The Pumpers Thread!

Status
Not open for further replies.
Hi all,
Yes it has been a bit quiet....

Patricia, good news about the pasta success! We had a small breakthrough yesterday - i let A have a Macdonalds - gave 50% then 3% 2 hours later - then oddly - he didnt need the rest? He was 5mmols after 3 hours and should have had one unit - but i know if he had - he would have been very low - so didnt bother.:confused:His numbers remained under 8 - so pleased with that.🙂

Feeling a bit sad today. Yesterday A was very angry and upset (he had been shouted at for a minor thing) - but the way he reacted to this was awful. He became very upset and almost uncontrollable - very upsetting and not really like him - he is ALWAYS happy and positive - so a bit of a shock. I am thinking it is a delayed response to his diagnosis - not sure? Or maybe starting at secondary school and the pump and its all got on top of him. I felt like a tyrant who has made her sons life hell - honestly - that is how upset he was - my daughter had to come in the room and help calm him down. I never want to see him like that again. When he was calm he threw himself on my knee and sobbed for an hour. He couldnt stop hugging me and saying how sorry he was and how much he loved me and that i was the best mum in the world. I think he shocked himself as he was behaving so out of character. I couldnt sleep all night for worrying about it all. Its just heartbreaking....

Today he has CATS tests - so i dont know how he will be, although he seemed quite calm and happy this morning. He gave his sister a longer than usual hug and said he was sorry about last night. Has anyone else had this sort of thing from their child? Or have any adults any memories of feeling like this? Of course it may not be diabetes related at all - it could be hormones....

On another note - as he had been suffering so may hypo's last week - i have decided to run him a little higher just in case he starts to lose hypo awareness - but not sure if i am running too high or not? I have let him wake on 9 and go to bed on 9 - what does anyone think to this?

Also he is having a day out with school tomorrow. Its a full-on activity day with obstacle course etc... So am thinking 40% for the whole day -any thoughts? I haven done many temp basals yet - so not confident about the %'s!

Also, i stupidly decided it was a good idea to decorate the lounge - i just heard the phone ring in the other room - so put paintbrush down and hopped it to the other room ( large house) - just got to phone and missed it - did 1471 - school!!!!!! Then heard mobile going off ( mobile in lounge so ran back) - panicking!!!!!!!😱 Managed to pick mobile up before they rang off - it was the firstaider telling me not to worry about A and his CATS tests - the examiner had put him at the back of the hall and let him have his bag and also timed the second part of the exam to coincide with his 2 hour check! Also one of the invidulators(sp?) knew him from his primary school and was keeping an eye on him for me. 🙂Phew!!!! I wont tell you the things that had gone through my head in those minutes between each phone call!!!

I think we all need a night at the cinema - any good films on?Bev

Hope everyone is alright and Tracey - your numbers are brilliant - you must be so pleased!

Patricia, I blame you for me decorating - you have triggered the creativeness in me! lol.Thanks. Bev x
 
bev said:
Feeling a bit sad today. Yesterday A was very angry and upset (he had been shouted at for a minor thing) - but the way he reacted to this was awful. He became very upset and almost uncontrollable - very upsetting and not really like him - he is ALWAYS happy and positive - so a bit of a shock. I am thinking it is a delayed response to his diagnosis - not sure? Or maybe starting at secondary school and the pump and its all got on top of him. I felt like a tyrant who has made her sons life hell - honestly - that is how upset he was - my daughter had to come in the room and help calm him down. I never want to see him like that again. When he was calm he threw himself on my knee and sobbed for an hour. He couldnt stop hugging me and saying how sorry he was and how much he loved me and that i was the best mum in the world. I think he shocked himself as he was behaving so out of character. I couldnt sleep all night for worrying about it all. Its just heartbreaking....

Today he has CATS tests - so i dont know how he will be, although he seemed quite calm and happy this morning. He gave his sister a longer than usual hug and said he was sorry about last night. Has anyone else had this sort of thing from their child? Or have any adults any memories of feeling like this? Of course it may not be diabetes related at all - it could be hormones....
Click to expand...

