To Pump or not to Pump. My advice, suggestion and opinion on choosing the Medtronic or any Insulin Pump for your child or yourself.
great post: You spoke of every thing, Mom of a winner. I have been pumping for 10 years after 25 years on shots. I Far prefer the control and convenience you get with a pump. MDI was getting old and tedious. The learning curve on a pump is long and you must monitor and monitor and monitor, but to change the set every three days as opposed to insulin pen or syringe needle sticks 5-8 times a day wins hands down!!
God bless,
Brunetta
Absolutely. I changed it last night and we awoke with 347. This would be the only inconvenience I find besides it coming off at times. I refer to times when it's high and it can be that the area is not receiving the insulin. I bolused and now wait a little while and check again. But, I agree with you that this issue is far better than getting insulin pen many times throughout the day. Thank you for sharing. Blessings your way as well.
THANKS..
So far I'm choosing not to pump for many reasons. one- my control so far is pretty good with mdi. two- I have various worries: I worry about pump failures, a friend told me about 3 different failures with 3 pumps and 3 dka/hospitalizations. I went through a horrible dka and I don't want to go back to a hospital for that ever again if I can avoid it. I feel I'm more likely to make a huge dose mistake with a pump than with mdi. I'm very sensitive and couldn't tolerate the sensor for a cgm, which was also grossly inaccurate most of the time for me. I'm worried about scar tissue also with my sensitivity issues. I don't want a device on me 24/7 with tubes etc. I also do not like the smell of insulin and with a pump I would be carrying around a huge amount of insulin on me, smelling it I'm sure and worrying that I smell like insulin, lol. I do not want to go from pretty good control to possibly lousy control for however long while I learn how to do something completely new. If my control every gets really lousy and I can't figure out how to correct it I will definitely consider and most likely try a pump though. And last, a pump is a lot more expensive than mdi and requires carrying around a lot more supplies including mdi supplies in case the pump fails. Although my insurance pays 90% of a pump, so they told me, the co pay would still be expensive and I'm sure everything else needed would be more expensive and also I don't want to have the hassle of returning it if it doesn't work out which is what I did with the cgm.
You definitely know what's best for you. I can understand. My son's numbers have always been very high and when the pump was recommended, we had to try. I can tell you there is no smell. You don't know it's on you because you carry it in your pant pocket. You can remove it when you want. For us, the expense didn't change. With and without insurance, I noticed very little difference. But you most definitely are at a good place in your diabetic management and that's all that matters. My post was in answer to parents seeking advice on the issue. I'm very happy that you are doing well and can only wish you continue to prosper.
just wanted to add my thoughts about it, I do sort of wish it would work for me me because I think I could have less hypos maybe and I could reduce/increase basal when I want to.. that is great to know about the smell :) And I'm glad he is doing well with less highs on it too!
meee, i'm not sure what CGM you used by the Dexcom is extremely accurate; does it hurt, maybe a little bit, sometimes not, but a dropping hypo is far worse. one does not smell of 'insulin' when on the pump nor does one carry around a 'huge amount of insulin', it's contained within the pump, not sure where you heard that from? folks who use a CGM and pump very rarely go DKA, the CGM would beep and scream at him/her before blood sugars rose too high. Most of us can feel when our blood sugars are going high and we test, DKA can happen when people aren't testing enough, etc....Many of those who are insulin sensitive (most of us are who are type 1's), do best with pumps because of the different basal rates, adjustments, especially for children who often need very little insulin. there are tubeless pumps as well. Supplies are supplies, with the Omnipod you carry the PDM and insulin, no more supplies as the PDM is also the meter. I've tried numerous times too to go back on MDI, I just can't seem to get levemir - basal correct...so, at some point, the pump seems the best option.
I agree with Sarah. The Dexcom is great! We have it and use it sometimes when we want to get sugars lowered after he's been sick. It definitely helps a lot, especially in school. The beep can be lowered in class to vibrate and at night it is a blessing to get the alarm to check your sugars, regardless of high or lows. I shared with my son your concern and he said, "Mom, tell her there's no smell and that it doesn't bother to carry it. It's so small." So, from a child to you, that's his advice. I've heard good things about the Omnipod as well. We have the Medtronic and so does my brother. It works and when something goes wrong or we have questions, the hotline is really helpful. The pump is really a blessing if you just take time to learn how to use it and be patient to find the right rates that work for you.