Today is the day!!!!

Hi Anne Marie,

I don't know about the kids Dylan plays football with, but I'd assume there'll be significant contact. I definitely wouldn't wear my pump to play football... I'd be paranoid about the set being pulled out of my skin. Same for Taekwondo, I'd have thought.

What have your nurses recommended?

Sam.

Wanted to wish you all the best for today. I know exactly how you're feeling with a mixture of apprehension and excitement all at the same time. We were in your place a couple weeks ago. It will all go fine, I'm sure The first few site changes are a bit scary but you'll soon be into the swing of it and in a few weeks time you'll both think nothing of it.

Jess takes her pump off for swimming. She doesn't really need to as it's waterproof but she wants to and as the lesson is only half an hour there's no problem doing so. If Dylan is anything like Jess his blood sugars will fall when exercising so being disconnected proves to be no problem, beneficial if anything. We do a test before and after exercise and are still pretty much experimenting with how many extra carbs need to be taken on board to cover the particular exercise. If his sport is going to be particularly energy burning then it's a good idea to test during the exercise too so that you can get a picture of how his blood sugars are. We've found going onto the pump that Jess is quite a bit more insulin sensitive. Our DSN said that if we want to remove the pump for longer than an hour during exercise, and if we know her blood sugars may go up because of being disconnected, then we can always do a small bolus before taking the pump off or connect it after the hour, do a small bolus and then disconnect again to continue with the activity. But so far we haven't needed to do that as the sports activities are an hour or less and her blood sugars tend to fall because of the exercise.

Hoep this afternoon goes well...can imagine how excited you are!

I may be going against the trend here...but I keep my pump on for all exercise...except swimming. Mind you, I don't do Twa Kondo (can't even spell it! )

I guess the answer to this one depends on Dylan. If he needs to, like playing footbal for 3 hours, then he should wear it...but I would make sure that it was well protected...perhaps a kind of tubi grip band, so it could wrapped around his tummy etc.

If he can go the time, without insulin, then this would be better, but I can't. I do have to turn the rate down for the duration of the exercise...but if I disconnect, for more than half an hour, it send my levels a bit high for a while.

The marshall arts question is tricky though, as that one could damage teh pump...is it the one where they kick each other etc? Physical contact, liek in football, should be OK I would have thought, as teh pump shouldn't take a direct blow...and it just needs to be firmly attached, with teh tubing tucked away...but marshall arts, not so sure.

It really is a case of seeing what works best for him.

Best of luck this afternoon!

Hi

Ann Marie

Don't worry, you and Dylan will be fine this afternoon. The Quickset infusion set goes in fairly painless but you can always take a pack of frozen peas (or something similar) to gently numb the area off if you are worried.

As for exercise, all of us are different so you'll have to learn as you go along. Exercise tends to make me go low whether I am walking or whatever so now that I use a pump I sometimes turn it off for about an hour or so (checking bg levels are ok on my handset). I was amazed one day when walking around a huge carboot sale which has rows and rows of sellers in a large field, that by turning my pump off for 2hrs my bg levels stayed the same as what they were before I started the walk. The exercise was all that was needed really to keep me stable.

Good luck for this afternoon. You'll be looking at the training manual when you get home. Expect to have some ups and downs over your first month as you will have to find out for yourself how to adjust your basal rates and carb ratios.

Just take it one step at a time

Good Luck for this afternoon..

Sport wise I would say yes deff for the tawan thingy as it's a contact sport, I would also for the football as well even though not considered to be an actuall contact sport, tackles and hitting the ground the pump probably won't sustaine any damage but I suspect it would leve one hell of a nasty bruise!

It is as said a case of trial and error to find out if he will need to turn pump down, off or actually bolus for before or after his missing basal or whether he might have to reconnect after a period to bolus missing basal, and if he may need a TBR set for later in the night... Everybody reacts differently both to the actually exercise and when they need to make pump adjustments..

So it's a lot of testing and diary keeping I'm afried but don't get disheartened if it takes time to suss out what is right for Dylan...

Anna Marie, if it genuinely is hurting him it may be that the set is in a bad spot. Jess has had one set that we changed within a couple of hours because she said it was hurting her. It was uncomfortable going in and remained uncomfortable. We haven't had that problem with all the other site changes we've done so I think perhaps it was just in the wrong spot. You could also try using Emla cream or something similar to ease any discomfort he might feel with the actual inserting, but once it's in there shouldn't be discomfort. A third alternative, if all the set changes are discomforting him, is to try a different type of infusion set. I hope the next set changes become easier for him, it must be stressful for you both if it isn't easy and painless.

I would definitely recommend Emla cream. We use it on Lily and she doesn't feel a thing but this morning we had to do a quick change and did it without the cream, big mistake, she cried for a good five minutes.
I would also say that taking the pump off is not a problem for Lily as the excersise seems to replace the missed insulin, she is only on .20 per hour anyway so not a lot to make up really. I think that I would remove it for any martial arts as it can be quite rigorous and lots of contact, accidental contact mostly, but contact all the same.

Good luck with it

Harry

Anna Marie

How are the school with the pump? Harry's postings about his daughter and her teacher and school have sounded so fantastic, are yours prepared? Have they got any other children on pumps?

Personally, I find it much better to be standing when I put my sets in, and generally if they are painful within 5 minutes I always change them now. I don't know how you will have been advised to put them in, whether sitting or standing, but just my experience only...I am better doing them standing up...I know initally the shock of putting these sets in are going to set off a few tears, but when setttled with a routine of doing them, if Dylan cries afterwards or says it is painful-then chances are the set will need to be changed.

Good luck, and please keep us posted how you manage because from my side, I find it so interesting to read how parents and children cope with the pump, and think that your experiences are so invaluable to other future users....I really hope that you will find the pump controis Dylan better, but don't forget give it a good 6 months, and be prepared for a few hiccups along the way, but also better hba1c's and less extremes in BG's....

Aaah, Anna Marie....I know others have mentioned bolus's hurting, and some say (I think) it is down to the speed of delivery which in some pumps can be tweaked. Mine is the combo pump, and I have only experienced painful bolus's when the sets are bad...I always try to bous reasonably close to changing sets, as just a second check that everything ok with it. I don't think the combo pump bolus delivery can be tweaked.

It sounds as if Dylan is adjusting amazingly to it, I personally feel that it is the parents that take a little more time to adjust because it is a huge changeover for them. More so than actually the children in many ways. It sounds as if you are so positive, keep it up, and as I mentioned to other parents at other times, give yourself a pat on the back for just getting this far, and take some credit and feel good about it all. It is tough initally, but your positiveness shines through, so well done just on your first day with saline....well done to both of you Anna Marie and Dylan.

Sharon