Oh Joy!!

Status
Not open for further replies.
Sally71

Sally71

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Parent
My daughter is coming up for pump renewal very soon, because of all the reported problems with the Roche Insight we were thinking of switching to Medtronic. But DSN has now informed me that because of all the problems with the Insight, Roche are going to carry on making Combos for a few years - so we're having another one ! :D :D :D

No doubt the Medtronic is an amazing pump too - but we love the Combo, I'm still doing quite a lot of things for daughter at the moment and love the fact that I can adjust her basal rate/set up TBRs etc all by remote control from the other side of the room if necessary, you can't do that on any of the other makes of pump. I might still consider switching if we could have integrated CGM sensors, which you can't do with Roche, but daughter is adamant that she doesn't want "proper" CGM sensors and loves her Libre. So I don't think we'd gain anything by switching at the moment if we have the choice not to. So it will be a dead easy changeover, just go and get the new one, make sure certain things are set up the right way for us, and then carry on just as we are without needing any extra training. I'm so happy :D

Daughter threw a right hissy fit when I told her the decision had been made, but then in the midst of her tears she said she's not really bothered which pump she has next, so I'm not sure what all the fuss was about - perhaps she just wanted to make the decision herself. I think we might have some hormones interfering at the moment - she has been sitting around 12-13 all day today despite corrections, at bed time we usually just do a Libre scan but she was going so high I insisted on a finger prick and correction and she had another horrible moan at me :(. Well I'm sorry but 19 and rising is too high to ignore!! 😱 Thank heavens that correction worked, 6.7 half an hour ago, phew.

Next time pump renewal comes round she'll be 14 and hopefully doing most things for herself so the decision of which pump to have can be entirely hers next time!
 
I am glad for you that things have worked out as you want, and hopefully as your daughter wants too when she has time to feel more used to the idea.
I got a magazine from Roche a few days ago that was showing the Insight and the Combo and comparing them and how people could pick which one to have according to their needs so I did wonder if they were still making it then. I was actually going to put the information on here for you, but thought that as your dsn had said not then that would be correct. Obviously Roche have made a recent change in their plans, which suits you well so that is good.
I love my Insight pump, but I have nothing to compare it with... still think I'd find it great though!
Curlygirl
 
Just a warning when you get the new combo, @Sally71, when I got mine, the DSN used the computer system to take all the settings from my old one to my new one. It did all the basals fine, and some of the other stuff, but missed things like my carb ratios and my 'stress'/'illness' bolus settings- they stayed at the default ones, and I didnt notice for a day or two of things being not quite right! So make sure you note EVERYTHING and check its all transferred over correctly.
 
Thank you both!

I shall be watching very carefully @Annette, I shall want the max bolus size to be changed on the new one. It's currently set at 12u which was fine when she was 6 years old but we're starting to bump into it a bit now and once or twice have had to do two boluses. My hubby is a bit of a stickler for always having the latest version of Windows on our PCs and I've never found a version of the Roche software that actually works on whichever version of Windows we have, so have never managed to change it myself and gave up in the end. So I shall want to make sure that's set a bit higher on the next one! I shall check everything else very thoroughly too!
 
Sally71 said:
My daughter is coming up for pump renewal very soon, because of all the reported problems with the Roche Insight we were thinking of switching to Medtronic. But DSN has now informed me that because of all the problems with the Insight, Roche are going to carry on making Combos for a few years - so we're having another one ! :D :D :D
Click to expand...

Really interesting - first time I've heard this. I gues a bunch of people are going to be very relieved if they have concerns over Insight, but would like to stay with Roche for the fully-functioning handset or whatever.

Hope the switch goes seamlessly.
 
No I hadn't either. I'd go back to it in a shot given the choice now, having lived with the Insight and its little idiosyncracies for 12 months, despite it being bigger, TBH.
 
Sally71 said:
Next time pump renewal comes round she'll be 14 and hopefully doing most things for herself so the decision of which pump to have can be entirely hers next time!
Click to expand...

