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Advice on pumps for a child

E

Emma44

Member
Messages
5
Type of diabetes
Don't have diabetes
Hi! My daughter is 7 and was diagnosed in September last year. We have a choice of pumps and we are trying to choose between the Medtronic 640G and the Accu-check Insight. Has anyone got any advice in terms of practicalities? I want it to be easy for her to wear and for it to be practical to use when she's at school or out and about (if she's wearing a dress I don't want her to have to do stuff on the pump or have to disappear into a toilet to do it). I like the idea of the Accu-Check because the pump would stay under her clothing and we could do everything from the handset but am confused by some of the reviews. It looks like you can do this from the Bolus wizard with the Medtronic but is it right that you can't do as much from it as the Accu-Check handset? Can you also check your blood sugar on it? The hospital have said that they won't train us on the handset bit of the Medtronic to begin with, but just how to use the actual pump. The other thing is that the hospital are trying to get funding for CGM in which case the Medtronic would be better as it all links in - my daughter says she wouldn't want the CGM at the moment, but I don't think she really understands and ultimately if she could get it I think it would probably be good. We had a little trial of the Medtronic (without insulin in it) and I found putting in the cannula quite fiddly - does this get better with practise? I know she would eventually want to do this herself too (she injects herself). Any advice would be really helpful - have been trying to decide for the last month! Thanks!
 
My son started on the Medtronic yesterday. He is 9 and filled the reservoir and inserted the cannula himself. So far it seems like it is something that could be reasonably easy for him to use himself. You can remotely deliver a bolus from the BG monitor that goes with it but we haven't done this yet. I think the Insight gives you more options from the handset but I'm not sure. My son wears a Dexcom G5 CGM and we really like the share capacity of this (we can see his BGs on our phone when he is at school for example). I think this links with the Insight pump. We chose the pump in September and only got the Dexcom in February (we had intended to use the Medtronic CGM but had no pump date set so bit the bullet and self funded the whole CGM). You may only be able to get CGM funding for the Medtronic as it is integrated. Hope that helps.
 
I am a fully grown adult and have used handset operated pumps and also standalone. For a child like a girl, the best pump is probably going to be the smallest and also be discreet with a reasonably easy to use menu system and good range of infusion sets. The 640G is a tiny bit big so I wouldn't want it myself but others think it's great non the less. At a recent TAD event I went to, there were quite a few people using the Insight pump with xDrip/Dexcom on their mobile phones and these also included parents of children. Also the same for adults using the Combo pump with xDrip as well. So, cgm is obtainable for probably all the pumps now but it also greatly depends on the cost of buying the sensors and how long they will function for. Value for money and accuracy is most likely with Dexcom at the moment. The Vibe pump works very well with the Dexcom G4 sensor and the next generation of the pump will be a bit like 640G in that it will be able to adjust the basal downwards if the cgm sensor detects low bg level coming but when this next generation pump eventually arrives in the UK is in the lap of the gods but should be within the next 2--4 years but no mention as to whether it will be handset operated or the size. So lots to think about and weigh up the pro's and cons for all the pumps.
 
The 640g suspend on low or suspend on approaching low could be very useful for a child if you get the cgm funded as my suspend activates 6-12 times a week frequently at night
 
Thanks very much. I went for the Medtronic in the end as I'd read quite a few negative comments on the Insight. Hopefully I'll be able to post back say it's great!
 
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