Researching pumps...have question

[allisa]

Hi guys !

My son has appt. on Tuesday with endo and we are ready to talk about a pump ! My son is 8.....diagnosed almost 4 years ago....I waited for his deciison on wether to pump or inject...he has been fine & happy with injecting and his numbers & A1C have been in decent range. We do experience frequent lows at night, which I'd love to do without....and we'd ALL like a little more flexiblity with snack & shots....etc....

Anyways....my questions are regarding pump type and insurances....

First of all....do parents get a "say" on the pump they'd like ? Or do docs refer whatever brand they get kickbacks from ? Do most of your insurances cover the cost of the pump ? I know all insurances are differnt and I'll look into ours....but just curious how that works.

Also....I've seen some that say "intergrated Freestyle meter"....do they actually check your blood continously ? That would be so great....does anyone have one with meter on it ?

I've never heard a negative thing about the pump.....is everyone happy with it ?

Thanks !
Allisa

[wendyc]

Hi,

In regards to your pump questions:

First of all....do parents get a "say" on the pump they'd like ? Or do docs refer whatever brand they get kickbacks from ?
Our endo gave us a list of the 3 that they thought would best meet our needs. From there, they allowed us to make the final decision.



Also....I've seen some that say "intergrated Freestyle meter"....do they actually check your blood continously ? That would be so great....does anyone have one with meter on it ?
We use the Animas 1250 which doesn't have a meter integrated. So, I can't help you on this.

Do most of your insurances cover the cost of the pump ?
Most do, some cover only 1/2 others 100%. We were lucky, our insurance covers the pump and supplies 100% You can ask the pump companies to help you find out from your insurance what is and isn't covered. They are incredibly helpful.

We are very happy with our daughters pump. It has given her an incredible amount of freedom. We've had some hiccups, there are days when she doesn't want a set change, but the positives outnumber the negatives:)

[jvoyles]

Hi Allisa

With us, the choice of which company's pump to go with was completely our choice. I don't believe our doctor gets any money whatever our choice. She did have opinions about the responsiveness of the various companies, and the perceived reliability of the different pumps, but the choice was totally ours.

Our insurance covered the pump but required us to get it through a medical supply company instead of the pump company. Why? I don't really know. But it worked out well for us and we get all the pump supplies from them still. The medical supply company (Edgepark) coordinated everything with the insurance company. It was covered as medical supplies which is 80% for a lot of plans but only 60% on ours. And now, 4 years later, we are needing to get a new pump since they are only warranted for 4 years. So we are looking at paying 40% again.

Besides choosing which pump, you will need to choose which type of infusion sets and the length of tubing you prefer.

As for the integrated freestyle meter, this is where you test your blood on the meter that is wirelessly, electronically linked to the pump. The meter can send to the pump what the reading is and the pump can be pre-programmed with a correction bolus calculation and suggest a correction bolus amount to you. This is not a continuous process, just a regular blood test.

The Minimed newest pump does have a continuous sensor that is linked to the pump. This means 2 sites, though, one to measure the blood sugars and one to give insulin.

The 4 bad things about the pump that I can think of are: 1. Since you are only using short acting insulin, DKA is a greater risk. Suppose your child goes to bed with a blood sugar of 135 and shortly after she goes to sleep, she pulls the site out in her sleep. 8 hours later she wakes up and tests. She will be very high after having no insulin since bedtime. 2. It is one more variable in the quest to figure out what went wrong. The sites usually last 3-4 days. But sometimes only 2 days. When blood sugars are unexpectantly high, is it the site? the dose? 3. The cost of the infusion sets and reservoirs is more expensive than shots for sure. 4. You will test more often with the pump than with shots. Because you can do so much more with the pump, you test more to make it work for you.

Also, the first night when my daughter went to bed with the pump, she said ok, take it off. But it stays attached, always. I said keep it on tonight and see how it goes and she never mentioned it again. Now it's kind of like your purse or cell phone. If you don't have it, you miss it and don't feel quite right without it.

The pump has been the best thing for my daughter. We went from NPH and Humalog, to Lantus and Humalog, to the pump in the first 9 months. It was only after the pump that I felt my daughter was healthy. She lost the circles under her eyes and got back her energy. We were finally able to put together some really good numbers and knock her A1C down below 8.0 and it now runs below 7.0.

Jana

[zimbie45]

HI
ok.. when we did it, i talked to the nurses that deal with this more often, and she told me the 3 main ones... minimed, animas and cozmo,.. we got final say.... she adv me that when i came to the summer camps that out here in arizona that all donated supplies for the campers but minimed...??? not sure why.. but we want charlzie to go to the camps when she is old enough, and i am all about supporting your community... BUt ultimitly we chose the animas because it is truly waterproof and i think for a kid that is a hugh thing.... you never knwo what will happen with kids, ( better be safe than sorry)...

