7 Injections

[dvane]

Ethan had his endo appt. yesterday @ Children's. His A1C is @ 8.5 down from 8.9. We have no idea how that happened but it is good news. The not so good news is that we now have to cover all his food including snacks. That means instead of 4 injections a day he now gets 7:eek:. Isn't that great news? We were given information about the pump which seems pretty neat. That is such a big decision to make. Any suggestions?

[Tori's Mom]

Good grief. I know we are on what most consider an outdated routine of Humalog/NPH which entails 3 injections per day. I just cannot imagine 7 injections per day.
We start pumping July 10th and I cannot wait!!
From all discussions on this board it seems like nearly EVERYONE says life with the pump is MUCH better.
I am looking forward to not having to feed the insulin. Now Tori has to eat 6 times a day whether she wants to or not. It will be wonderful to have the option to NOT eat 6 times a day. The other thing she is really looking forward to is being able to sleep in.

[shannonb]

Kurt is almost 4 and we are trying to decide what to do as well. I know that the pump will be great a huge improvement over the average 6 injections a day he gets now...but I wonder how he'll do with the tubing and wearing the pump all the time. He's a little Tasmanian Devil...never sits still. I also worry that my younger son (2) may pull at the tubing.

Also, what about bathroom and bed time? Do young kids on the pump just learn how to work around the pump and tubing?

Anyone with personal experience with young kids?

Thanks!
Shannon

[kiwikid]

Great news that your HbA1c is dropping :cwds: I'm not so sure that 7 injections is great news for Ethan :( Rachel wouldn't have coped with 7 injections per day!
Before Rachel started pumping we used a mix of Novolog and Regular insulin at breakfast, lunch and dinner to cover both meals and snacks. We used Lantus as the background insulin. It worked really well for us. Maybe you could ask your endo about Insuliin Cocktails - you can read about them in Chapter 11 here http://www.uchsc.edu/misc/diabetes/ud11.html

Pumping really is a good choice!

[Carrie]

Our little one was four when she started pumping. We were up to about an average of six injections of Novolog a day. :( Going on the pump is a big decision, but so worth it. There is no holding them off to eat in between meals. Anything she pops in her mouth, I can give insulin for. Right down to 0.1 units of insulin.

As far as going potty...when it is in a pump pack, it stays in place while the pants go up and down. If it is in a pocket, it takes a little bit more manuvering. ;) The tubing can be somewhat tucked into the pack as well.

At bedtime, we put the pump in a good (Gap, etc.) baby sock that we saftey-pin to the inside of a pair of shorts or pajama bottoms.

[hold48398]

The second day of pumping (despite BGs all over the place trying to adjust her basal rates), Mia said to me, and I quote:

"Mommy, I have a new life!"

This coming out of the mouth of a 4 year old at the time. WOW. Doesn't that say it all. We are loving the pump ever since. Shots now seem so...primitive. Maybe that's not the right word but it's kKinda like using a typewriter instead of a computer. In the year 2007.

Best decision we have ever made.

[sammysmom]

Yeah, we have BTDT..not fun but it was necessary. One thing that our dr suggested for us when sam was fighting us on every injection was this: Instead of covering every single snack, which would be 3 extra shots, we raised his lantus and that way he was able to snack between meals and not recieve a shot. The downside is that he HAD to have the snacks! But remember, he was so young that he rarely turned down a snack.....he was dx at 15mo old and was such an eating machine! He is now on the pump and it is much better. At one point Sam was up to 8 shots a day..
a.m. lantus
breakfast:log
snack:log
lunch:log
snack:log
dinner:log
p.m. lantus (was a split dose)
10pm NPH (we did this becuae sam spiked everynight at 4am..the nph peak took care of this)

unfortunately sometimes more shots are called for.....it does suck though!

shannon

[miss_behave]

I strongly recommend pumping. The amount of injections was one of the main reasons I got a pump. Its so much more flexible, you just press a couple of buttons every time you eat. There are many children your sons age and younger (even new born babies!) using an insulin pumps successfully. :cwds:

Heres a very biased pumping site http://2betr.com/ its funny but true :D

[Stacey Nagel]

Ethan had his endo appt. yesterday @ Children's. His A1C is @ 8.5 down from 8.9. We have no idea how that happened but it is good news. The not so good news is that we now have to cover all his food including snacks. That means instead of 4 injections a day he now gets 7:eek:. Isn't that great news? We were given information about the pump which seems pretty neat. That is such a big decision to make. Any suggestions?


If you dont want to start pumping right away, how about trying an IPort.


http://www.pattonmd.com/product/
"""The I-Port™ reduces the emotional, psychological and physical discomforts of injections by providing both adults and children a simple way to administer prescribed medications without the repeated skin punctures. Only 1.5" (38mm) in diameter and 1/3" (9mm) tall, the I-Port™ allows for discreet wear under clothing."""

Its an infusion set made for injections.. It has a 90 degree needle instead of the big long scary needle that the Insulfon has.
I've spoken to them, and was told that you can inject both Lantus and Humolog/novolog into the same port. It gets changed every 2-3 days like a pump set.. It might make your life a bit easier

[staciebco]

. He's a little Tasmanian Devil...never sits still. I also worry that my younger son (2) may pull at the tubing.

