How stressful was it when your child started pumping??

[nanhsot]

Originally Posted by KylesMom

Thanks for the replies. We have our 3 month endo appt. on Monday so I will talk with him about it, and I will schedule the pump start then too. I may not have a choice anyway based on their schedule so we will see. I was hoping it would work so that we could start him before the summer ends and get the doses settled before school starts. Its hard to say how long it will take for him I guess though. I just think starting it during the same week he starts at a new school is not a good idea, if thats the way it will work out. But I can't wait to start and Kyle is still very excited about it after doing the saline trial...I don't want his enthusiasm to wear off!

Due to football schedules I delayed pump start and it ended up being during Christmas break, I know that's a long way off but I was glad he had a more relaxed schedule during the learning curve time.

Good luck! I agree with you that starting school and pump start together is probably not the best idea. If you don't already have the process started and insurance approval and all that I highly doubt you'll get started before Labor Day, it took a little hoop jumping for us, but that's not always the case. We had the pump for a few months before he started (again, due to football) so I would definitely start the process even if you're going to wait a while.

[quiltinmom]

Originally Posted by KylesMom

We have been going through the process of getting a pump for Kyle this summer. I was surprised when he told me he was ready to try it because he has not wanted anything to do with the pump up until this summer. He attended a diabetes camp and saw how much easier it was for the kids that were pumping. We did the saline trial last week and he thinks he will really like it (so do I!) We are going with the Medtronic. They just looked up our insurance coverage and now we are waiting for his Dr. to sign the order.

I am concerned about the timing of starting. Kyle starts middle school this year (which he is nervous about) and his sister is leaving for college for the first time in a couple of weeks, so lots of changes already going on. I realize this varies but I am just wondering how stressful you found the transition to pumping to be for you and your child. I don't want to throw too much change at him at once and completely overwhelm him, especially with him starting middle school. Because of this I am considering waiting until he is settled in school to actually start. (he doesn't start school until after labor day though). And I guess there is no "perfect" time to start...life is always a little crazy! Just wondering what you found the first couple of months to be like. I have read on here that it can be very difficult for a while. I know experiences vary, I would just like to hear some experiences to help us decide what we feel would be best. Thanks!!

We started pumping right near the end of school year. The transition was really smooth for us. Our CDE did a great job figuring basals, and he doesn't have much fluctuation in basals during the day, so it went really well for us.

I thought it would be easier to wait until school was over to start pumping, so if anything went wrong or he had lots of lows or highs it wouldn't interrupt school. I think starting pumping before school starts (if you can) would be a good idea, just so you can both get used to it before school. But if you think waiting until you are all settled into the new school schedule is better, that will probably work just fine. There's no wrong answer here. Ask your son wht he wants to do. Work it out with him.

Good luck! I think you'll really like pumping.

[MomofSweetOne]

I would start the pump while he's home rather than in school. Doses don't transfer over easily from MDI. My daughter ran high enough she was so dizzy she just laid on the floor until I called early to ask for different basal rates. Then her insulin needs dropped for the next two weeks. She wasn't allowed to exercise for the first week, and when she was allowed on her scooter again, she tanked into the 50s within 20 minutes, day after day. The lows came faster and with more severe symptoms than they did with MDI.

Now we wouldn't go back, but I didn't like the thing at all for the first week or so. I think having her away from me would have increased the stress of the adjustment astronomically.