FINALLY!!! After 5 1/2 weeks on the pump, last night was our first night of solid, acceptable BG numbers!
Ever since we went on the pump, Ellee's numbers have been one extreme or the other, either too high or too low, but mostly on the high side. Afraid of her dropping too low and not catching it, I've been adjusting her insulin rate ever so slightly at night. I was to achieving ideal numbers the other week, but all of a sudden she dropped too low and I had to reset her numbers to help bring her up. Then she skyrocketed, and I've been trying to bring her back down ever since.
Last night, I checked her at 10pm before I went to bed and she was 148. At 3am, she was 128. At breakfast this morning I was nervous to see what her number was going to be, but to my surprise - 128!!! This means that she only dropped 20 points! Not only that, but for 5 hours her levels were consistent! I may be counting my chickens before they hatch, or jinxing myself, and her numbers may be off the chart tonight, but I will take one night of awesome numbers! Because this means that we are headed in the right direction!
Monday, November 21, 2011
Thursday, November 10, 2011
T1D Humor
I've posted stuff like this before, but it never fails to be funny or hit a little too close to home not to laugh! Humor helps keep us sane!
You know you're the parent of a child with diabetes when ...
1. Everyone in the family says they are "low" instead of hungry!
2. Your co-workers play "Guess How Many Carbs Are In This Food" with you at lunch and you are always right!
3. You have a car that displays the miles remaining before it runs out of gas, and not only do you always think of that number in terms of a blood sugar, but any time it ticks down to 50, at least two people in the car shout "The car is low! It needs glucose!" I just wish my daughter had a little yellow warning light on her forehead too.
4. Your "D" child gets more birthday cards from his pump company than from his own family!
5. Your child gets his driver's learning permit and you have tubes of glucose gel in your car instead of your sunglasses but you smile because he has come such a long way.
6. You're awakened at 6 a.m. by your teenager asking the dreaded question, "What's the number for Minimed?" and you can answer without even opening your eyes -- then a few minutes later you realize that something's not right and jump out of bed.
7. You go through a drive-in at Dunkin' Donuts and see the sign that said "High Curb" and you start laughing because you think it said "HIGH CARB."
8. You realize people are staring at you in the cleaning aisle after you pick up a new product and exclaim to your family, "Hey, I bet this would get the blood off the bedroom wall!"
9. You are practicing spelling the word "S-I G-H-T" and your child asks if he should spell the "sight" with his eyes or the "site" on his butt.
10. Your six year old runs to the bathroom yelling "I've got to go Type 2!"
11. Everytime you prick or cut your finger all your children run for the meter -- you wouldn't what to waist ANY blood.
12. Your husband names his internet gaming character "Lancet."
13. Your child is playing a video game and when the "life force" level starts running out she says "Oh no! I'm low" and then starts laughing hysterically and says "I need glucose tablets!"
14. You have been doing frequent night checks because your child has been running a fever and find yourself in the bathroom getting Children's Tylenol before you realize the 103 was on the glucose meter, not the digital thermometer.
15. You are doing Madlibs with the kids and "pancreas" comes up as a body part, and "insulin pump" comes up as a noun.
16. You buy bleach not based on brand preference, but on whether the bottle would make a good sharps container.
17. Your daughter asks, "Can I get some ketchup to go with my test strips?" instead of her chicken strips.
18. All three of your children request the "A1C Steak Sauce" at the dinner table.
19. The makeup case you used to carry in your purse is replaced with an emergency diabetes kit for your child.
20. Your child asks you if "water proof" means "toilet proof" in reference to the pump.
21. You watch your teen push his peas and carrots onto his fork with his insulin pump instead of with another utensil.
22. While driving in the car with your diabetic child, a radio show asks listeners to call in with the answer to the question, "What do parents most often say at their kids?" and your daughter answers, "Did you bolus?"
23. Your two-year-old non diabetic says "me too" to get her blood checked and wears an old monitor around her waste in a pump pouch.
