hi everyone.. my son Kaeden is 8 years old, type 1 diabetic for 2 years now.  he's been on MDI the whole time, levemir and novo-rapid are his insulins.  i feel that we have good control with the MDI's, but not excellent.... his a1c's are still higher than i'd like to see.

i would really, really love to see him go to a pump.  i feel that we'd get much tighter control out of a pump, especially if he also would use a CGM.  however, he is extremely resistant to the idea of either a pump or CGM.  he's scared, really.  i think he's worried about something always being attached to his body, and it weirds him out a bit.  intellectually, he knows and understands why these things would give us better control.... and he really hates it when his BG is out of range.  but he just won't go for it.

now, i firmly believe that it's his body, and his choice.  i would never force him to use on of these devices against his will.... but is there anything that i can say/do to help gently prod him in this direction?

This is really a great question.  I am not sure there is a 100% great answer for this.

When I was 21 or 22 yrs old I tried my first insulin pump.  I wanted it so bad.  I did all the research, I had everything all lined up, I had been waiting months for the appointment to finally go on the pump.  When everything was sad and done, and I walked out of the Drs office with my pump attached to me...  I felt handicapped for the first time with my diabetes.  I hated this pump on me.  And I quit pumping therapy within one day.

I wanted to let you know, that you can't plan for everything sometimes.  I wanted the pump, but at the same time I didn't.  Looking back it was a great learning experience.  Being scared of change is normal.

Well I don't know the magical words you can say, some offices you can go on a trail pump and use it for a few days to see if he it's not as bad as he thinks.  No insulin in the pump, they just show you how to wear it for a few days.

Lorraine one of our members here, might be a good person to ask.  Her son Caleb is on a pump and CGMS.  I know he didn't want a CGMS at first because he was scared too. 

I wish I could help more.  Sucha  touch question because like you said you don't want to force him, so the question really is... How to get Him to choose to go on the pump?  You know what might be good, is for him to talk and see kids that wear a pump.  I can't tell you how many families I know, where their son or daughter went to a Diabetes camp on MDI and saw all the kids with pumps.... when they got home all they wanted was a pump.  I know diabetes camp is costly.  My mother said she would have paid 1 Million dollars for it.  And back then 1 Million dollors was alot of money.  LOL

Keep Smiling,

Bill

thanks for the reply.  i never even thought about how he might feel "different" if he were hooked up to a pump, that is really something to think about. i'll have to ask him if that is an issue for him.  right now, i think his main concern is that it will hurt/feel weird being in his body 24/7.

i guess we just need to be patient, try to find him some diabetic friends (especially if they are pumpers!), and wait for him to come to his own decision.

i guess it's really hard for me to sit back and be patient, when i see all this cool technology that could really have a positive impact on his diabetes management.  i think the next time we go to the endo, we might request a few infusion sets, i'll wear one, see if he would agree to try one, to see how it feels.

again, thanks so much for the reply, it makes me feel so much better just knowing that there is a T1 community out there, where i can ask these questions.

Hi there! Lorraine here.

I agree that this is a tough situation and there is no easy answer.  Caleb starting pumping when he was 4 and it was only a few months after diagnosis.  It was a very different situation.  He was much younger and everything was new.  He was open to our lead but of course nervous.  For him, it was not a tough sell because it meant less shots and more freedom eating. We had a transition to get used to it, but we got through it.

I can relate more to your situation with our CGM decision, as Bill mentioned.  Different than pumping, CGM is more opttional.  We talked about it a lot.  It's hard to ask a six year old if he wants to wear something else that pokes him that will help manage his blood sugar when, to him, his blood sugars seem to be just fine.  There wasn't a lot of benefit to him - why would he say yes?  Over time though he agreed to try.  I always find any kind of change to be a hurdle.  But once you tackle the hurdle the first time, the unknown is gone and it's expoentially easier thereafter.  So we started it as a "trial" and I provided him a reward (really a bribe).  If Caleb could have something positive to relate to the change, something to look forward to, I was all for it.  Asking him to wear the CGM was not a small thing.  So although I don't bribe my kids as a rule, I made the exception here. 

