been pumping a month or so and have some questions please help

[metsta]

Gabriel was diagnosed at 2 yrs old and hes' 4 now. Been pumping for around a month after 2 years of severe hypos, been in and out of great ormond street as he also has cortisol production issues at night. lowest hypo ive seen is 1.8 and highest high 34. Was dx'd shortly after salmonella, he was ketone +4 and glucose +4 with a bg of 33.

been on the pump now for a little while and have been enjoying mostly great numbers, best thing is balancing his basal at night, where as before he was on cortisol replacement tablets weve done away with them and altered basals which is great for him,

a few basic questions i have are around the infusion sites (angled ones) after 2 days becoming very red and hard, obviously we change out the line a little sooner to prevent, make sure the silserter is sterile etc etc, but has any else had this, is it normal?


also getting very nervous about a beach holiday for 2 weeks, ususally see a little high even after a bath and being off the pump for about 45mins, is this normal? should we drop the pump for 2weeks and go back to MDi? not keen to do this but is there a middle ground, any advice much appreciated.

oops one more question since posting this ive just done a site change, from the angled silhouette one to an easy set for the first time, went in ok, do you guys leave the old site in place for a while to make sure any insulin in the tube goes through? i guess there is .6 in there as thats whats needed to prime it?

not sure if its because i am more aware of D now, but have noticed a sharp rise in children around me being diagnosed, friends at work, friends of friends etc etc? all seem to be about 2 years old too?

[hawkeyegirl]

We're not pumping quite yet, so I can't be of much help. But I just wanted to let you know if you posted an identical thread in Parents of Children with Type 1, more people would probably respond. That forum gets a lot more traffic.

[Hollyb]

Hi There, and welcome!

There is a middle ground you could talk to your doctor about for the beach, which is to give part or all of your son's long-term insulin by injection, and hook up to the pump mainly for boluses. However, playing and swimming at the beach is usually a lot more active than sitting in the tub so you may find you're OK just to disconnect. You can also hook up every hour or so, give an hour's worth of basal as a bolus, and then send him off his merry way.

We usually leave the old site on for a while if my son has recently had a bolus, to make sure none leaks out. Otherwise, we just take it off. The amount you fill the cannula with is not part of his dose, so there's no need to try to get it into him.

I can't help you with the skin irritation part. Aaron does find the angled sets leave bigger marks behind, but he doesn't usually get skin problems. Are they sore?

Glad to hear the pump is working out for you!

[Budapest]

a few basic questions i have are around the infusion sites (angled ones) after 2 days becoming very red and hard, obviously we change out the line a little sooner to prevent, make sure the silserter is sterile etc etc, but has any else had this, is it normal?
I don't think most people experience this. Maybe consider using a different set. We use iset II from Unomedical. It is very easy to insert it.

also getting very nervous about a beach holiday for 2 weeks, ususally see a little high even after a bath and being off the pump for about 45mins, is this normal? should we drop the pump for 2weeks and go back to MDi? not keen to do this but is there a middle ground, any advice much appreciated.
Most pumps and sets are waterproof. Although we never really went to the beach yet, I don't think it would be a problem. However, if you do end up disconnecting probably you should make sure that no water enters the site as it might cause an infection etc.
oops one more question since posting this ive just done a site change, from the angled silhouette one to an easy set for the first time, went in ok, do you guys leave the old site in place for a while to make sure any insulin in the tube goes through? i guess there is .6 in there as thats whats needed to prime it?
I think once you disconnect that site there is no way to get more insulin from that tube into the body -- and you would not need that anyway.

Good luck -- pumping is great.