Newly Diagnosed Aged 5

F

Franlee6

Newbie
Messages
1
Hello,

My daughter aged 5 was diagnosed 4 weeks ago. Between highs on lows (literally) as well as emotionally and mentally as a family we’re trying to stay positive.

My main queries at the moment are:
- Pump - out team are keen on this as she’s very sensitive to insulin and not hypo aware
- Sensor - this has not been put in the table yet but has been mentioned, should we be getting this at same time as pump?
- We are in West London and would love to meet parents with kids of a similar age...

Thank you x
 
Heyrehair

Heyrehair

Active Member
Messages
35
Type of diabetes
Parent
Treatment type
Pump
Hi,

Our daughter is 3, diagnosed last October when just over two.

We have an Accu Chek Insight pump - requires an insertion every three days, with a change of Insulin cartridge as part of every other change. This has saved us the need for manual injections and the logic in the pump allows for different Basal (Background) Insulin rates for different times of day. For a younger child this works well as it means you don't need to inject every time they want a snack.

She also wears a Dexcom G6 Continuous Glucose Monitor which requires an insertion every ten days. This polls her BG levels every five minutes and has a set of alarms for High, low, rapid rise/fall and pre Hypo alarm. It's not without it's quirks as it can lose signal and doesn't always last the ten days. If you have a compatible smart phone you can also get remote updates on levels.

We got both devices within a week of each other, but they work independently of each other. You can use the BG levels on the G6 to assess carb intake and decide on Insulin delivery required, but there's also a slight disconnect between finger prick test readings and the CGM readings, as the CGM readings are tissue based via the sensor so slightly behind.

For both devices there are pros and cons -e.g Pump needs disconnecting for bath time or swimming. The G6 is also relatively new, so it has a few quirks still.

I know there are loads of other brands out there, but don't have experience of them. However, our journey so far has been made significantly easier with these devices.

I know this first period can be an exceptionally tough time and wish you all well for the future.
 
Top Bottom