Limitations...

As much as Joe likes being free of the "leash", he has, at times, verbalized the pros of the Ping and the cons of the POD.  He continues to state that he prefers the POD.  However, his frustrations with the switch to the Omnipod have not gone unnoticed by me.  In particular the adhesion issues, the POD failures, and thus subsequently the added site changes.

My Dear Joe.. He rarely complains about the diabetes aspect of his life.  I'm not sure if he thought the POD would make it more like he did not have diabetes.  Granted it looks like "less" of a big deal than the tubing-ed pumps to an outsider, but "it", the POD, doesn't really take away the day~in~the~life of managing diabetes.  I think Joe is starting to recognize that.  It is difficult to watch.

A couple of evenings ago...after dinner time...

"I don't want to do a site change now ... can't you just do it at 4am?" Tears were pooling in his medial canthi.  I could hear the emotion in his voice. (Btw this is very, very, very uncharacteristic of Joe when it comes to site changes)

The POD would be expiring at 4am.  Apparently, Joe wanted me to just pop-up and change it at 4am.  He wanted to procrastinate on the POD change.  He was as close to begging, as one could be...without actually begging.

I held firm.

I explained that waiting 'til 4am wasn't a sound plan.

He rallied a bit.  We changed the POD.  He winced with the insertion.  Tears slid down his cheeks in pain? frustration?  defeat?  I'm not sure which emotion the tears originated from.

Then Joe reached for me, for an embrace.  He was silent as we hugged.

"I think Joe...I think what you are finding out...what we are figuring out...is that there is no perfect pump for managing diabetes.  No matter what pump you use, you still have the diabetes and all that comes with it...the site changes...you still have accessories in the form of bands or pump packs...you still have to check blood sugars ... count carbs ... bolus...you still experience the highs and the lows.  The technology doesn't take away the disease.  It's still there."

Joe nodded, his head still nestled into my neck.

A day~in~the~life of recognizing the limitations of technology.  It is not a CURE.

One Third (It's a BIG "Hunk")

In response to "Overkill or Good Diabetes Parenting?"

Store hours?  I wish.

I wish that diabetes management had like store hours or something.  Like maybe Joe's beta cells could "magically" come back to life from 9pm to like 8am.  Ya know?  Like every night Joe's glucometer and insulin pump and CGM could put up a "CLOSED" sign.

Yea...right...

What is 8/24?

I believe it is one third.

I believe it is one third of our 24 hour day.

If it is one third of our day~in~the~life of living with diabetes, guess what?  It is one third of our A1C.  I guess I shouldn't say "our"...it is one third of my child's A1C.  One third is a big hunk of my child's well being.

I am not going to be wishy-washy here.  I am not going to say do what works for you and your family.  I am not going to.   I am going to say that I think night checks are part of managing diabetes.  I don't do night checks solely out of fear of lows and out of fear of the dreadfully named "Dead In Bed Syndrome".  I also do them for trending blood sugars and adjusting basals accordingly.  And.  I do them for correcting highs as well.

It is a third of one's A1C  during a chunk of time that would normally have "predictable activity" (sleeping), with "predictable carbohydrate intake" (not eating, because sleeping), and with, for the most part, a "predictable amount of insulin" (no carb intake, because not eating, because sleeping) on board.

Our nightly routine here is:

Dave checks Joe's blood sugar @ 11pm (the following assumes no IOB and no CGM):

• If Joe's blood sugar is less than 70, we treat by using the rule of 15s.
• If Joe's blood sugar is 71-100, we give 8 grams of CHO
• If Joe's blood sugar is 100-250, we do nothing.
• If Joe's blood sugar is greater than 250, we correct and then set an alarm to check Joe's blood sugar in 2 hours.

Dave or I checks Joe's blood sugar between 2am and 3am:  We use the same actions as written above.

A day~in~the~life of managing my son, Joe's, blood sugar at night.

Laundry Detergent Aisle, Pet Store, Party City?

Last evening...

As the Schnauzer Party continued...with the post dinner~leash~tangling~excrement~depositing~and streaming~and~spritzling stroll around the 'hood.



I spared you the "depositing, streaming, and spritzling"

Me to Dave:  "The instant feedback from the DOC is invaluable." (most recently in reference to pumping insulin with the Omnipod)

As many of you know, we were having adhesion issues with the PODs.  The solution to date seems to be Skin Tac (Penny)  and a Band4Life (Marla...Thanks!).  Joe's PODs were falling off in the pool with Skin Tac alone.  I believe the "Band" helps keep the edges of the dressing down and prevents water seepage into and under the dressing.



Joe's Band4Life ~ The Orange Lightning (on his arm)

 

 

Onto all the other awesome Omnipod tips.  Now, I am not a doctor nor have I trialed all of these tips, but I am gobsmacked by the nuances of PODding.  Shopping in Laundry Detergent aisles, at Pet Stores, and at Party City for POD accessories has been recommended:

*....not sure if you're doing this already but I was told, when filling PODS, to leave Pod in tray and always, when filling PODS, to keep it on the right side of the PDM, with tray touching PDM.

 

* Also, (and I made a comment on your blog) PODS need to be filled to at least the 100 mark (NO LESS) or they'll fail.

 

*Hey there! Yes, I just put a sheet of bounce in the box with the pods. I read it somewhere else and figure it can't hurt. I have heard of some wiping the pod down with the bounce sheet, but I don't do that. I have sprayed her with anti static spray prior to a bounce house, but really we had NO problem at a bounce-y house and she is a crazy girl at those places. I think our static issue happened when she went down the slide and she also happened to be wearing a sweater dress that I had not washed before. (I always wash our clothes with downy fabric softener so that helps too.) I assume Joe won't be wearing any sweater dresses. (NikDuck)

 

*Ahhh, the joys of an active, podding, 10-year-old boy! I know them well! We often wrap Jack's pod with coban or "vet wrap." We buy it at PetSmart, because it's significantly cheaper there, and it's the same stuff they sell at pharmacies. Vet wrap comes in cool colors too: red, blue, black, purple. It works really well at keeping the pod adhered. Someone else told me to try spirit gum. Apparently, costumers use it to keep costume parts in place. I bought some at Party City, but haven't tried it yet. We've tried SkinTac, but it doesn't do much for Jack. The pods still fall off. The coban/vet wrap seems to do the trick, and Jack doesn't mind wearing it at all. Hope this helps! xo ~ (Heidi)

 

*In a pinch depending on how much insulin is in the pod you can suck it back out. I've done it a few times when a pod has failed right off the bat! It's against the rules of course...but I can be done! XO loves! (I'll leave this one Anon)

 

*Hang in there Reyna. We have pod "moments" too.  FYI. Apidra is only approved for 2 days in the omnipod...your script should be for a every 2 day change. Ours do fine with 3 days.  XO (Sara)

 

*About getting them to stay on in water: we had a big problem with pods falling off in salt water (not so much in pools), despite using Skin Tac before putting them on. We tried slapping on waterproof Tagaderm, but still no luck.  What finally helped was using the Skin Tac before, and then using another Skin Tac pad to soak the pod’s adhesive bandage afterwards so that it was soaked with Skin Tac and couldn’t take up water. Added strips of waterproof Tagaderm on top, and it stayed through 3 days at the beach. ~ (Kristin)

 

A day~in~the~life of gratitude for the DOC.  Thanks guys for helping Joe and I figure this PODding business out.  I am still not sure if I like it better than the Animas Ping.  Joe does though.  I guess, in the end, that is what counts.