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Have you heard? I've started a separate blog,
The Sugar Sharks, all about our life with Type I Diabetes.
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Tuesday, September 28, 2010

The Pump Story: Part I: Saline

Paradigm Insulin Pump 176 Unit Capacity
DD's pump is like this, but pink. 
For my non-diabetic readers: I'll understand if you want to skip this post.  It's about my daughter starting on her insulin pump.  It may seem like too much detail, but I wrote it thinking that I wish I could have read others' starting experiences so I'd know what to expect.  My apologies for the length!

So, I know an update about DD and her new insulin pump is long overdue- after all, this thing has been part of our lives for two entire weeks now.   Two weeks.  A CRAZY two weeks.   

We went in on a Tuesday afternoon to meet with the pump trainer.   Now, the lady was nice, but a little annoying.  She ended most of her sentences with this "hrrmmmm" sound.  It seemed to be a nervous habit.  She took us through the basics of pump therapy, the specifics of how DD's pump works, and which buttons do what.  

Then she watched as I put the new infusion set in DD's belly.  Insertion was quick and easy, and DD didn't feel a thing, thanks to the numbing cream.  Once DD was all hooked up, we left the hospital, and took DD home for the evening.  That night we had some issues figuring out how to wear the pump (which belt? which pack? over or under clothes?) but otherwise it was fine.

The next morning was not so pretty. DD managed to rip out the first infusion set within a few minutes of waking-- caught it on something as she was washing in the shower.   My poor girl was shaken and upset and hating the pump at that point.  Nothing like figuring out your first all-on-you-own infusion set insertion at 7am with a crying child and a sleep-deprived brain.  But, we made it, and even got her to school just as the bell rang.  I met with the nurse for the district and the clinic lady for our building, and  really, I couldn't tell them a whole lot at that point- I'd only pushed the buttons to get her through two meals by then!   They were very nice, though, and we all basically decided that we were smarter than the pump and we would get through this.  Ha!  

About an hour after I left, I got a call.... DD had ripped out the second infusion set of the day when she went to the restroom.  ::sigh::  So much for this being easy.  I went back to school and put a third set in.  This time, we secured it with bandage tape.  It didn't look pretty, but it held.  I walked her down to her music class, which unfortunately has glass windows AND faces her brother's preschool room... where I had to stand and wait for him to be dismissed.  The entire time DD is giving me puppy dog eyes and mouthing "I hate this thing".   I pretty much felt like the meanest mom in the world right then.  Before I left I gave her a wink and a thumbs up sign, and she returned a shaky smile and an "ok" hand motion, so I figured things were looking up.

The rest of "saline week" was pretty much the same, although thankfully, she didn't rip out any more sites.   Some uncomfortable sites... some learning what different alarms mean... nothing too exciting.  Sometimes DD said she hated the pump, and sometimes she was interested in it and having fun trying on her new packs/ belts.  Meanwhile, we were still giving her injections 4-6 times daily, the same as always.  

Tune in tomorrow to find out how our switch to insulin went!


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2 comments:

  1. Hang in there!

    Were the sets falling out b/c she had the pump in her pants and when she dropped her pants to use the Rest Room the site got ripped out? If so, then a pump pack may be for you. There are so many awesome ones out there...cool ones/fashionable for day to day...and I have a great lead on ones that are good for athletics (no jiggle of the pump) if you need one.

    Tell D.D. Joe's mom is proud of her for sticking with it!

    Good luck tomorrow with going "live" with insulin.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I know the first little while can be so hard...but it WILL get easier! So many ripped out sites?? Poor girl! You are all troopers for getting back on the horse! It will be worth it, for sure!

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