The Pump Part 2

Okay. We've seen it - now I'm really excited about the pump. We're still a ways from figuring out if it's the best thing for Benny, but our visit to the Carolinas Diabetes Center yesterday went really well. Our diabetes educator is Linnet and I adore her. She has two sons with Type I Diabetes - they were both diagnosed as toddlers and are now in college. She knows what we're going through. Linnet had different model pumps right there for us to touch, press the buttons, etc. Benny picked up the one we had decided on and somehow got it to make music. He loved that. Apparently, these pumps all have beeping alerts for low battery, etc and you can set this one to music, sort of like downloading a ringtone. Not surprised my two year old figured out how that worked before we did! We've decided on the Animas pump, but there are pros and cons for every model. In addition to the pump, you also have to choose an infusion set. That's the thin, flexible tubing which ends up under the skin. Basically, a needle goes in under the skin, then comes out, leaving a thin cannula behind. What's left above the skin looks like a dime-sized nicotine patch with a bump and you attach the tubing to that. The insulin goes from the pump (worn like a pager on your belt) through the tubing and under your skin. You change that set every three days or so. There are several different kinds of infusion sets, some with fancy applicators, some with longer needles. We decided on one that uses a purple applicator - it looks like a child's stamper - and tried it out on Benny. I made Slade do it - I was worried it would really hurt and I wanted to be the good guy if it did. Benny reacted just like he does to a shot - no big deal. He's such a tough little guy. I was so excited and relieved. We decided to leave the little patch on his body, to see if it bothered him at all. It's also to see if it comes off as he runs around or sweats (it shouldn't). My five year old daughter wanted to check it out and she thought it was pretty cool. Other than that, we didn't point it out at all and he did great. Took a bath, slept fine. Didn't seem to notice it at all. We'll have to take it out in three days - we're traveling to New York to see my parents tomorrow and I want my mom and dad to see the site before we remove it. Next step? We actually order the pump and the infusion sets. It will probably be about a month before we start pumping. You spend a week without real insulin in the system - they use saline just to see how well Benny tolerates wearing the thing. So maybe by July 4th we'll be on the real deal.