I think you are right, she probably wants a bit more of a say in her care. How does she feel about you having remote control over the pump? She is approaching the age when they have the first tingles of independence, of being separate from their parents and others. I wonder if she might feel that your manipulating the pump settings even without talking to her is a bit too invasive at this stage. Heck, I got all stroppy and tearful when my husband flashed me with Libre without my knowledge and consent a couple of times: and we don't have the same issues to contend with as children and their parents do.:-(

Oh, and I have worked with adolescent diabetics. I'm afraid they DON'T do everything for themselves. They like to think they can, they make others think they do, but they don't. Diabetes is the ideal teenage rebellion battleground, I'm afraid. :-(
 
That's an interesting viewpoint, @Diabetic_Aspie. She is at a tricky age, not a "young" child any more but not old enough to do everything herself yet either. And we're now hitting puberty already, with all the moodiness and joy that brings!!

I have actually been trying to teach my daughter to be as independent as possible before she goes to secondary school, and do discuss what I'm doing with her. Sometimes if I can't decide e.g.whether she needs a temp basal overnight we will have a discussion about it, so she can join in with what she thinks. I do actually want to start teaching her about setting up temp basals and so on, but as we are due for new pump in a few short weeks so there didn't seem much point starting that until we know which one we are getting next and then I'll show her on the new one (actually now we know we're getting the same again we can start training now if she wants).

On the flip side though I wonder whether I'm expecting too much, we have had a couple of incidents at school where I've taught daughter how to deal with a particular situation, decided not to go and make a big fuss about it by speaking to the teacher, and then she gets nosy members of staff trying to tell her what to do (wrongly) and not listening to her explanation. We also saw a counsellor this week, because she's really struggling to cope with talking to other people about it and answering their questions. What came out of that is perhaps we are having too much discussion about it at home, daughter would rather just do her bolus as quickly as possible and then forget all about anything d-related until the next one. So I'm finding it hard to get the right balance at the moment, but we'll get there eventually o_O

Oh and if we are eating out she tends to thrust the remote control at me and expects me to just do it all for her while she starts eating, so I think in some ways she likes me having control! Only when it suits her though, presumably... 🙄

By the way although she's acting like a teenager and is getting the hormones already she has actually only just turned 10 so won't actually BE a teenager for another 3 years, and still needs quite a lot of parental support. I'm not looking forward to the transition to secondary school...
 
Last edited:
Sally71 said:
That's an interesting viewpoint, @Diabetic_Aspie. She is at a tricky age, not a "young" child any more but not old enough to do everything herself yet either. And we're now hitting puberty already, with all the moodiness and joy that brings!!

I have actually been trying to teach my daughter to be as independent as possible before she goes to secondary school, and do discuss what I'm doing with her. Sometimes if I can't decide e.g.whether she needs a temp basal overnight we will have a discussion about it, so she can join in with what she thinks. I do actually want to start teaching her about setting up temp basals and so on, but as we are due for new pump in a few short weeks so there didn't seem much point starting that until we know which one we are getting next and then I'll show her on the new one (actually now we know we're getting the same again we can start training now if she wants).

On the flip side though I wonder whether I'm expecting too much, we have had a couple of incidents at school where I've taught daughter how to deal with a particular situation, decided not to go and make a big fuss about it by speaking to the teacher, and then she gets nosy members of staff trying to tell her what to do (wrongly) and not listening to her explanation. We also saw a counsellor this week, because she's really struggling to cope with talking to other people about it and answering their questions. What came out of that is perhaps we are having too much discussion about it at home, daughter would rather just do her bolus as quickly as possible and then forget all about anything d-related until the next one. So I'm finding it hard to get the right balance at the moment, but we'll get there eventually o_O

Oh and if we are eating out she tends to thrust the remote control at me and expects me to just do it all for her while she starts eating, so I think in some ways she likes me having control! Only when it suits her though, presumably... 🙄

By the way although she's acting like a teenager and is getting the hormones already she has actually only just turned 10 so won't actually BE a teenager for another 3 years, and still needs quite a lot of parental support. I'm not looking forward to the transition to secondary school...
Click to expand...
Ugh..I only wish that teenage behaviour corresponded with the kids' age. I've seen 7 year olds hitting puberty with mood swings and the door slamming, and I've seen 14 yo sailing through as if nothing was happening.