24. Medical students come and ask YOU about pediatric endocrinology.
25. For Halloween your child dresses up as a sharps box.
26. Your endo is in your family picture.
27. When your parents answer the phone, the first thing they say is "What's wrong?"
28. Your six year old non D can spell "endocrinologist"
29. Your non-diabetic 3 year old, with glucose monitor in hand, states that she's been thirsty all day, had at least 8 glasses of water, and thinks you should check her blood sugar.
30. You stop calling them "sugar" and start calling them "Splenda."
You know you're the parent of a child with diabetes when ...
1. Everyone in the family says they are "low" instead of hungry!
2. Your co-workers play "Guess How Many Carbs Are In This Food" with you at lunch and you are always right!
3. You have a car that displays the miles remaining before it runs out of gas, and not only do you always think of that number in terms of a blood sugar, but any time it ticks down to 50, at least two people in the car shout "The car is low! It needs glucose!" I just wish my daughter had a little yellow warning light on her forehead too.
4. Your "D" child gets more birthday cards from his pump company than from his own family!
5. Your child gets his driver's learning permit and you have tubes of glucose gel in your car instead of your sunglasses but you smile because he has come such a long way.
6. You're awakened at 6 a.m. by your teenager asking the dreaded question, "What's the number for Minimed?" and you can answer without even opening your eyes -- then a few minutes later you realize that something's not right and jump out of bed.
7. You go through a drive-in at Dunkin' Donuts and see the sign that said "High Curb" and you start laughing because you think it said "HIGH CARB."
8. You realize people are staring at you in the cleaning aisle after you pick up a new product and exclaim to your family, "Hey, I bet this would get the blood off the bedroom wall!"
9. You are practicing spelling the word "S-I G-H-T" and your child asks if he should spell the "sight" with his eyes or the "site" on his butt.
10. Your six year old runs to the bathroom yelling "I've got to go Type 2!"
11. Everytime you prick or cut your finger all your children run for the meter -- you wouldn't what to waist ANY blood.
12. Your husband names his internet gaming character "Lancet."
13. Your child is playing a video game and when the "life force" level starts running out she says "Oh no! I'm low" and then starts laughing hysterically and says "I need glucose tablets!"
14. You have been doing frequent night checks because your child has been running a fever and find yourself in the bathroom getting Children's Tylenol before you realize the 103 was on the glucose meter, not the digital thermometer.
15. You are doing Madlibs with the kids and "pancreas" comes up as a body part, and "insulin pump" comes up as a noun.
16. You buy bleach not based on brand preference, but on whether the bottle would make a good sharps container.
17. Your daughter asks, "Can I get some ketchup to go with my test strips?" instead of her chicken strips.
18. All three of your children request the "A1C Steak Sauce" at the dinner table.
19. The makeup case you used to carry in your purse is replaced with an emergency diabetes kit for your child.
20. Your child asks you if "water proof" means "toilet proof" in reference to the pump.
21. You watch your teen push his peas and carrots onto his fork with his insulin pump instead of with another utensil.
22. While driving in the car with your diabetic child, a radio show asks listeners to call in with the answer to the question, "What do parents most often say at their kids?" and your daughter answers, "Did you bolus?"
23. Your two-year-old non diabetic says "me too" to get her blood checked and wears an old monitor around her waste in a pump pouch.
24. Medical students come and ask YOU about pediatric endocrinology.
25. For Halloween your child dresses up as a sharps box.
26. Your endo is in your family picture.
27. When your parents answer the phone, the first thing they say is "What's wrong?"
28. Your six year old non D can spell "endocrinologist"
29. Your non-diabetic 3 year old, with glucose monitor in hand, states that she's been thirsty all day, had at least 8 glasses of water, and thinks you should check her blood sugar.
30. You stop calling them "sugar" and start calling them "Splenda."
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
We are getting there!
We have been "live" (with insulin... the week with saline & still doing the injections don't count!) on the pump for almost 4 full weeks now! It has been interesting, to say the least! I think we were warned that there would be a lot of testing when you first start on a pump, but I never expected this much testing! We have gone through almost 300 test strips in 5 weeks! I liked a comment another mom posted on a Facebook group... "If I find another test strip on the floor, I'm going to scream!" And that is how I feel some days! We've even been using a different meter for 5 weeks and I'm still finding strips on the floor from the old one!
