Zeb is wearing his PUMP!!

[zeb'smom]

Okay,

We hooked Zeb up with saline this morning, he is going to wear it until next friday when we start insulin. They want us to a few site changes before insulin start. I was a nervous wreck last night and some this morning. But it went well, we felt really comfortable with the pump and the CDE seemed pleased with how compatent with it we were. He cried when we did the infusion set (we are using the Rapid D), but it was really because we had been there 2 hours and he wanted to go home.
We have been home a few hours now and although I need to adjust how he is wearing it some everything seems fine. He doesn't seem bothered by it, now if I can just get the big kids to stop asking to see it all the time we will be good.

Quick question: do you all change tubing at each site change? Our CDE said every other time was fine but the supply company only sent us 5 for the month so I will need more no matter what.

Well, I gotta go try and get Zeb (and maybe mama) a little nap, he was up much ealier that usual this morning.

Wish us luck,

Robyn

[jeep_bluetj]

We change whatever is 'out'. If we do a site change at less than the planned 3 days, we'll reuse the resivoir, and possibily the tubing (to not prime it again).

But we use MM Quick-sets, and each new set comes with a new tube. We'll end up tossing a tube if we do reuse one.

Gotta say that Zeb has a great name.

[AmyMcCracken]

I've found it is better to replace the tubing. I think from putting the pump in Kaylie's pocket the tubing starts to crack at the cap for the reservior. She's actually torn the tubing away from the cap! :eek:

[Hollyb]

We use Comfort Shorts, which you can buy in boxes in which only half the sets have tubing because you can theoretically reuse the tubing once. But every time we tried it Aaron ran high for a while afterwards. I think we kept getting an air bubble where we reattached it to the pump.

If it had been a big economical issue for us (ie no insurance) I would have persevered and figured out how to make it work. But we just stopped trying to reuse the tubing -- set changes are fiddly enough as it is!

[EmmasMom]

I'm glad it's going well so far!! These little guys are such troopers!

We replace everything with every site change... at least 90% of the time. I have had a couple of rare occasions where a new site fell out after only a few hours, so I just put in a new site and used the same reservoir and tubing. In the heat of the summer there were a couple of times I kept the site, (if it was day 1 or 2) and changed out only the insulin and re-primed the tubing. This was only because I thought the insulin had gotten too hot outside and I didn't want to re-stick her yet.
You will definitely need more than 5 infusion sets for a whole month. Using a set beyond 72 hours is highly discouraged, and the insulin manufactures suggest every 48 hours.

I hope it all continues to go fantastic!!!:D

[zeb'smom]

Because we are using the Rapid D's they sent us 15 infusion sets, but only 5 tubings. I just spoke with the lady at our supply company and she said that this (15 sets,5 tubes) is what medicaid considers a months supply. The idea is that you change the set every 3 days but the tubing every 6. If I can't get more tubing each month through medicaid then we can either buy them ourselves or switch infusion sets to one that includes tubing in each set. Oh well, we will see how is goes, but I am not willing to put up with it if it seems troublesome.

Thanks for all your input, I trust you guys more than the folks at the supply company or medicaid.

Robyn

[Momof4gr8kids]

Robyn, good luck, and how exciting!!!!! I hope Zeb does well with the site changes, and I hope you all love it!!!

[zeb'smom]

Okay, just thought I'd let you know that I figured out how to fix my tubing problem. I think we are going to switch to the Contact Detach sets. They are just like the Rapid D's only they come with new tubing for each set. I have enough supplies to use the Rapid D's for now, and return the second batch to trade for the Contacts so I think that is what I will do.

Gotta go feed the kiddos
Robyn

[hold48398]

Hey hey, enjoy ;-). bet you are counting the days to the live start :rolleyes:.

[Tamara Gamble]

Hey Zeb's mom, Congratulations. We use the Rapid D's and change the tubing every third time. I will be interested in finding out about the Contact Detach though so keep me posted.

