insulin pumps

[theo'smummy]

Hi all , just to let you know theo started officially on his insulin pump today.
His levels have been great they are around 7 mmol which is a drastic change from his usual 25 i can't believe it took so long to get hold of one of these things and took alot of fighting to get funding. well i'll keep yoy posted !!!!:)

[Anne]

Congratulations and good luck! I am sure you'll like it as much as we do. It gets much better/easier after the first few weeks.
Anne

[theo'smummy]

thanks Anne .
I still can't believe we have it!
his levels are great and we are only on day 2.makes you wonder how i ever coped

[theo'smummy]

well had a few up and down days but things look like they are improving.
still trying to grasp carb counting but have found an excellent book to help me.:)

[Melissasmum]

I am watching your postings with double interest as I am hoping to get my 2 1/2 year old daughter on a pump (her consultant does not know it yet though !).

Good luck hope things continue to improve

[Tommo]

glad to hear pumping is going so well. Can you give me name of the carb counting book...might help me to get my head around it as we are going to hopefully start on the pump in a couple of weeks! brill news that it is going so well for you! alex (toms mum)

[theo'smummy]

hi all ,
the book is called the hugely better carbohydrate counter by carloyn humphries it is fantasic as it tells you the serving amounts aswell. like tonight theo had 3 tablespoons of mash potato which worked out at 15g of carb. The other book i have is a calorie counter which has the takeaway's in so theo can still enjoy his mcdonalds and pizza hut now and again.
The last few days have been a struggle as i have had to test him every 2 hours during the day and every 3 hours during the night but it has been worth it. Just a word of warning Don't expect too much to soon .The first day his levels were great but after that they went all over the place , yesterday he had 4 hypo's because his insulin levels were too high. Today has been a good day so far i'm trying to take it 1 day at a time.
From talking to various parents it seems that the doctors and DSN seem not to willing to put children on the pump. we fought since last summer to get theo a pump and finally it paid off .He fitted all of NICE criteria and had 26 hospital admissions last year (for dka ) so they had no choice but to fund us .
Anyway i need to test his blood sugar yet again.

[Tommo]

thanks for that and advice re pumping - will get hold of a copy of the book, sounds good. HOpe all is going well now, we are starting the saline on friday...am a bit worried Tom will try and pull it off...but will see!

[theo'smummy]

hi great news ,
which pump have you got? Theo's is made by medtronic he has a paradigm515 in blue looks cool . looks like we are getting there with his stable levels. so far so good. good luck for friday

lisa xx

[Tommo]

haven't got the pump here yet...but it is a medtronic summat....will let you know friday...really pleased that you are happy pumping now...gives me a bit of hope :)

[debbie26pet]

im really interested in this i really would like my 3 yrs ol one how did u ge tthem to decide etc:)

[Tommo]

just lotsa begging n grovelling :) the team here seem to be v forward thinking luckily..hope you can get something sorted.....big day tomorrow.....

[debbie26pet]

did u have to meet and criteteria to get i like his numbers etc my little one is 3 and they are impressed with her day numbers

[Tommo]

no, not down to nos but think its all down to the health authority...the funding etc in your area...hope you can pressure 'em into getting you one...

[theo'smummy]

hello ,
alot of it is down to criteria but my little one had very high sugars he would normally be around 25 all day just could not get him down with the insulin injections (he was on 4 a day ) We tried everything and he had 26 admissions to hospital last year with DKA so i decided to push for this.Theo met all of NICE criteria (which you can find on their website ) it was more cost effective for them to give him the pump than keep admitting him to hospital. His hospital team have been fantastic with their support but it took a while to get the funding for the pump. You can buy it yourself it cost around £3000 then £1000 per year for the equipment tubing etc
It might be worth talking to your health care team to see what they have to say.
For me it has been great his levels are now between 7 and 8 all day it is great i now have my 2 year old ( nearly 3 ) back again.No more forcing food into him he can eat when he wants
ok all take care if you wanna chat i try and look here everyday so i'll try and answer you


lisa

mum to theo 2
diagnosed 19/01/06

[splodge]

Hi,
my 10yr old daughter Alice had her first pump therapy today, her DSN brought her actual pump to show her, but she couldn't leave it with us this time because we've got to insure it. Hopefully it'll only cost about £20 on the house insurance.
She's having the blue MiniMed Paradigm Real-Time 522 and she starts pumping in May.
We're so excited, can't wait. :)
Thanx,

Amanda, mom to Alice 10 dx'd aged 8, Novorapid & Lantus...... pumping in May 2007
Also Charlotte 13, Eliza 7 & Albert 5 (3 not diabetic)
Sandwell Hospital, West Bromwich

[theo'smummy]

well we have been on the pump for a month now and i am really pleased with theo's bm's they are now stable all day between 7 and 9.he had his 3rd birthday yesterday (7th april ) and he even had a small slice of chocolate cake and his blood sugar 2 hours after was 9.3 (which i was pleased with )
so i hopw this gives hope to people who are looking to get a pump !!!!
speak to you soon xxx






mum to theo aged 3 dx 19.1.06

[theo'smummy]

Still doing well on the pump.The last few weeks have been hard work to make sure his basal rate is ok and making sure that his carb ratio is ok but all the hard work has paid off.
I am finally at ease to let theo sleep through the night and not be constantly worrying and checking him through the night. I hope this helps people looking into pump therapy as i believe it was the right decision for us.
Hopefully speak to you soon .





mum to theo aged 3 dx 19/01.06
sol aged 5 non d

[theo'smummy]

hello ,
well we have been on the pump for a few months now and i can say what a difference it has made. we now have stable blood sugars throughout the day and very few hypo's infact i can't remember when theo last had a hypo .
There is light at the end of the tunnel and i would be lost if they took the pump away.









Mum to theo aged 3 dx 19.01.06
mum to sol aged 5 non d

[debbie26pet]

im getting no were with my hospital to get one for my daughter any ideas?:confused::mad:

[theo'smummy]

I know how you feel, i had to fight to get one for theo . Even looking through his medical history the pct wanted to turn him down it was only through his hospital consultant that we got it.
I needed to show them that this was the only option for us . theo had very high bs and was admitted to hospital 26 times with dka. He was on 4 injections a day and was not stable.
I would go to his appointments in tears as this was my baby suffering (he was only 2 at the time)
they said the only way to apply for the pump was
1. lots of hospital admissions
2. not stable on 4 injections
3.hb1ca ? is above 8
i think you just need to keep going with it and keep on asking for it. Express your concerns with your dsn and team .i also went to d uk to ask for there support (its worth a try)
hope that helps
sorry for being so long winded been a long day :(





lisa

mum to theo aged 3 dx 19.01.06 22 months
sol aged 5 non d

[malcolm]

Hi ,my daughter has been on the pump for about 5 months now and we deffinetly can see the benefits.It is hard at the start but worth it in the end .When Rebecca started with the pump we had a few problems when it came to change her set ,I think we were scared we hurt her and this resulted in a few bent canulas,has anyone else had the same problem?We seem to be able to do it fine now.Malcolm.

[maryh]

Where did you find out about all the pumps? And how do you go about getting them. I no nothing about them and my daughters nurse has never mentioned it.

[theo'smummy]

hello ,
I found out about the pump through looking on the net, I was at my wits end with theo's bs and hospital admittance i just couldn't live like it any more so i pleaded with the consultant to help me and after 4 months of begging letters we finally got our pump. Theo is only the second child in our area to be put on pump .