When Ellee was first diagnosed, we had to keep careful logs of everything and fax them to the doctors office to review to see if any adjustments in her dosage needed made. Once we felt like her numbers were stable and under control, we stopped faxing. When starting on the pump, it is like starting all over with diabetes. We have to log everything and fax it in.
Our first couple of weeks were riddled with extreme highs and extreme lows - both of which are very dangerous. Here is a puzzle that I need to figure out - something needs changed, but what? Every couple of days I would pouring over days of log sheets and numbers, trying to figure out variables, I made changes here and there. Slowly, but surely, her numbers are getting better!
I'm glad they moved up our next Endo appointment by a month! We went on Monday the 31st. I was so glad to see our Nurse Practitioner to go over the latest numbers! Normally our appointments are filled with meeting with 2-3 different people and a lot of waiting in between. As soon as we got in there, the NP was in and out of the room right off the bat! I love this lady! She is so easy to talk to and she is very understanding! With many days worth of log sheets spread out on the exam table, she and I went back and forth with patterns were were seeing along with bouncing ideas of changes to make. Would changing this help this? How would that effect this?
Another thing I love about our NP is that she asked how we felt! I have read about many diabetics and their families complaining about the emotional toll this takes on them, and the doctors only seem concerned with the numbers, not emotions. The social worker who came in and spoke with us first said that they have a councilor who specializes in T1D that we can set up an appointment with if we ever need it. Then the NP asked us how we felt about the pump and care in general... then she asked Ellee how she feels about it!
After we were all done, the NP went to get our new scripts so that we could go and it dawned on me that she never told us what her A1C was! When she came back, I asked. She said she realized that she forgot to tell us that it was 7.6! With in a month, we came down a whole half a point! And for the first time in quite a while, we got below 8! As rough as this past month has been with extreme numbers, we dropped half a point?! I can see that in the long run, being on a pump will be a life saver! I can only image how much better her A1C will get once we get her dosing straightened out!
The last few days I have been seeing another pattern in Ellee's numbers, and that is her going low at night. The past few mornings I have been dropping her dosage quite a bit. Why all of a sudden now? Why go from consistently being high at night to being low? I think it's from the "fear of the unknown" and "fear of something new and different". She no longer panics when it's time to change out her infusion set. She may get apprehensive in the minutes before I insert it, but she is calmer and more willing to work with me on the process of changing it. I think the fears she has of the needle to set the infusion set are subsiding. She definitely sees that the pump is much more convenient than the injections with the pen. And if you ask her the best thing about the pump, she'll tell you "no more night-night shot!" They say that emotions play havoc on blood sugars, and I think this is one of the first times that I am seeing that it's true. I think that her fear of starting something new made her go high at night, and as she is seeing that this is so much better, there is less emotional stress.
Things keep getting better as time goes on!
When Ellee was first diagnosed, we had to keep careful logs of everything and fax them to the doctors office to review to see if any adjustments in her dosage needed made. Once we felt like her numbers were stable and under control, we stopped faxing. When starting on the pump, it is like starting all over with diabetes. We have to log everything and fax it in.
Our first couple of weeks were riddled with extreme highs and extreme lows - both of which are very dangerous. Here is a puzzle that I need to figure out - something needs changed, but what? Every couple of days I would pouring over days of log sheets and numbers, trying to figure out variables, I made changes here and there. Slowly, but surely, her numbers are getting better!
I'm glad they moved up our next Endo appointment by a month! We went on Monday the 31st. I was so glad to see our Nurse Practitioner to go over the latest numbers! Normally our appointments are filled with meeting with 2-3 different people and a lot of waiting in between. As soon as we got in there, the NP was in and out of the room right off the bat! I love this lady! She is so easy to talk to and she is very understanding! With many days worth of log sheets spread out on the exam table, she and I went back and forth with patterns were were seeing along with bouncing ideas of changes to make. Would changing this help this? How would that effect this?
