Connected the pump with saline yesterday

[Jensmami]

:confused:So, we finally connected the pump with saline yesterday. Although my daughter was afraid of the insertion set (quick set), emla did the trick. She did her first dance class and first show last night with the pump being attached to her. This went well, she wears different dresses in the show and already wears a micbelt, and I was not sure how the pump would fit into that.

Jenny thinks the saline is very cold when it gets into her body, is this the same with insulin?

The set seams to bother her, she said that maybe 1/2 inch on the side of the insertion it hurts her a little, not major?!?!? We saw also a drop of blood in the middle of the set, where the needle went in and came out?????

Is this normal?

[Adinsmom]

I don't have any advice. But I wanted to offer a show of support for the pump start. :) Please let us know how everything goes.

[caspi]

Congrats on the pump start!!! :D I'll be following you closely as we're getting ready to start the pump process after our next endo appointment in November! ;)

[Abby-Dabby-Doo]

Yes, I've heard my daughter say that saline was cold. No on the insulin being cold, unless it came right out of the frig. That's a NO NO by the way (been there done that). ALWAYS put room temperature insulin in the reservoirs. You will have a champagne bubbly party in the tubing if you don't.
We occasionally see a drop of blood, not much though. Hopefully it doesn't happen very often. Can't give you advice on the insertion site hurting, unless it was done is a not so fatty area. My daughter has complained when I start working up to her stomach and there isn't much fat there. So we stay towards the rear.

[Tori's Mom]

We've never had that drop of blood with the quicksets. Tori did not mention the saline being cold during our trial.
The set should not hurt for very long after insertion. Tori says it hurts a short time(few minutes). Otherwise she rolls around on her site on the furniture, while wrestling with her brother, while sleeping etc and it never hurts her.

[Deannas mom]

We will be finished with our saline trial on Monday, Deanna starts on insulin Tuesday:eek: Im excited, scared, nervous, thrilled, excited..ohh waite I said that already:D
Deanna has not mentioned anything about being able to feel the saline at all. We have only had one site change that deanna said hurt. We had to remove it by the next morning. as soon as I removed it I saw why it was hurting her, the angle it was in was way off. (we use the silhouette) and so far we have never seen any blood in the set. We just got the groovy patches in the mail today, Deanna couldnt waite to put one on...

Well good luck with the saline start and up comming pump start!!

[Jensmami]

Good luck to you too for next Tuesday! What are the groove patches and where did you get them from - I'm sure my dd would love them too:D

[Jensmami]

Thanks everybody for your advice, so far so good. Jenny said this afternoon, that the set does not hurt anymore. Maybe she just had to get used to it. I'll see what she will say when she comes home tonight.

[Tori's Mom]

http://www.groovypatches.com/

They're a hit at our house!!

[Jensmami]

Thank you for the info, they look cool!!! Do you put them over the IV3000? Or directly on the skin?

[miss_behave]

Thank you for the info, they look cool!!! Do you put them over the IV3000? Or directly on the skin?

You put it over the Quick-Set adhesive when its disconnected, then you connect over it. Like this.

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c202/suga_junkie/pumpp006.jpg

[Jensmami]

You put it over the Quick-Set adhesive when its disconnected, then you connect over it. Like this.

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c202/suga_junkie/pumpp006.jpg

oh, is this instead of an iv3000, they told me to put that over the quick-set adhesive?

[Nana]

I don't use an iv3000 for my quick-set. It sticks just fine without any additional thing to cover it.

[hold48398]

Hi Caro!! I am so excited for you (for you to Barb!). I hooked myself up to saline before our pump start and I remember the saline feeling cool. I don't think insulin feels that way. Also we don't use EMLA anymore, so now the insertions sometimes sting a little for Mia and remain tender for a few minutes to an hour afterwards. Sometimes they don't hurt at all. I guess it all depends on the site location for her. We have not seen any blood after inserting but we once had a site kink and blood was filling the cannula and up the tubing...when we took it out, the cannula was actually C shaped and blood was spweing everywhere :(. Thankfully Mia didn't see any of it as it was on her bottom but just watch out for blood coming up into the tubing- that is a bad sign.

If Caro is already wearing a belt, you may want to get a pump pouch that you can loop right through it. This way, she doesnt have to wear another one. She will be able to dance, hop, jump and do whatever she wants to do with it :).

Good luck!!!!!!!!!

[hold48398]

Oh, and as far as the IV 3000 goes. We started with that but now have moved to using a solution called SKIN TAC (you can order it through Bruce Medical Supply online). It coats the skin with a tacky layer, which sticks fabulously well!!! This has eliminated all need for using another tape (such as IV 3000 or Tegaderm). Mia HATED any kind of tape. We now use just alcohol and Skin Tac, let it dry COMPLETELY, then insert the new site. That's it. To remove it, we use Unisolve. I actually got a whole bottle of it, so I literally pour the solution on the old site and soak it for a good couple of minutes..and the old site will just about lift off the skin - no tearing, ripping or stretching. I then clean the old site with water and washcloth and apply a nice big glob of Bacitracin/Neosporin. Done. :)
Btw, Mia can go swimming, take baths or shower without any dangers of the site lifting off- the Skin Tac stuff is like skin superglue!!!!

[miss_behave]

I don't use IV3000 or any extra tape. I'm lucky I guess, sites stick really well on me :) But if you put IV3000 over the Quick-set, then you can put the groovy patch over it

[Deannas mom]

I also looove the skin-tac its wonderful!!! we got a box of it with our supplies from Minimed. Deanna totaly loves the groovy patches...she cant waite till Tuesday. She is wearing one now over her set, but being that she is still only on saline, she didnt want to use one she really likes, we got 3 packs to start with. cats & dogs, retro, and sea..she has one of the sea ones on now, as she put it, its the lease of her favorite patches. We also dont put anything over the set. it sticks really well without and other tape, im going to have to get some of that stuff you mentioned Marisa. right now we are just baby oil to get the old set off.

anyway good luck on pump start!

[Jensmami]

Thank you guys for all the tips! I guess my credit card and I have to go on an online shopping spree:D