Untethered is great!!!

Loving it!

we are still working on before activity carbs. It does take a bit more thought, but she is liking haveing un-covered carbs to deal with the constant Basal.

I still have not figured out nights. we have had more that a few nights of hovering low, and more than a few of spiking but coming down. I think fat/protein spike are more evident without that variable basal.

Of course the weather here has really warmed up. they have been in bathing suits for hours today already! So that is a big factor.

But overall, she has been much smoother, I do not download the CGM but if I did I bet you the standard deviation would be cut in half! no real issue with school, because she is hooking up and unhooking herself, which gives her a smidge more responsibility even if it is benign.

I am happy and she is too, literally doing cartwheels because she can without the fear of the pump falling out.

 

What does it mean going untethered?

 

When you are on a pump but you only hook up to bolus.

 

Congrats !!!!

 

We are giving a shot of Lantus for basal and doing a pump site every 3 days, but we only hook her up to bolus, being able to still get precise bolusing and utilize the pump for IOB.

I am loving it, even with some trouble with getting used to a shot, since she has been on the pump since 18months and does not remember "shots".

it was her choice and we felt we needed to try it for her.

 

So just to clarify, her pump lives with her meter, and after we test we hook her up and bolus and then dis-connect again until next time. so at school her pump is at the nurses office and at home it is in her D kit, not attached to her 24/7.

 

I've been seeing a lot about going untethered lately. I'm confused about how it is that different from MDI? Just that u don't have to draw up and give shots? When my DD was DC, people kept asking if we were going to get her on a pump like it's the greatest thing ever. But now when I see so many either going untethered or getting off it, I am thinking about waiting on looking into a pump until she is old enough to ask for one herself. Just wondering why instead of untethered, you don't just bolus with injections?

 

because my dd would not be able to stand 6-8 shots a day, she really does not remember MDI and can stand the 1 shot of Lantus and a Site every 3 days but would not be able to do MDI, and she only has a RN at her school 2 days a week with a clinical aide there the rest of the time that is not authorized to give shots.

Going untethered we are able to enjoy both worlds, the precise bolusing that calculated IOB and ISF for every BG taken and bolus given.

 

My 2 cents here. As a long time T1 many people/kids can manage with a shot or two shots of long acting insulin and using the pump for bolus doses-i.e. meals and corrections. Some of us need to use both a pump and a shot of long acting insulin to be able to disconnect for a few hours or to help even out site location issues/or bubbles in the tubing nd issues with insulin absorption. Some of us can do really well with pumping alone. Some of us can do really well with MDI and either simple use of insulins and shots or more complex use of insulins and shots. But as I am sure you can tell it really helps with T1 to think outside the box and to be ready to change the way you do things ever so often...if one way worked at age 5 it may not at 10, or 20, or 30, or 40 etc. or it may Even for me a T1 for over 40 years, getting stuck in one way of thinking is a constant battle I fight. ali

 

So glad it's working well for you! We've thought about trying unthethered, but my daughter's basals vary so widely I don't think it will work for us. Instead we've been using omnipod in the summer/for swimming for the last couple years.

 

We love the pump, however, having options is so great. Will has gone untethered, switched to shots and fully pumps when he wants. The one thing he knows he must have and can't ever change is the need for insulin. How he gets it has become his choice which makes this disease a little bit easier to handle since he can "control" the administration of insulin.

So glad untethered is working for you! As we head into summer I'm sure we are in for a change in insulin delivery once again. He's pumping at the moment.

 

So to explain it to me more in layman's terms...untethered is like part time pumping?

 

It means that you hook up to dose for meals, but don't wear it otherwise. You take a shot of Lantus for your basal.

 

So the pump is on, but your not wearing the tubing unless your dosing? Is there research showing one way or the other works better?

 

No, you don't have to wear the pump at all when you're not dosing. You just keep the infusion set on.

 

No. You only put the pump on to eat or to correct.

I'm sure there's little to no research on untethered. I wouldn't worry about it at this point. If Daniel wants to pump, learn how to pump, and later on you can experiment with untethered if you want to.

 

Awesome. We find going unteathered is the best of both worlds.

 

We made the choice for Alex to go untethered right from the beginning nearly 2 years ago. I can't tell you how much we love it! She hates being hooked up to a pump all the time, but we do it for school and I give her a little extra insulin as basal during the day (because she always tends to underbolus for food at school).

So glad it is working out for you, too!

 

Pretty much.

Here's what we do for the summers because 90% of it is spent in the water and at the beach.

AM shot of Levimere
Plug in for correcting bg's or dosing for food

Because the Levimere doesn't give us enough coverage all day (breaking up into 2 shots didn't give us enough either) we put the pump on at bedtime and she gets a small amount of basal to carry through the night and have a respectable number in the morning.

This regimen worked fantastic for us.

 

Untethered..... I had never heard of it before. Sounds great! Why the doctors don't offer this as another option?