Another thing I love about our NP is that she asked how we felt! I have read about many diabetics and their families complaining about the emotional toll this takes on them, and the doctors only seem concerned with the numbers, not emotions. The social worker who came in and spoke with us first said that they have a councilor who specializes in T1D that we can set up an appointment with if we ever need it. Then the NP asked us how we felt about the pump and care in general... then she asked Ellee how she feels about it!
After we were all done, the NP went to get our new scripts so that we could go and it dawned on me that she never told us what her A1C was! When she came back, I asked. She said she realized that she forgot to tell us that it was 7.6! With in a month, we came down a whole half a point! And for the first time in quite a while, we got below 8! As rough as this past month has been with extreme numbers, we dropped half a point?! I can see that in the long run, being on a pump will be a life saver! I can only image how much better her A1C will get once we get her dosing straightened out!
The last few days I have been seeing another pattern in Ellee's numbers, and that is her going low at night. The past few mornings I have been dropping her dosage quite a bit. Why all of a sudden now? Why go from consistently being high at night to being low? I think it's from the "fear of the unknown" and "fear of something new and different". She no longer panics when it's time to change out her infusion set. She may get apprehensive in the minutes before I insert it, but she is calmer and more willing to work with me on the process of changing it. I think the fears she has of the needle to set the infusion set are subsiding. She definitely sees that the pump is much more convenient than the injections with the pen. And if you ask her the best thing about the pump, she'll tell you "no more night-night shot!" They say that emotions play havoc on blood sugars, and I think this is one of the first times that I am seeing that it's true. I think that her fear of starting something new made her go high at night, and as she is seeing that this is so much better, there is less emotional stress.
Things keep getting better as time goes on!
Friday, October 28, 2011
Halloween
For Type 1 Diabetics, okay, mostly their parents, this is one of the most dreaded holidays. EVERYONE gives your kids candy and as kids, all they want to do is eat it... ALL!
Let's start with the reason we parents hate it:
-The kids want the good chocolate, and the older they get, the harder it is for Mom to sneak it away from them! (okay, that has nothing to do with diabetes, but it's true!)
-The boat load of candy they get trick-or-treating. Even though it seems like fewer and fewer houses pass out candy, the kids still seem to make a huge hull!
-Individually wrapped candy. The reason this is bad is because very few of them have the nutritional info on it. (more of this below)
-Kids are kids and they want to eat it all at once, and at times when it's not appropriate! Using candy as a bribe to eat all of their dinner does not always work!
I remember buying Halloween candy, "Pre-T1D", and while reading "call 1-800... for nutritional information" on a box of candy I thought to myself "If you need to know the nutritional information, then do you really need to be eating it?" Now I can't believe I use to think that way. I *hate* reading that on packaging, those words are like my kryptonite! Now, with the number of people are have T1D, it should be a requirement to print carb counts on EVERYTHING. From cough drops, to medicine, to individually wrapped candy, how hard would it be to print "xx grams of carbs per serving (or unit)" on everything?
The girls wanted to count their candy when we got home last night. Dani lined up her mini candy bars and counted, while Ellee counted everything in her bag! They kept asking to have a piece, and despite protest, I limited them to just two pieces. I asked Ellee what her second piece was, and she had to dig the wrapper out of the trash to show me because she didn't know. It was just a chocolate coin... but how do you figure the carbs on that?! This is where I think a small line printed on the plain foil would be a life saver. "7g of carbs per piece". See?! That wouldn't take up too many lines!
This is one of those times I'm loving the pump! After I figure how much she eats, I can dose her, without interrupting her, without having her hold still, and without dealing with the supplies to give her 1 unit! Also, the Halloween party at school is another reason I'm loving it!
After the kids got back from their parade in the gym, we played a few games, then passed out cupcakes, popcorn, and juice. "Pre-Pump", after I saw what all she was eating and figured up the carbs, I'd have to pull her aside (most likely into the hall or bathroom) to give her a shot. Yesterday, I gave her the meter and had her check her sugar in the one corner of the room, then after I figured her carbs, I programmed the meter and dosed her! None of the other parents knew what I was doing and I didn't have to pull her out of the room for a few minutes. It was very discreet and I'm sure it made her feel more like a normal kid! Again, I love this pump!!!
