Do you wish you'd started pumping at dx?

[virgo39]

I'm curious.

I've been reviewing DD's records from dx last November (actually more than "reviewing" -- I am obsessively-compulsively manually entering the data into the CoPilot software so it's all in one place).

OMG. I sooooo wish we had left the hospital with a pump ... any pump ...

I see these insanely high numbers, including crazy high overnight numbers that took two weeks to bring down into anything approaching a desirable range. I see crazy BGs that were exacerbated by treating a low of 66 with 15 g. of juice , giving uncovered snacks when she was high, not doing any nighttime corrections, doing our "bedtime" BG check less than an hour after dinner, I could go on and on about the totally lame things we did those first few weeks.

I can't help but think that we could have done so much more for her had we started pumping right away. I wonder if we would have had a smoother "honeymoon"?

The dx was such a game-changer for us, I'm not sure learning how to operate a pump would have been any more difficult than any of the other adjustments we had to make.

[wilf]

What you're seeing from those first weeks are the normal mistakes that people starting out on the path of D management make. With better training at the time, you'd have made less mistakes.

I don't see how a pump would have made any difference, except of course for the additional training that's given for pumpers..

[Beach bum]

Originally Posted by wilf

What you're seeing from those first weeks are the normal mistakes that people starting out on the path of D management make. With better training at the time, you'd have made less mistakes.

I don't see how a pump would have made any difference, except of course for the additional training that's given for pumpers..

I have to agree, that this is how it was for us. Definitely learned from our mistakes! Possibly even having to go through all the pump training, just the usual d stuff and life in general might have been to much for us.

Kudos for those who do it right out of the gate (whatever your reasons may be).

[Sarah Maddie's Mom]

No, I don't. I think the whole attachment thing would have been difficult for us to deal with at dx.

[Seans Mom]

I most definitely do wish he had been put on one at dx. I even asked about it while he was still there and we had gotten the JDRF care bag with info about pumps, but was told he most likely wouldn't be able to have one till he was 10 yrs. old or so because being so young (3) he would just pull it out.
I was (and still am) willing to learn all I needed to take the very best care of my son, so I'd have put my all into the pump and shots if I had been given the option at dx. I don't think him being tethered to a pump would have been any more or less traumatic than the dx and giving injections were.

Do I think the pump would have made the first few months easier? Oh yeah, drawing up 1/4 units in a 1/2 unit marked syringe was not easy and anything less, I had no idea if he was even getting anything so adjustments that could have been made easily with the pump weren't much of an option. The overnight rollercoaster was alleviated with variable basal rates that Lantus just couldn't do.

[nanhsot]

Originally Posted by virgo39

I'm curious.

I've been reviewing DD's records from dx last November (actually more than "reviewing" -- I am obsessively-compulsively manually entering the data into the CoPilot software so it's all in one place).

OMG. I sooooo wish we had left the hospital with a pump ... any pump ...

I see these insanely high numbers, including crazy high overnight numbers that took two weeks to bring down into anything approaching a desirable range. I see crazy BGs that were exacerbated by treating a low of 66 with 15 g. of juice , giving uncovered snacks when she was high, not doing any nighttime corrections, doing our "bedtime" BG check less than an hour after dinner, I could go on and on about the totally lame things we did those first few weeks.

I can't help but think that we could have done so much more for her had we started pumping right away. I wonder if we would have had a smoother "honeymoon"?

The dx was such a game-changer for us, I'm not sure learning how to operate a pump would have been any more difficult than any of the other adjustments we had to make.

Oh my goodness no I do not! Those early days were filled with such overwhelming fear and stress and education, I can't even imagine adding in something like learning that type of technology into the mix. I didn't understand the difference between basal and bolus in those days, the thought of trying to balance a pump with the lack of understanding I had...nope.

My son has met all requirements for a pump but chose to wait until after football, he didn't want to mix learning about it while learning about how his body reacted to high level sports activities....I fully supported that and thought it a wise decision.

I will say that we didn't see the type of huge fluctuations you mention post diagnosis, I guess we were lucky that way. I immersed myself into diabetes education and thankfully found CWD early on, which helped a lot.

I also think it is important to know how to do MDI at least to some degree. I remember someone saying months ago that people should be required to do MDI for x number of years, I totally disagree with that, but I do think a basic knowledge of MDI is important as a fall back.

[BrokenPancreas]

Yes!!!! Yes!!! Yes!!!!

[kimmcannally]

YES! I think if Jackson had been introduced to the pump originally instead of shots, it would have been a much smoother transition. He did fine with shots because he "had to". But he wanted a pump. We got one but he didn't "have to" use it. So it's been more difficult than it needed to be, IMO. He likes pumping and doesn't want to go back to shots, but if he had started out pumping, he wouldn't have known any other way. In his case, it would have been better.

I asked about pumping at dx, but they said we had to wait because of insurance. We didn't. but it still took 5 months to get started. Would have been so much easier to pump right off the bat.

I hated coming home and having to make sure he got 75 carbs per meal - it was hard to get that many a lot of times. Then there were the times he wanted more and couldn't have it. I know a sliding scale would have eliminated that, but so would a pump!

[StillMamamia]

Originally Posted by Sarah Maddie's Mom

No, I don't. I think the whole attachment thing would have been difficult for us to deal with at dx.

This is EXACTLY how I felt. My son was put on the pump a couple of days after dx and I've felt this way for a long time.

[mathcat]

Absolutely Yes!

I much would have preferred to start immediately on a pump. My son had a sliding scale and we were taught to estimate using "carb" where one piece of bread is about one carb, etc. The estimating drove me crazy. I figured out his carb ratios on my own and figured out carb factors on my own within a couple of weeks of diagnosis. I would use my scale and calculator and then convert back to the "carbs" method for the logbook.

To have been able to be more precise, to not have to do a bedtime snack to prevent a slight night low due to a Lantus peak, to have been able to let my son eat at parties without an extra shot would have been wonderful. We still would have seen highs and lows. We still would have had the big learning curve that we all start with. But, the flexibility that a pump offers would have been great.


dx 8-30-04 at the age of 3, pump 3-29-05



Edited to add:
As much as I wish my son had been able to start on the pump immediately, I do agree that it depends on my factors such as the individual child and the parents. Just as I would never suggest that all should handle diabetes management exactly as we do, I would never suggest that all should start immediately on the pump as I wish my son had. I do believe though that it should be an option to those who seem ready and willing to learn.