What were some of the important things you learned on the saline trial

[twodoor2]

I thought I'd start a thread to ask what things you learned on your saline trail to help you prepare for full insulin in the pump. This might help people that are deciding or shopping around for pumps.

Since our pump trainer was out of town much, I had a rare two week saline trial, but it wasn't in vain. I did learn a lot, and it helped to better prepare me for things.

1) I learned that my calculations were very different than the pump's, so I was prepared for highs as a result. I could write a whole dissertation on that one, but I don't know if anyone would want to read it!!:p

2) I had more practice with infusion sets and found better ways to make them stick without compromising insulin.

3) We learned ways for Elizabeth to sleep better with the pump (pump pouch)

4) I learned the limitations of the pump as far as how many specific values it would hold for different variables.

5) Familiarized myself well with the different menu screens.

[coni]

...I learned that my calculations were very different than the pump's, so I was prepared for highs as a result. I could write a whole dissertation on that one, but I don't know if anyone would want to read it!!:p...

Aww, come on Marsha! Try us! :D
Actually, I could see that type of information being useful for anyone switching from MDI to pumping. I am, however, assuming it's unique to your type of pump and the untethered method...

BTW, I like your new picture of your duaghter.

[Jacob'sDad]

What saline trial?

[twodoor2]

Aww, come on Marsha! Try us! :D
Actually, I could see that type of information being useful for anyone switching from MDI to pumping. I am, however, assuming it's unique to your type of pump and the untethered method...

BTW, I like your new picture of your duaghter.

No, not at all, the calculations can differ no matter what type of pumping you do, untethered, tethered, or some people do a small amount of Lantus with their pump (that's not really untethered though:))

The calculations will be different, and the type of basal you use doesn't affect the programmed algorithms used for the calculations for boluses, at least on our pump (MM522), it didn't.

Thanks for the nice words on Elizabeth's new pic!:)

[momtojess]

Our saline trial was only a few days.. Both dh and I had to wear the pump ourself so we would be able to know what it felt like to be attached 24/7 and what the site felt like.

I did like that we got to experiment with the buttons. Back then the pump was pretty simple, there was no iob, correction calculator, food index, etc. It was literally, plug in the amount you want to give her and hit go. All the calculating was manual.

[nebby3]

Honestly, I found the saline trial to be a pain. Yes, we needed to practice loading the pump and doing sites but we didn't have many problem sknowing what buttons to push anyway. The problem with it (for us) is that you are entering numbers as if pumping but getting results as if still on shots (which of course you are). It makes things not line up--like the pump says do a correction but you know NPH hasn't peaked yet. It is thinking in two ways at once and I didn't find it very helpful.

[dqmomof3]

I think I'm with Roberta on this one...didn't like the saline trial at all. For us, I would say the saline trial was probably detrimental, because I had a false sense of security that everything would go just fine on the insulin start - and it didn't because we didn't have the right sites and sets!

I guess the practice with infusion sets was good, but we didn't have a problem with them sticking - we had a problem with them working! And we didn't know that we had that problem until we started insulin :-(. Our ratios were pretty much the same, and I had already learned the pump based on playing with it and the great tutorials on MM's website. I asked for an insulin start instead of a saline start, but was told no in no uncertain terms!! My endo said it would be irresponsible, and that she'd only ever done one insulin start and it was a disaster. Ahhhh....

I can see, though, where a lot of people would get a lot out of the trial, for all the reasons you mentioned above! Another YDMV, I suppose...
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[Lee]

I didn't like the saline trial simply becuase it fell on the Dad's days...so we went, hooked her up to saline, she went home with Dad for the weekend, then we met on Monday, and bam...insulin! She learned how to use the buttons and how to get used to sleeping and peeing with the pump.

[WestinsMom]

Not much use to me either. I wore the pump and it didn't have any wizards at the time so it was just to see what it was like to wear it.

[Rachel]

We didn't have a saline trial and I was happy not to. Our endo clinic doesn't recommend them for the little ones because they think it is confusing for them. (My guy was 2.5 when he started on the pump).