Both of the girls wanted to be Belle for Halloween this year. And since costumes are tissue thing, I tried my hand at making cloaks for them. They didn't turn out too terribly bad!
Let's start with the reason we parents hate it:
-The kids want the good chocolate, and the older they get, the harder it is for Mom to sneak it away from them! (okay, that has nothing to do with diabetes, but it's true!)
-The boat load of candy they get trick-or-treating. Even though it seems like fewer and fewer houses pass out candy, the kids still seem to make a huge hull!
-Individually wrapped candy. The reason this is bad is because very few of them have the nutritional info on it. (more of this below)
-Kids are kids and they want to eat it all at once, and at times when it's not appropriate! Using candy as a bribe to eat all of their dinner does not always work!
I remember buying Halloween candy, "Pre-T1D", and while reading "call 1-800... for nutritional information" on a box of candy I thought to myself "If you need to know the nutritional information, then do you really need to be eating it?" Now I can't believe I use to think that way. I *hate* reading that on packaging, those words are like my kryptonite! Now, with the number of people are have T1D, it should be a requirement to print carb counts on EVERYTHING. From cough drops, to medicine, to individually wrapped candy, how hard would it be to print "xx grams of carbs per serving (or unit)" on everything?
The girls wanted to count their candy when we got home last night. Dani lined up her mini candy bars and counted, while Ellee counted everything in her bag! They kept asking to have a piece, and despite protest, I limited them to just two pieces. I asked Ellee what her second piece was, and she had to dig the wrapper out of the trash to show me because she didn't know. It was just a chocolate coin... but how do you figure the carbs on that?! This is where I think a small line printed on the plain foil would be a life saver. "7g of carbs per piece". See?! That wouldn't take up too many lines!
This is one of those times I'm loving the pump! After I figure how much she eats, I can dose her, without interrupting her, without having her hold still, and without dealing with the supplies to give her 1 unit! Also, the Halloween party at school is another reason I'm loving it!
After the kids got back from their parade in the gym, we played a few games, then passed out cupcakes, popcorn, and juice. "Pre-Pump", after I saw what all she was eating and figured up the carbs, I'd have to pull her aside (most likely into the hall or bathroom) to give her a shot. Yesterday, I gave her the meter and had her check her sugar in the one corner of the room, then after I figured her carbs, I programmed the meter and dosed her! None of the other parents knew what I was doing and I didn't have to pull her out of the room for a few minutes. It was very discreet and I'm sure it made her feel more like a normal kid! Again, I love this pump!!!
Two Weeks In...
...And this is one tired Momma! Getting up twice a night to check Ellee's blood sugar is taking a toll on me!
I never would have guessed that it would be this frustrating to pin down patterns to get her dosing rate set! Her numbers have very few patterns and it seems like they are one extreme or the other. It's making it hard to say that this rate needs to go up or that one needs to come down. One positive, is that the lady from the doctors office who has been calling me to go over her logs has been great to work with! She calls with certain changes in mind, but she is great about talking out my concerns with her and we usually come up with an altered plan of attack together!
I am starting to see a pattern in the night numbers, so I have a few more adjustments to make and try this weekend. I'm hoping that we can gain a little more insight when we meet with the Nurse Practioner on Monday!
While I am not a fan of the night checks, I am still not regretting this decision to start on the pump! It is more convenient and in the long run the control over her blood sugar will be better! When Josh and I talked about a Continuous Blood Glucose Monitor a few months ago, we shot down the idea. I'm really starting to rethink that idea and will discuss it with the NP on Monday! I don't like the idea of sticking her with a second thing, but on the other hand, her little fingers need a break from the constant testing.
I never would have guessed that it would be this frustrating to pin down patterns to get her dosing rate set! Her numbers have very few patterns and it seems like they are one extreme or the other. It's making it hard to say that this rate needs to go up or that one needs to come down. One positive, is that the lady from the doctors office who has been calling me to go over her logs has been great to work with! She calls with certain changes in mind, but she is great about talking out my concerns with her and we usually come up with an altered plan of attack together!
