Infusion set change???
Hi everyone,
Well, 2x Hubby has changed the insertion set,reservoir, etc. though
still using saline. The first one was ……, the second, not much
better. He doesn’t seem to recall what the CDE taught him, and I’m
concerned about that as well as his "practice" bolusing has not gone
well. First try when hooked up (saline), he didn’t know what he did,
but I stopped the bolus when it said 7.5. Another time, he ended up
on the basal screen, settings were different, but he didn’t know what
he did to change them from what the CDE had set. Best part, he looks
at me and says, "Why didn’t you pay attention to what [his CDE]
showed!!" when I couldn’t even see what was being done. I think he’s
a bit frustrated which is understandable at this point.
I watched the teaching video again (we’d watched it together over a
week ago), read all the stuff that came with the reservoirs,
insertion sets, 508 user manual, and CDE typed outline (very general
info) then typed up a sequence for him to follow beginning with hand
washing, gathering supplies (he doesn’t know what he needs), right
through the last step of checking basal rates. Oh guys, he’s not
shaving, just roughing it as he changes sites. As always, any tips
muchly appreciated.
Yes, I did remember to sign this time (LOL).
Marj
March 20th, 2006 at 6:09 am
Marj,
Would it be possible the next time you visit the CDE for YOU to also hold a
pump as well as she and he to ALL do the steps together? Perhaps she could
even loan YOU a pump to wear with saline so you will experience it and do this
stuff together until he gets the hang of it. I’m still unclear as to why he
got a pump. Did someone insist or did he really want it?
March 20th, 2006 at 1:34 pm
Marj, when I got my pump we went through 3 days of training in a class to
learn a lot of this. Doesn’t he have a training class to attend?
Patrick
March 21st, 2006 at 7:29 pm
<< Another time, he ended up
on the basal screen, settings were different, but he didn’t know what
he did to change them from what the CDE had set. Best part, he looks
at me and says, "Why didn’t you pay attention to what [his CDE]
showed!!" when I couldn’t even see what was being done. I think he’s
a bit frustrated which is understandable at this point.
>>
Marj,
I have to ask….does he depend totally on you to "tell" him what to do? If
he does hes not going to have much success. You are not always going to be
there when he needs to bolus etc. I know it can be very confusing at first.
It was for me. Mostly carb counting since I had never done that before. My
husband helped by making me a chart for the carb counting and then after a
little practice I had it. I dont know what to say except he should practice
alot and pay attention to what he is doing and not expect you to control
everything. If Im seeing this wrong Im sorry. To me its not fair for him to
rely totally on you. It can be a team thing tho. I know this isnt much help
but he just has to keep practicing and realize when it really insulin he
could really be in for trouble if he over boluses and is not paying attention
to what he is doing. If he just says I can do this he will be able to.
Believe me Ive been diabetic for 33 yrs and it was hard to change from what I
was doing and had been doing forever to something totally new. I hope he has
great success!! Chrissy
March 27th, 2006 at 3:04 am
Marj,
Since you are using a MiniMed…you should have a child block (or
lock) feature. I can’t remember if the remote works to do boluses
when it is activated, but if it does that would eliminate a lot of
his problems with screens. He would just lock the pump and then
program boluses from the remote. Or even if the remote doesn’t work
with the block feature on, if he uses the remote he won’t have to
worry about which screen to use just for boluses. Of course it does
remove some of the flexibility in dosing…can only bolus in 0.5
increments, but my doctor (who is also a pumper) always laughs when I
call him with problems and my boluses are 5.2 or 3.8! So that
shouldn’t be such a major issue.
Audio bolus is also great if he is having problems with vision (which
can happen as blood sugars fluctuate).
Anyway, this might be a good stepping stone to getting him more
comfortable and confident with the new processes.
Suzanna
March 30th, 2006 at 6:08 pm
Hi Marj: You can call Minimed and see if a pump trainer could come out and
do one or two home consults….considering the cost of the pump, it wouldn’t
be unreasonable. Some adult learners take longer to see the light bulb than
others….Joan :-))))