It sounds like she may be feeling that too much focus is on her diabetes (condition which I'm pretty sure she would have resented even without that attention), and she - as a girl and as a"normal" person - doesn't get enough consideration. Yes, I know YOU are thinking about what is best for her and trying to prepare her for life with her diabetes as well as you can, but SHE may be thinking that you only care about her diabetes and feeling that the best way of getting your attention is through her diabetes. And this is when teenagers go bonkers with their BG management; they either are trying to get back at their parents for trying to control them, or they do end up using the diabetes as a means of getting attention.

And yes, when she is out and doesn't want to think about it, she may be perfectly happy to o surrender all control and throw the remote to you. I'm wondering if she would prefer you making the decision for her more often, instead of being involved in a boring discussion about it?

These are just some thoughts off the top of my head.

If I'm being too invasive, I'm sorry. I'm a child psychiatrist, so I do tend to slip into the analysing mode now and then.
L.
 
Diabetic_Aspie said:
Ugh..I only wish that teenage behaviour corresponded with the kids' age. I've seen 7 year olds hitting puberty with mood swings and the door slamming, and I've seen 14 yo sailing through as if nothing was happening.

It sounds like she may be feeling that too much focus is on her diabetes (condition which I'm pretty sure she would have resented even without that attention), and she - as a girl and as a"normal" person - doesn't get enough consideration. Yes, I know YOU are thinking about what is best for her and trying to prepare her for life with her diabetes as well as you can, but SHE may be thinking that you only care about her diabetes and feeling that the best way of getting your attention is through her diabetes. And this is when teenagers go bonkers with their BG management; they either are trying to get back at their parents for trying to control them, or they do end up using the diabetes as a means of getting attention.

And yes, when she is out and doesn't want to think about it, she may be perfectly happy to o surrender all control and throw the remote to you. I'm wondering if she would prefer you making the decision for her more often, instead of being involved in a boring discussion about it?

These are just some thoughts off the top of my head.

If I'm being too invasive, I'm sorry. I'm a child psychiatrist, so I do tend to slip into the analysing mode now and then.
L.
Click to expand...

Thank you for your comments, I don't mind you telling me this, you're only trying to help and I can either agree with you or not lol...

Daughter has often said that I don't understand her position re diabetes, and it seems it's taken me nearly 4 years to begin to understand what she means :( It seems that at some point we need a discussion about exactly how much control and say in things she wants to have herself and how much she wants me to keep for the time being. In the meantime I'm trying to make small adjustments to the daily routine so that we aren't talking about it and shoving it down her throat all the time, but just quietly getting on with things with minimal fuss.

What also came out of the meeting was that I have not accepted my daughter's condition, and how can I expect her to accept it when I haven't. Which is probably a good point, but how exactly am I supposed to accept/be OK with something like that?? My daughter's body can no longer sustain itself without medical intervention, if you take that medical intervention away she will get very sick very quickly and then die. She has to go through all this palaver every day just to stay alive, and all her friends can just run around eating what they like without even thinking about it. I try to push thoughts like this to the back of my mind, but presumably that means I'm not dealing with it properly. I did all the grieving and tears ages ago, but acceptance is a whole different ball game it seems... :(

Probably a good job we're seeing the counsellor now then, we saw her before in the early days but I never felt that it achieved much; last week's meeting was a real eye opener and far and away the most useful meeting we've ever had with her (for both of us!). Next time she wants us to do role play and pretend to be each other, which could be interesting, maybe we'll both learn something about the other's point of view and can start to find a daily routine that works for both of us. Wish us luck! o_O

Now if only anyone could tell me how to come to terms with my daughter's condition, accept that she has it and it's just part of who she is but not the most important part, and help her without resenting it so much, then I'd be very happy...
 
PS

Well had a very quick word with daughter, she said she thinks I'm about the only person who realises that she's a girl first and a diabetic second, so that's cheered me up a bit. (I think she gets a lot of people at school telling her that she can't eat sweets and puddings.) So I said if she wants to learn any more about how to manage her D then she must tell me and I'll happily show her. If she thinks I'm talking about it too much or expecting too much of her then she should also tell me, but try and be nice lol! Then we went and made a cake, and yes I did let her lick the bowl, if she goes a bit high oh well ho hum, we'll correct it later, it will be tea time very soon.
And now I'm being nagged to carry on reading Harry Potter, we're nearly at the end of the Order of the Phoenix and it's just got to the exciting bit!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top