I am starting to see a pattern in the night numbers, so I have a few more adjustments to make and try this weekend. I'm hoping that we can gain a little more insight when we meet with the Nurse Practioner on Monday!
While I am not a fan of the night checks, I am still not regretting this decision to start on the pump! It is more convenient and in the long run the control over her blood sugar will be better! When Josh and I talked about a Continuous Blood Glucose Monitor a few months ago, we shot down the idea. I'm really starting to rethink that idea and will discuss it with the NP on Monday! I don't like the idea of sticking her with a second thing, but on the other hand, her little fingers need a break from the constant testing.
Monday, October 17, 2011
First Weekend
It has been one long weekend, to say the least! We have to check sugar levels more often to determine if adjustments to her rates need to be made, and that includes a midnight and a 3 am check!
I will say that right off the bat, the few key features that I am LOVING are:
1. Correction dose without having to wait till she eats something! There have been a few times she's been high but not eaten anything, so it's easy to give her a little extra bump of insulin to help bring her down! This includes while she is sleeping. In this case, it's hard enough to check her sugar in the dark, not having to try to pin down a limb and literally give her a shot in the dark is awesome!
2. Insulin on Board calculation. This is a nice little feature that gives me an idea if she still has insulin in her blood stream that is working. If she is high, but still has 2 units "on board" then I know that her sugar is on the way down. If she doesn't have any and she's high, then I know to give her a correction to help bring her down.
3. Dosing with out making her stand still! Ellee has developed this little quirk when we give her a dose by using the remote meter. When we do this, the pump vibrates, I'm not sure why, but I'm guessing it's more to let me know that the pump is receiving the signal and is in fact delivering it. During a meal as soon as I know how much she is going to eat, I will plug all the info into the meter and have it dose her. She will inevitably give me this cute, quirky "I caught you trying to be sneaky" look! Or she'll say "Mom... your giving me my insulin!" The remote meter has got to be my favorite feature, and the main reason we went with this meter over the Medtronic! During the night I've had to give her a correction dose, and I can do this from the living room or even my room (with a light on) without having to fish for her pump under the sea of blankets and jammies!
4. More precise dose. With the NovoJr pen we were using, and even syringes, you can only dose in half units. So, instead of having to decide to round up or round down, we can give a dose in .05 measurements!
5. It figures the dose for you! Okay, this is a lazy feature but very handy! I got in the habit of rounding, and this makes me stop and think about her carbs more accurately, instead of rounding up a few to the nearest 15. This is also very handy for when Grandma and Grandpa are with her.
Things I am not so in love with:
1. Meter needs a glowing screen or more contrast. It's impossible to read at night with out having to rig my cell phone to illuminate. In certain light and with certain people's eyesight, it's just flat out hard to read.
2. Making sure that Ellee wears pants strong enough to hold the weight of the pump! This may sound like a no brainer, but she wore a pair of knit yoga pants under a dress the other day and she had to keep pulling them up!
3. Did I mention the two nightly sugar checks?! Yes, I can tell already that by the end of this week I *will* be a zombie! This will hopefully just be temporary, but I will be thrilled when we can go down to one check a night or do away with them! If she doesn't jerk or pull her hand back, then I struggle to get the strip lined up with the blood to get it to read. I had some how turned the beep off so as I'm struggling to get the blood on the strip, I flipped my phone on so that I could see and noticed that I already had it and it was getting ready to show the result. There has got to be an easier way to check sugars at night!
Pump Therapy definitely has it's ups and downs, but for the most part, this was by far the best move for Ellee! She still panics when it's time to put a new infusion set on. She likes to be able to take the old one off in the shower, herself. It's still a fight and a little bit of coaxing to insert the new one, but I'm able to get her to hold still so that I can do it myself at home. Before at the doctors office, it's taken either Josh or I to hold her while the other inserted it. Last night I tried putting a Popsicle on to numb her up some before wiping it with the alcohol. I may be on to something with that because eating the Popsicle afterwards was a treat!
I will say that right off the bat, the few key features that I am LOVING are:
1. Correction dose without having to wait till she eats something! There have been a few times she's been high but not eaten anything, so it's easy to give her a little extra bump of insulin to help bring her down! This includes while she is sleeping. In this case, it's hard enough to check her sugar in the dark, not having to try to pin down a limb and literally give her a shot in the dark is awesome!