As far as cost.. look what your durable medical is, then also call your insurance your self... ours durable medical is 90/10 coverage, and we had to pay $480.. but later found out that my insuracne covered it 100% adn we got reimbursed for it.. ( WOO HOO)..

so far no real complaints here...we never had to get up in the middle of t e night befor adn we have to 2x now.. ( hopefuilly NOT FOR LONG).. but charlzie a1c went from 8.04 to 7.5 that was just in 2 montsh of being on it..

hope this helps:)

[susan]

I have a question about the pump. I talk to someone recently that said her granddaughter who is 11 cries everytime they change the injection site because it hurts so bad. I wanted to get my son on the pump but not if it is that painful. Can anyone tell me if their children say it's more painful than the shots?

susan

[zimbie45]

try this, hope this helps..

http://www.diabetesnet.com/diabetes_...ump_models.php

[Ben'sMommy]

All I can say is that the pump has been wonderful for us.
My son Ben is 2 and a half years old and has been pumping since he was 14 months old.
I've worn the pump and it isn't painful at all.
It has changed our lives beyond belief and we would never go back to MDI.

[zimbie45]

http://www.diabetesnet.com/diabetes_...ump_models.php

ok the last one didnt work.. try this

[selketine]

Susan,

A site change should NOT be that painful. I guess I'd have to wonder whether her granddaughter actually cried every time because you'd think that at 11 yrs old she would refuse to pump if she was that miserable. (I'm just thinking of my own mother-in-law who often feels such sadness as seeing something like a site change for William that any discomfort he has seems 100x worse to her than it is for him I think). At times William has complained that it hurt (we change it every 2 days) but that isn't typical. He has almost never cried about it.

William (he is 4 now) has been on the pump since he was 2 yrs old and site changes are not a huge deal for him. We use EMLA cream to numb the site and usually he says he can't feel it.

I suggest that if you are considering a pump and the site change issues is a worry that you contact some of the pump companies. They were very willing to come out to our house to demonstrate their pump and also the infusion sets. I tried out MANY types of sets on myself before putting them on William (without the emla cream of course) just to get an idea of what it is like. I had to get a prescription from the William's pedi endo to actually wear a pump on myself (using saline) - not sure if you need any kind of script to just get the infusion sets. Check with your dr. about that.


I have a question about the pump. I talk to someone recently that said her granddaughter who is 11 cries everytime they change the injection site because it hurts so bad. I wanted to get my son on the pump but not if it is that painful. Can anyone tell me if their children say it's more painful than the shots?

susan

[game2fun]

Morning,
I think everyone has a unique experience when it comes to the pump. I'm really suprised at how different the doctors can be in regards to D and pumping. In our experience our endo. wouldn't recommend a particular brand. She wanted us to do our own research and make our own decision. And to be honest, I felt picking the pump was one of the hardest decisions. So afraid I would choose the wrong one for us or miss some crucial factor,,,,. But after much checking and researching we chose our pump. And luckily for us the insurance covered it 100%.
The only company close to having a closed loop system is Minimed. The FDA just approved their continous glucose monitoring system. So there would be 2 sites on the body, one that reads the blood glucose levels and one site that give the insulin. But I bet other companies are close behind. This is a very exciting time for us. The improved technology and competition just makes it better for those of us needing it.
The Freestyle Meter I believe (could be wrong) goes w/the Cozmo pump. The glucose meter can hook onto the pump but you still need to test the sugar manually (finger stick) but the pump can read directly from the meter w/o manually entering the glucose number. MM has something similar w/ the BD meter. The pump can read the numbers directly from the meter, no manual input needed. Although we still use our One Touch and I just manually put in the bg number. Not a big deal at all.
We love ours. I wouldn't go back to MDI's. So much more freedom and ability to actually keep her numbers w/in range. Much easier for us then we had on lantus/log. And we use a numbing cream for all site changes. At first the site changes were difficult, she was squirmy, but now we've got a nice routine worked out and it is a fairly smooth process.
I wish you luck. I haven't heard anyone really complain about their pump. And it seems like most are pretty brand loyal, just like w/ our glucose meters. Best of luck!

[allisa]

Thank you all so much for advice and input..it is a ery alrge decision, I don't think he'd do it until summer....I know they want to switch him to Lnatus first and re-do all the carb "learning"...but I hope in the next few months he is on hte pump.....thanks again....and anymore advice is ALWAYS appreciated !
Allisa

[wendyc]

Hi,
Yes, it would be good to be doing MDI (Lantus/Novolog) and carb counting. We were told this was "pumping without the pump" because you are giving shots (with a pump you Bolus). It's a great way to get the hang of things, even though the shots are a pain!

[jvoyles]

my daughter rarely complains of pain. We have never used numbing cream. She has used ice 3 or 4 times to numb the site when she just "felt" like it was going to hurt. (Psychic I guess) She has done her own sites since she was 9. I usually prepare the reservoir and prime the pump and give it to her and she just does it then I clean up the trash and put everything away. Probably only takes a couple of minutes altogether with her part taking about 10 seconds.