Skateboarding with the Pump???

[mischloss]

My son (11 years old, diagnosed Sept, 6, 2005) has just gotten on the Animas Insulin Pump this week and insists on going skateboarding. He newest passion! I am terrified that he will wreck his pump and made him take it off for about 1 hour (suspend). But he stayed out for about 1.5 hours by the time he came back his BG was 270! Not acceptable. Is there any well padded pouches (the kind with the foam "eggshell" stuff that some computer or gun cases have) just for very active sports for insulin pumps? If so, please send me a link so I can purchase one for him. The cute "kids pouches" made out of canvas I don't think will keep the pump protected enough.

Thanks for any info. Don't want to have to "detach" him during his favorite sport.

[Becky]

The only thing that comes to mind is the "Sport Guard" that Minimed sells. http://store.minimed.com/mmStore/application?origin=search_results.jsp&event=bea.portal.framework.internal.portlet.event&pageid=Products&portletid=Products&wfevent=product_detail_direct.event&wlcs_product_item_key=MMT-145&ROUTE_TO=goto.productDetail It's clunky, awkward, and bulletproof.
I ski with my pump on and no protective case, but ski jackets provide some cushioning and snow is much more forgiving than concrete! (I do hope that he's wearing a helmet when he skates!)

[mischloss]

Hi Becky,

I will call the Medtronics people to see if the Animas Pump 1250 would fit it. Looks like it has to fit exactly because of the hard shell. Thanks for the info.

And no he doesn't wear a helmet...Not cool. :( He is hanging out with the neighborhood "skaters" right now. You know the type. And it is all about what you wear and the image. But he only skates by a park that has paved "bike walks" and he is not allowed to go skating on the hilly roads. And for what I saw, he skates pretty slowly and doesn't do any tricks (not allowed!!!). I went with him while walking our dog a couple of times and he just jumps right off the skateboard, if he feels like he can't hold his balance. And being new on the pump, we are still trying to tweak his basal since he seems to go low during any physical activity. He only skated with me for about 20 minutes. : ) Same with the kids, he was just "gone" around the neighborhood for an hour and a half and was detached, so that was when his BG jumped up.

[Hockeygirl]

Hi Becky,

I will call the Medtronics people to see if the Animas Pump 1250 would fit it. Looks like it has to fit exactly because of the hard shell. Thanks for the info.

And no he doesn't wear a helmet...Not cool. :( He is hanging out with the neighborhood "skaters" right now. You know the type. And it is all about what you wear and the image. But he only skates by a park that has paved "bike walks" and he is not allowed to go skating on the hilly roads. And for what I saw, he skates pretty slowly and doesn't do any tricks (not allowed!!!). I went with him while walking our dog a couple of times and he just jumps right off the skateboard, if he feels like he can't hold his balance. And being new on the pump, we are still trying to tweak his basal since he seems to go low during any physical activity. He only skated with me for about 20 minutes. : ) Same with the kids, he was just "gone" around the neighborhood for an hour and a half and was detached, so that was when his BG jumped up.

Hi, What did you ever figure out with this. My son is 15 loves skateboarding, in fact, we thought he broke ankle last week. right now, he goes low with skateboarding so he takes his pump off. Thanks for any info,
Amy

[mischloss]

He carries glucose tabs in a small tube with him when ever he is hanging out now with his buddies. He doesn't like to detach. So just lowers hs basal rate while skating. But he has the tabs as a backup just in case he goes low and can't get to a drink like gatorade or reg. cola. He just shoves the pump into his front jean's pocket and that is all the protection he wants. I can't force him to put the pump into a protective case. He is being careful with skating and is not very "couragious" about taking risks with jumps or with a lot of speed to it.