2. Insulin on Board calculation. This is a nice little feature that gives me an idea if she still has insulin in her blood stream that is working. If she is high, but still has 2 units "on board" then I know that her sugar is on the way down. If she doesn't have any and she's high, then I know to give her a correction to help bring her down.
3. Dosing with out making her stand still! Ellee has developed this little quirk when we give her a dose by using the remote meter. When we do this, the pump vibrates, I'm not sure why, but I'm guessing it's more to let me know that the pump is receiving the signal and is in fact delivering it. During a meal as soon as I know how much she is going to eat, I will plug all the info into the meter and have it dose her. She will inevitably give me this cute, quirky "I caught you trying to be sneaky" look! Or she'll say "Mom... your giving me my insulin!" The remote meter has got to be my favorite feature, and the main reason we went with this meter over the Medtronic! During the night I've had to give her a correction dose, and I can do this from the living room or even my room (with a light on) without having to fish for her pump under the sea of blankets and jammies!
4. More precise dose. With the NovoJr pen we were using, and even syringes, you can only dose in half units. So, instead of having to decide to round up or round down, we can give a dose in .05 measurements!
5. It figures the dose for you! Okay, this is a lazy feature but very handy! I got in the habit of rounding, and this makes me stop and think about her carbs more accurately, instead of rounding up a few to the nearest 15. This is also very handy for when Grandma and Grandpa are with her.
Things I am not so in love with:
1. Meter needs a glowing screen or more contrast. It's impossible to read at night with out having to rig my cell phone to illuminate. In certain light and with certain people's eyesight, it's just flat out hard to read.
2. Making sure that Ellee wears pants strong enough to hold the weight of the pump! This may sound like a no brainer, but she wore a pair of knit yoga pants under a dress the other day and she had to keep pulling them up!
3. Did I mention the two nightly sugar checks?! Yes, I can tell already that by the end of this week I *will* be a zombie! This will hopefully just be temporary, but I will be thrilled when we can go down to one check a night or do away with them! If she doesn't jerk or pull her hand back, then I struggle to get the strip lined up with the blood to get it to read. I had some how turned the beep off so as I'm struggling to get the blood on the strip, I flipped my phone on so that I could see and noticed that I already had it and it was getting ready to show the result. There has got to be an easier way to check sugars at night!
Pump Therapy definitely has it's ups and downs, but for the most part, this was by far the best move for Ellee! She still panics when it's time to put a new infusion set on. She likes to be able to take the old one off in the shower, herself. It's still a fight and a little bit of coaxing to insert the new one, but I'm able to get her to hold still so that I can do it myself at home. Before at the doctors office, it's taken either Josh or I to hold her while the other inserted it. Last night I tried putting a Popsicle on to numb her up some before wiping it with the alcohol. I may be on to something with that because eating the Popsicle afterwards was a treat!
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Last Shots
Last night was our last night of Lantus! We didn't celebrate, but should have! Instead, we will celebrate tomorrow morning after our last shot from our NovoJr pen for breakfast in the morning! I've said many times before that after dealing with this for 2 1/2 years, as I look back at different things, I can't imagine how we "use to do things". How we use to sit down for a meal without having to check sugar, figure food portions, count carbs, and everything else involved in treating T1D.
I wasn't sure I would like the pen, but after getting one, it was SOOO much better than a syringe! And I'm sure the same will be true with the pump. After we are on this for a while, I'll look back and wonder why I was so scared of it and we didn't switch to this sooner!
We still have to keep the pen and supplies on hand as an emergency back up in case of issues with the pump. But hopefully we won't have to resort back to it any more than we have to!
I wasn't sure I would like the pen, but after getting one, it was SOOO much better than a syringe! And I'm sure the same will be true with the pump. After we are on this for a while, I'll look back and wonder why I was so scared of it and we didn't switch to this sooner!
We still have to keep the pen and supplies on hand as an emergency back up in case of issues with the pump. But hopefully we won't have to resort back to it any more than we have to!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
