they want her to go to the nurse.
My six-year-old has been pumping for four years. My first bit of advice is, don't go into it thinking this will make life with diabetes easier. It will, in some ways, but in others, it won't — which isn't to say it will make life more difficult, I'm simply trying to let you know that pumping insulin has its own set of difficulties that make it about even with MDI as a therapy. And if you go into it with that mindset, you will be in a better place for learning the ropes of pumping insulin.
Next bit of advice is, figure out how you're going to attach the pump to your kid's clothing. Some people use a belt & clip, some use a fanny pack, some use "pump shirts" (shirts with pockets built in to carry a pump). What works best depends on your child's level of activity and — how shall I put this — ability to break things with curiosity. My son is the sort of kid who likes to take things apart, so I have his pump in a pocket on the back of his shirts where he can't get at it and start pushing buttons. I started out buying the ones sold retail but after a couple of disappointments with the shirt design/quality, I ended up sewing my own. If you would like to go that route, PM me and I'll send you the template I use for pump shirt pockets. I'm probably going to start transitioning him to a fanny pack in the next year or so (he has to start learning how to program his pump at some point, and I think given a couple years more maturity I can feel a bit safer about putting it within his reach).
Third bit of advice, buy the book Pumping Insulin. It is pretty technical to read but if you make the effort you will get some good advice on how to adjust settings when your child's insulin needs change — and they change constantly, so it's very good to have some rules of thumb to go by.
Fourth bit, read the pump's user guide closely. The more advanced bolus settings (square or dual wave bolus) are particularly useful in some situations, and it took me eons to figure them out because my educator didn't explain them to me and I had misplaced the booklet. I finally googled them. Once I sorted them out, I taught my son's daycare provider and the school nurse how and when to use them, and it has been an enormous help.