God Bless!

Tami

[Ben'sMommy]

I'm so excited for you guys!! Little Zeb is a trooper. Poor thing. It must be a bit scary for him at this age. But he'll quickly adjust.

We change everything every time. We use MM quick sets. I wouldn't re-use anything.

Best of luck to you all.
xxx

[zeb'smom]

Thanks for all your support and encouragement. It was definately needed this morning. Zeb went all day yesterday without much notice of the pump, but then at bed time kept crying and asking me to take it off. He is only 2.5 so at first I acted like I did not know what he was saying, but he just kept on crying. Ugggg! I felt soo bad, and then he just cried himself to sleep:( and I could not decide if that was better or worse. He has been fine all day so far and does not seem bothered by it now, I just hope we do not have to go through that again. I am not sure how cried more, him or me.

I think it was really about just having the thing on him. He had a really hard time with his medic alert bracelet at first and I kept putting it on and taking it of trying to get him used to it. Finally one night I got him to fall asleep with it on and it has never been an issue since. I am hoping this will happen again with the pump. I know it is the little ones who adapt the easiest, I feel sure he does not even know it is there right now.

I have enjoyed using the carbsmart each time he eats, it is so easy to use and it afirms how good this will be for him when we start insulin because I could never measure out the tiny doses he needs.
Our endo was great and gave us ranges to choose from for the ISF, Target BS, and Insulin:Carb ratio. We were able to chose the higher ranges so we will feel safe with small doses. I know it is gonna be great once we get through the transition, but I just was not prepared for last night. It is already one of those mama memories I wish I could erase. (along with his DX, DD in O2 tent, and DS covered in blood from a dog bite)

Okay the kids want lunch so I guess I should go feed them. Thanks again all.
Robyn

[EmeeSu]

Congratulations!! You will love it.

We had a few hurdles to overcome initially, but we have it down now - except for when the cat bites the tubing in half! He's lucky I love him so much!!:D

Keep us posted on how things are going!!!

[EmmasMom]

:( I'm so sorry you guys had a bad night. It's so hard sometimes! It's just wrong that we have to do these things to our precious little ones to keep them healthy. Soooo WRONG!

I felt similarly when Emma was fighting me and crying before I inserted her sensor Thursday night. I just kept thinking is this really worthwhile? Is it cruel to do this to her *just* so we can have better control of her blood sugars? So many guilt filled questions come up when you have to hurt your child on a regular basis. Ugh.
Once the sensor was in she was perfectly fine, it didn't even hurt, but looking at her bottom with two sites makes me feel awful! I just have to keep telling myself that if it really makes a huge difference in the control of this disease it is worthwhile! I'm just lucky that she's so used to having medical devices stuck in and hanging off of her.:rolleyes: My poor baby! Our poor babies!

But if we can make them healthier... we just have to try!:cwds:

I hope tonight is much easier for both of you!!!

[zeb'smom]

Thanks for understanding and for the encouragement. Last night was 100% better and today he hasn't noticed it one bit. Tomorrow we do our first at home site change so that will be our next big test of how he is doing. I am already seeing a few changes I want to make in both setting of the pump and how he is wearing it. I think we set the insulin sensitivity a bit too high, but I'm not changing anything until the clinic on tuesday. I also realize we need the EZ wrap for the back of his pump for all the tubing, we have a tube gaurd but it keeps coming off of his belt. I am going to order a sleep pouch also because although I love the ones we have, they just aren't comfy enough. Last night I safety pined the pouch to his P.J.'s and took the belt of so it would be cozier.

I know we will more bad moments with this transition, but I think now that I've had my little break down I will be much better able to deal next time. Also his blood sugars today have been AWFUL and just reafirm how important it is to his health and hapieness to make this change even if it is hard.

Thanks for being here, I am sure I will be back with more questions, vents,ect. as we make the change.

Robyn