Introduction

[game2fun]

Hi all,
I thought I would take this chance to introduce myself. I feel kind of funny responding to posts when I've never actually said hello to everyone!
My name is Elissa. My daughter, Evelyn, was dx'd a year ago Feb and she's now 3 yrs old and doing great. Ummm, she started on NPH and Humolog, moved to lantus after 3 wks cause that NPH was archaic to us, just too hard to make a toddler eat when the insulin required her to and it was tough to deny her food when she wanted it but the insulin didn't. And then after our first summer we started on the pump which we've been on since the end of Sept (8 months now, man did that fly by). We LOVE the pump! My favorite feature is the temporary basal. Love it for sick days, lots of activity days, pizza dinners,,,,,. Evelyn will be starting pre-school this fall. I'm sure I'll be a wreck when that time comes but I'm not crossing that bridge till it gets here. She's w/ me 24/7 right now and has been since before being dx'd. I have an older daughter also (Elsie) who is 4 yrs old and does not have diabetes. But she's a great help w/ all the d care. Can't think of anything else. Just wanted to introduce myself and say hi. I hope to get to know you all a bit better as we muddle thru this crazy D thing.
Happy Mothers Day to all,

[Ben'sMommy]

Hi Elissa,
Glad you found us.
My son Ben was 2 in December. He was dx'd aged 7 months and began pumping at 14 months.
I'm also having panic attacks every time I think about Ben starting school though it won't be for another while. He is never away from me and I don't know how I will be able to hand him over to anybody else!
I'm glad Evelyn is doing well. Isn't the pump fantastic!?!

This place has been great for me and I hope you find it just as informative.

Best of luck and nice to meet you!!!

Carol.

[game2fun]

Yes Carol, we love the pump. I just can't get over what a difference it has made for us. It's funny, before pumping (but while on lantus/log) I heard from all these other parents about how awesome the pump was and that their children were in range 80% of the time,,,, and on lantus we were maybe w/in range 50% of the time. We always went to bed high cause Evelyn would drop so much in the night in order to not go low we needed to start the night out high. Well, since pumping we realized Evelyn has very little need for insulin between 2-3am, so even though lantus was flat Evelyn isn't so she'd drop every night. Now w/ the pump we can customize her basals to match what her body needs and she can literally go to bed at 112 and wake up at 118!! WOW!! Of course, then 2 wks later we hit a growth spurt, or a cold, or warmer weather w/ more active days and I'm testing her 4 x's a night and tweaking those basals. But heck, I'll be doing this till she moves out in ohhh 15 years, LOL. But yes, the pump has made such a big difference w/ us. To be able to graze and eat something and an hour later decide you want more,,,, to pre-dose for her milk before eating and then waiting to post dose for anything else she eats. That has really helped w/ our numbers. We can't count on her eating everything so we usually dose her after she's done. But there are certain things that we know she will finish so we can dose her up front for that. Big difference in her numbers.
Anyways, I won't ramble on and on. It's a rainy cold day here in MA so between referring a 3 yr old and a 4 yr old I'm hopping on line! thanks for the quick note Carol.

[zimbie45]

Welcome to the group

hope you get as much out of this as we all do.. its always good to have more parents adn more experiances.. :)... Also i was a wreck when charlize started preschool last year.. to be honest.. most of them snubed there nose at us.. but i found one that has been a saint and the best... it will all work out

:p

[hold48398]

Hi Elissa!

Welcome and happy mother's day to you, too!! Mia was diagnosed a year and a half ago. We are just about to go onto the pump now (live on Tuesday...yay!!!). We are very excited about the pump!!

Thanks for the nice intro and enjoy tomorrow.

[game2fun]

Marissa,
We have children about the same age. Elsie was born 8/16/01 (non diabetic) and then I had Evelyn on 5/2/03 and she was dx'd on 2/26/05.

And good luck w/ the pumping! I just read your whole experience to date. Very exciting. We use the Minimed and started out w/ the silhouettes (angled set) and we inserted them manually as well. And then after we had that down we tried the Quick Sets which are straight in and we use the insertion device. These are easier to insert, but they do live an unsightly bump on her tushie, I'm sure it'll be very obvious come summer. Oh well, small price to pay for the convenience of the pump. Oh, and we use numbing cream also. Personally I would recommend it. These kids are so small and go thru so much if I can offer anything to ease their discomfort (be it mentally or physically) I'll do it. And if she becomes dependent on it, so what, she's dependent on the pump and insulin so what's one more, lol. As she grows up I'm sure she'll do the changes w/o it. But at the tender age of 3, I'll give her the numbing cream. I do realize though everyone has to do whatever is best for their child. No one style works for everyone, just as no one pump covers everyones needs. That's why we have choices, Thank God!

Good luck w/ pumping.

And thanks everyone for the welcome. Happy Mothers Day to everyone!

[EmmasMom]

Hi Elissa, It sounds like we started out about the same, my daughter Emma was on NPH for about 2 months when I told the endo we HAD to find something better. We used Lantus for about 2.5 months, then started pumping. She was 9 months old when she was dx'd, so insulin dosing was a complete nightmare, and eating on a "meal plan" was a joke. Pumping changed our lives!!

Welcome and Happy Mothers Day!