Thanks all
I was so overwhelmed by the response i really appreciate everyone’s
support and encouragement.
Before this summer you know i haven’t even considered switching to
the pump mainly out of my desire to have things just as they are
which i guess makes me lazy..lol
However i have been able to see how kids use the pump and i saw some
of them change their sites and i was so impressed.
I have seen all the information on pumps for years and i always
though being on shots was easier but as i have been able to spend
time with some diabetic kids this summer i have been changed.
My wife has tried to convince me to get one for the last few years
and now im finally saying you know this sound good and she is so
happy you’d think she was getting the pump..lol
Only real thing that bothers me is when i do things like going
swimming and having to take it off and losing it or accidentally
getting water on it though i know the new pump is suppose to be water
proof i also have three young sons and im a bit worried about them
pulling the sites out.
Thankyou everyone again for not treating me like my fears are stupid.
Marcus
March 18th, 2007 at 2:01 pm
The sites do not come out that easily, in 5 years of pumping I have had one
come out when I got caught on a door knob, one disconnected because the set
was defective.
Yeah I agree I hate taking it off when you go swimming, you could keep it on
with a sports guard but they are a little bulky, the water proof feature is
nice but I would not go swimming in the ocean with it =).
It must get a little confusing at camp when the kids take off their pumps to
go swimming, I have heard plenty of stories of kids putting on the wrong
pump.
March 18th, 2007 at 7:13 pm
Marcus,
What do you do with with your other valuables while swimming……like your
wallet?
Second it is pretty Kid proof. Just keep your tubing in at all times and
they will not be able to jank it out .
Just my opinion.
Gail
March 19th, 2007 at 3:00 am
I was concerned about this issue too Marcus. We have 5 children, the
youngest of whom are 2 and 4 years old. During the week or so I was actually
wearing a pump with an infusion set in, I had no problems. My little ones
are fairly active and like to cuddle. During my trial I had no problem with
the set getting pulled or coming out. My 4 year old was very aware of the
pump and set and even looked out for it on his own. In fact he was rather
disappointed when I had to return my "play with" pump. : )
With our 2 year old I just watched her and made sure the tubing was well
tucked in so she couldn’t get hung on it or pull it out. On a few occasions
she would lean on the infusion site, which didn’t hurt but made me nervous,
so I would just shift her over a little.
Over all I didn’t have to make any real changes with the way I related to
the children as far as playing, or cuddling or interacting.
Julia
March 19th, 2007 at 9:34 am
Marcus,
I’m so glad that you are seriously considering the pump. I’ve been on it
almost 4 months and wouldn’t go back to shots if they paid me!
I have a 5 year old daughter and was a little concerned at first about her
pulling on it. She has been very comfortable around it and has even watched
me do site changes. (She hides her eyes at BG time though!) We’ve talked
about the pump and how we treat it and the tubing. She’s usually very
careful around the pump, even when she occasionally crawls in bed with me in
the mornings.
Don’t worry, your fears aren’t stupid. It is very different and change, good
or bad, can cause some stress or anxiety. I worked almost 3 years to get my
pump. I was so excited when MiniMed called me to say that the pump was
approved and would arrive the following Monday. When that box arrived and I
looked at the pump, it scared me to death! It dawned on me that it was real
and would change my life. By the time I was hooked up though, I had regained
my excitement and was ready to go.
Connie & Dot
P.S. I spent several days at Myrtle Beach with it a few weeks ago and
everything went smooth. Disconnecting for swimming wasn’t a problem, but a
waterproof pump would make things even smoother.
March 21st, 2007 at 8:28 am
<< Only real thing that bothers me is when i do things like going
swimming and having to take it off and losing it or accidentally
getting water on it though i know the new pump is suppose to be water
proof i also have three young sons and im a bit worried about them
pulling the sites out.
Thankyou everyone again for not treating me like my fears are stupid.
Marcus >>
Hi Marcus: Well, as you learn more about the pumps, teach your kids too.
They already know you use insulin and syringes, and it’s not much different.
My grandson learned (he’s 6 now) that his Nanny was going to feel much
better, and be able to go out and do more, so he learned very quickly not to
touch pump buttons.
I’ve pulled out sets accidentally mostly getting out of the shower. My
Disetronic H-tron has hit the tub a couple of times, Kept right on
"ticking". It also has temp bolus features, maybe not as sophisticated as
te Minimed, but I’m happy with it.
I think we have all had experiences both positive and negative with our
suppliers. I’ve had a couple of "experiences" with crummy batteries fro
Disetronic, but Disetronic responded quickly, and provided me with 5 months
supply to replace the bad one.