I've heard other people suggest the trial approach.  I wish there was a clear answer with this one. 

If your son has any questions I can pose to Caleb, let me know.  I'm sure he would be happy to answer. 

Good luck!

just wanted to update.. it's been few months since we've really started seriously considering the pump.

since then, we had an Animas rep out to our house to show Kaeden and all of us the Animas Ping.  it was a great experience, we got to see it and push all the buttons and get our questions answered.. even Kaeden's silly ones!  (do you have to floss it's teeth before bed?!).  the most important thing is that we both got to try an infusion set.. i put one on first, and it really didn't hurt.  Kaeden was scared, but he agreed to try one too... and it didn't hurt him either!  then we both agreed to wear them to bed for the whole night, and we'd both take them off at breakfast in the morning.  it was awesome, we both quickly forgot they were even on!  so Kaeden has agreed to try a pump!!!  he still has some worries.. about whether it will feel "weird" when it's on 24/7, but it's a huge leap for him to agree to *try* it, so that's great.  we are putting together paper work and starting our pump training.   trying to decide between the Animas Ping and the Accu Chek Spirit Combo... which won't be available here in Canada for a few months.  the Omnipod looks great too (and i know that's what Caleb uses, so cool with no tubes!), but it won't be available for many months, maybe even next year, and i don't want to wait that long.

as for cgm, we are also waiting for the DexCom 7 Plus to be released here too.  but that's okay.. one thing at a time.. pump first, DexCom later!

so for us, the thing that tipped the balance was for him actually get his hands on the pump and try it for himself.  i sure hope that the transistion goes well, and that Kaeden agrees to stay on the pump.

I am glad he chose to try it out I have used pumps well for most of my DX'ed I got my first one at 14 it was great I now don't even remember it is there. My parents had to seel the pump too me to but knowing it was less pokes (well besides the finger pokes) it has changed my control greatly. I was most worried because I played soccer and I didn't know how I could wear my pump and play but I wore it with no issues I also have the CGM which has taken my control to the next level. My doctor can make changes to my basals and carb ratios based on my trends. I still count carbs religously but now I don't have to eat on schedule I can sleep in on the weekends and also feel more comfortable with my control. it still requires lots of work to keep up with a pump more so then MDI's but worth it. I hope he likes it and choses to stick with it. 

I think for adults, its simple. Pumps offer so much more flexability in schedules and so forth. Being as we are not as active as much as kids (with work and all) pumps are a no brainer. Kids however are a different story all together. School, activities, friends, social life......It all plays a roll. I didnt start pumping until 10/2003, so 20+ years on MDI didnt kill me. It probably had more issues than we were aware of at the time also. I think you should sit down and talk to him and see if you can get his point of view. If he thinks it will hurt (one of many usual objections) try to find videos on you tube and see if you can calm his fears.

You are totally correct about the control being better, but if he is a non willing participant, then the whole idea of better control goes out the window. If you (or he) has any questions, please feel free to ask or PM me. I will be glad to share my knowledge and experiences if it helps.

James

Err wait a sec......just read the update! lol. Well, still.....if you have anyquestions, I still offer my help. How is it going thus far?

a very Happy Update!

we have been pumping insulin with Kaeden for 2 days now!  all last week, we practiced with Saline, and then just yesterday, we got hooked up with insulin.  it was  a crazy first 24 hours.. highs and lows all over the place... but the last 12 hour or so have been pretty steady!  and i know it will get better and better as we adjust his basal and boluses to more accurately suit his needs.

i'm so excited!

I will give an example , my friend hes 7 years old he was on intesive therapy his A1C always was higher than 9.0 after he got the pump his A1C was 5.6 best result that an diabetic can have.

 I will give an example , my friend hes 7 years old he was on intesive therapy his A1C always was higher than 9.0 after he got the pump his A1C was 5.6 best result that an diabetic can have.