Also, what about bathroom and bed time? Do young kids on the pump just learn how to work around the pump and tubing?

Anyone with personal experience with young kids?

Thanks!
Shannon


We've only been pumping for a couple of weeks, but they do learn to work around the pump and tubing. We use a pump pack and the tube is mostly up and out of the way for the bathrooming issues. It's a hard decision, good luck!

[Mik's Mom]

hi

my daughter gets a minimum of 4 shots a day and most days its 5- when she is sick or stressed she gets up to 7-8 shots a day- which can be very difficult.

We have talked about the pump and will hopefully be able to get her on one when things settle down some and we are able to get her numbers more stable. Until then we will do the multiple injections and hope for better numbers.

She is a little trooper and never complains- shes my hero

Good luck

~ Missy

[Noel]

We did the multiple injections with Aidan too! At 2 he was up to 7-8 shots a day...we got him on a pump as soon as we could! I don't believe I have ever 2nd guessed that decision. Just as anything pumping can have it's ups and downs, but Aidan SOOOOOO perfers pumping, so does Keith and I am fully for it!!! (Little biased though with all the years we have had pumps in our house!)

My advice is (especially if insurance will cover everything) try it....if you don't like it, it doesn't work for you and your lifestyle you can always go back.

Good luck with your decision!

[sheila]

Just thought I would add my two cents as well (:))

My daughter started on the pump last October. When we started her A1C was around 9 (if I remember correctly) It is now 7.7.

It is alot of work at the beginning, but worth it for my daughters health in the long run.

[miss_behave]

hopefully be able to get her on one when things settle down some and we are able to get her numbers more stable.


I'm just wondering why you want to wait until her numbers get stable to go on the pump. Thats a great reason to get a pump in the first place :) Many people choose the pump simply to try and achieve better control. :cwds:

[Momto4]

"Mommy, I have a new life!"


Perfectly said!

[payam7777777]

That is such a big decision to make.

no! dont make a big thing out of it; just do it ASAP, with proper/enough study of course.

[Kaylee's Mommy]

when we switched Kaylee to the pump she was doing a lot of injection, all her food had to be covered, plus we were correcting a lot of the times.. sometimes every two hours she was needing an injection :( The pump is excellent for this.. we have a site change every 3 days.. more if something happens.. and every once in a while the site will fail and we'll have to do an injection.. but over all the pump has been such a blessing!

glad his A1C is coming down:)

[Traci]

We were also on NPH/humalog and made the decision to start pumping recently. Our endo asked if we wanted to do Lantus, but my son is a grazer, so like yours, he would have needed many more shots a day. I had debated the idea for a long time because, like your son, mine is very active and has three siblings that are almost the same age so there's a lot of horsing around in our house. My son did not ever mind his shots and we had a good routine--even though we were stuck to a schedule.

All I can say is I wish I'd gone to the pump sooner! Life is soooooo much better for my son. He loves his pump and the freedom to just GO somewhere when we want without having to pack syringes, insulin, cold packs, etc. Yes, we tote test strips and a lancet, but we use a Cozmo with the meter attached, so that's one less thing to deal with. Ds has pulled out his site twice in the almost two months he's been pumping, but it was not bad either time. There was no blood and he did not even feel it. Honestly, our life is so much better on the pump--I love being able to give him a pinch of insuling to bring him down a little when he's not really "high" but higher than I'd like.

Good luck with your decision. I really think you'd love the pump though.

[Mik's Mom]

hi miss-

in response to your question- i want to start her on the pump NOW- her endo wants to wait- we just went through a divorce, and had a restraining order on dad and we are still not back home, as the kids are too afraid to go home. My daughter is under a lot of stress with nightmares etc- which is effecting her blood sugars greatly and her carb ratios and correction factor are changing all the time due to the stresses- so the endo said to add a new thing such as the pump could be one more stress and she just doesn't need the added stress right now- she is happy with the injections but is interested in the pump- so we will wait and see what her endo wants to do at our next appointment

For now i am focusing on keeping her numbers in an acceptable range, getting her counceling and hoping our courts system will do what is best for my kids-

Thanks for asking :)

Hugs all

~ Missy

[Heather(CA)]

Yeah, we have BTDT..not fun but it was necessary. One thing that our dr suggested for us when sam was fighting us on every injection was this: Instead of covering every single snack, which would be 3 extra shots, we raised his lantus and that way he was able to snack between meals and not recieve a shot. The downside is that he HAD to have the snacks! But remember, he was so young that he rarely turned down a snack.....he was dx at 15mo old and was such an eating machine! He is now on the pump and it is much better. At one point Sam was up to 8 shots a day..
a.m. lantus
breakfast:log
snack:log
lunch:log
snack:log
dinner:log
p.m. lantus (was a split dose)
10pm NPH (we did this becuae sam spiked everynight at 4am..the nph peak took care of this)

unfortunately sometimes more shots are called for.....it does suck though!

shannon

Very interesting...