I think we all have preferences…it’s good to explore…..Joan:)
March 21st, 2007 at 10:40 am
i was told a interesting stories by someone on a pump she said once
she went to the beach and took off her pump and just mistakely walked
off without it and in the middle of the night realised her pump was
missing and went back to the beach and found it buried under all this
sand but still intact…i was amazed not only that it was okay but
that she didn’t realise she was missing it since your only suppose to
be without for what 1-2 hrs and she still didn’t miss it when dinner
time came around.
I have seen some of the kids sites come completely out at camp.
Marcus
March 21st, 2007 at 6:48 pm
Julia,
i have a 18 months old,2 1/2 yr old and a 5 yr old and im always
trying to keep up with them.
They all have seen me give myself shots or test my blood sugar my
oldest understands more he has a little friend in school who has
diabetes.My younger ones are a bit too young they see anything
hanging out and it will get grabbed i just am going to have to be
extra carefull.I go in on friday to speak with my dr about a trial
period on the pump.Everyone at camp has been great i have learnt so
much from the kids and the staff alike most of the diabetic staff
just have received the new onetouch meter free im liking it better
then my old meter thats for sure.
Marcus
March 22nd, 2007 at 8:50 am
That does seem odd she didn’t miss it at mealtime. But, some people go without
the pump for longer and take an injection (into the site) for the missed basal
amount - or if there is enough activity keep testing and may not need any
basal at that time. I wouldn’t go so far as to eat a meal without a bolus,
however. (~_^)
March 23rd, 2007 at 4:32 am
> "ticking". It also has temp bolus features, maybe not as sophisticated
as
> te Minimed, but I’m happy with it.
Joan, I hope my post didn’t come across poorly when I made my comments about
the H-tron. I guess I should have stated my thoughts better.
All the pumps I looked at had good and bad points. In the end I just had to
pick the pump which had the options which were best suited to my lifestyle.
For me the H-tron didn’t have some of the features I felt I would definitely
need. However if someone was looking for a simple, straight-forward pump
then it would be a great choice. : )
I just think it’s great we have so many options to chose from and don’t have
to deal with a "one size fits all" situation.
Julia
April 5th, 2007 at 2:13 pm
<< Joan, I hope my post didn’t come across poorly when I made my comments
about
the H-tron. I guess I should have stated my thoughts better.
All the pumps I looked at had good and bad points. In the end I just had to
pick the pump which had the options which were best suited to my lifestyle.
For me the H-tron didn’t have some of the features I felt I would definitely
need. However if someone was looking for a simple, straight-forward pump
then it would be a great choice. : )
I just think it’s great we have so many options to chose from and don’t have
to deal with a "one size fits all" situation.
Hi Julia:
I don’t get upset with people’s choices….we each have our own likes and
dislikes.
Thought everyone would like to read the following……Joan:)
The President’s Report
The President’s address at the ADA meeting was given by Dr Robert Sherwin
from Yale.
He challenged the audience to think beyond glucose control, the dominating
part of diabetes thought in the last century. This is only one piece of
the puzzle in diabetes.
There will be 300 million people with diabetes in the world in 25
years. Microvascular (eye, kidney, nerves) and macrovascular (Heart and
stroke) disease will predominate as the major problems since the incidence
of diabetes is occurring at a younger age.
So if you want to get ahead of the diabetes curve, take your antioxidants
and l-arginine and blow right through all these dower predictions. The
research will go on but there is plenty you can do to avoid these problems
right now.
Check out the medical references you can read yourself at the
following. Check the medical abstracts.
It’s your time.
Dr. Joe, the Diabetes Doctor
May 31st, 2007 at 7:03 am
I know I’m slow in responding to this post ( almost three weeks… )
But I’ve worn my Disetronic H-Tron in the ocean in Delaware and Aruba
as well as countless fresh water lakes, ponds and streams. I’ve gone
jet-skiing with it on and had some fantastic wipe outs. (If your are
going fast enough when you hit the H2O, one can actually skip across
the surface like a stone before "sinking" down to normal float levels.
Never had a problem with the water. I do take it off to go in a hot
tub, b/c of the temp of the water, I’m afraid that it’ll affect the
insulin, though not the pump. And I’ve done all of this even though
Disetronic no longer claims their pumps are water proof because of
several unexplainable water entry issues they’ve had reported. Despite
attempting to damage test pumps in similar ways, they’ve had no
laboratory success at replicating these users experiences. So I’ve just
carried on with what has been working for me.
Regards,
John Peterson