It was REALLY nice to be able to explain that the pump was going to take away most of the shots. We looked at the pump a lot the week before and he wore it around in a pump pack. And then on the day of the pump start, we had our final training, refined the settings (I had made some guesses), and got up and running on it. My son saw a clear connection between no shots and the pump start and he understood very quickly that the pump was a good thing ... and eventually that it was even worth the set change trauma.

[Hollyb]

We didn't do a saline trial, and never wished we had. It would have made Aaron crazy. I really can't think of anything in the learning process that would have been easier on saline.

[Boo]

1) I learned that my calculations were very different than the pump's, so I was prepared for highs as a result. I could write a whole dissertation on that one, but I don't know if anyone would want to read it!!:p

I found just the opposite to be true for us. During the saline trial, my son would "bolus" while I'd calculate the dosage in my head and draw up the syringe. It was like a little game for us to see how close we'd get. It was always very close if not spot on, which gave me a lot of relief in being able to trust the machine!

The biggest benefit of the saline trial, for us, was just getting familiar with the screens and buttons. It wasn't a huge pain for us, nor do I feel it was a huge benefit. I'm not the quickest at picking up on tech stuff so I think that week was good for me. My son, on the other hand, could have probably gone straight to insulin.

Sleeping with the pump was never a problem for Andy, nor were site changes. He has used the quicksets from the start, and we have had very few problems.

[twodoor2]

I don't want to write my disseration, but there were nuances that had to do with IOB, rounding, and when IOB was taken into consideration. Boring stuff:rolleyes:

[Abby-Dabby-Doo]

I don't regret the saline at all.

It gave us a chance to screw up before the "real deal". From everything to getting the site to stick long enough, kinked sites, sleeping with it, the school learning it, daycare learning it, how Abby would tolerate it, pump pouch/ or clipping it to her pants, and so forth.

My only negative comment was Abby had to endure both shots and infusion set changes, that was confusing to her and hard for her to see the benefits once the shots were gone.

[Lindy]

I vote NO on the saline trial.... why do it?? for "young" ones - they can already be afraid of something new and then they don't get to receive the benefit of the pump - you have to wear it, have it inserted into you, but you still have to have shots..... ummmm - no thanks! if a parent wants to play with the buttons, you can do that without going thru the saline trial...

[Jacob'sDad]

We had no saline trial. I don't think I had even heard of it before I joined this board.
Jacob wore a dummy pump for a couple of days and had a site in, but there was no saline. When he got the real pump they told us to only use the basic functions until his follow up appoinment the next week. They said "DON'T USE THE ADVANCED FEATURES UNTIL YOU HAVE BEEN PROPERLY TRAINED!"

So the second day on the pump, I turned the advanced features on!

I drive my wife crazy when I do stuff like that.

[saxmaniac]

It was useful, though I thought it wouldn't be at all.

The second pod went haywire and deactivated. It was in continuous super-annoying alarm mode. This happened because it's set by default to alarm if no input received after 12 hrs. Had to disable that feature, which only makes sense if you're doing self-care. But the PDM was close to the pod, and we did use it for a bg and no bolus, but it doesn't connect because of proximity, and we don't make it connection because we don't need it to. So it was better that we did early this instead of it happening in class and forcing a pod change with a real basal going.

Figured out how to give an uncovered snack that is recorded, which wasn't obvious at first. (Bolus, let it calculate, zero it out, and deliver a zero bolus.)

We got to see how the pod's adhesive held up, and fix problems, again without the pressure of losing the basal.

We got a few days telling Alex to be a bit more careful dressing, as not to rip it.

With a few site changes under his belt, Alex got most of his fear out, so he didn't freak out at the doctor's. (He did freak out at the IV blood draw!)

Due to DST change and the date being formatted wrong, I discovered you have to suspend the pump to change the date and time. So I did that.

A bunch of other little things!

[valerie k]

we got our pump, matt wore it for 2 days, and on day three, we added insulin to it. we have had it about a week and a half, and on thurs... we get to turn on the bolus wizard and be trained in on that one.

I think saline would have done him in... he didnt care for the two days of wearing the pump while it was "useless". Added insulin, instant turn around. He loves his pump now.