Bev, you are an awesome mum *hugs* I definitely remember things like this when I was younger, sometimes related to diabetes and sometimes not. I remember one time my mum gave me into trouble for eating some sweets, and I threw the world's biggest tantrum. 😱 There was no particular reason for it, just one of those times when everything gets on top of you and a little thing sets you off. I was a good natured child, but I do remember having fights about stupid things with my mum during that age, and it didn't have any effect on our relationship, and I still think she's fantastic. :D

A has a lot going on at the moment, and he's getting to that age where hormones are starting to kick in, and I think it's natural that there will be times when things like this will happen. It won't make it any easier or nicer, but I think it's normal!

Also, the school sound like they're right on the ball! What an excellent place. 🙂
 
Patricia - good luck with the rice! Hope the school issue sorting goes well.

Bev - Bless him! It could be hormones or just things on top of him or he could just be tired - I know my two are tired now they having to get up early again. There body clocks had changed quite a bit during the hols. I guess perhaps he needed to vent some emotion. Hope he feels ok today.
I can imagine how your mind was working between phones ringing! It is always so natural to think the worst so i am glad it was all ok.

Tracey - Hope it all going well still.

I have not been posting so much recently, partly because i have been doing overtime at work so not at home so much and also because we plodding along ok at moment so not a lot to report. My son was feeling a bit upset the other day about having to keep testing his blood at school so i h
gave him a bit of space for a day or two and he has cheered up. I think sometimes they just need a bit of space to get their heads round things.

Do you bolus before or after eating generally? We have started bolusing before as much as possible.

Adrienne - i think his blood sugars might be better since bolusing before eating. If we not sure how much he going to eat, do you think it a good idea to bolus before eating (but deliberately under bolus) then bolus the balance after eating when we know how much he really needs?

Hi Steff. Hope you keeping well.

Hugs to all

Mand 🙂
 
Hi All,

haven't been on the site for a few weeks so thought I would catch up with how the pumpers were getting on. Wow, so much to read through!!!! I got to the end anyway! Sorry to hear about all the lows and then the highs!!!! Diabetes really stinks!

Don't know whether you remember but I had just started going through the consultation for a pump and my consultant agreed to it at the beginning of August. Wierdly enough, my sugars weren't too bad after that (do you think the evil db heard what the consultant said????😱) Anyway, nothing much happened between then and now apart from me getting an appointment to see the dietician which I am seeing tomorrow. Anyway, I have received a letter from the hospital for an appointment to go and see the pump nurse at the pump clinic to have a "chat". I am excited but worried that I might have to put my case forward again (even though the consultant said I WILL get a pump). My appointment is a week on Tuesday so I suppose I'll have to wait and see.

Tracey W, can you shed any light on what happens now as I see that you are also from Warrington so I presume that your pump nurse was Angela? (that is who my appointment is with).

Sorry to go on for sooo long but after trying not to think about it for a while it has suddenly landed with a big bang!

Lesley x
 
good luck lesley with appointment to see dieticians tomorrow and also fingers crossed for the pump, nice to see you back btw xx
 
thanks for the welcome back. I am certainly going to make more of an effort to get on here more often!
 
lesley1978 said:
Why thank you steph. I am currently in the process of losing a bit of weight though, getting married next august! Wondering how my pump will get on underneath my wedding dress!😱
Click to expand...

aww well i know from what i read they can be some nice discreet ones , thats wonderful news on the wedding congrats x and good look with losing weight
 
lesley1978 said:
Hi All,

haven't been on the site for a few weeks so thought I would catch up with how the pumpers were getting on. Wow, so much to read through!!!! I got to the end anyway! Sorry to hear about all the lows and then the highs!!!! Diabetes really stinks!

Don't know whether you remember but I had just started going through the consultation for a pump and my consultant agreed to it at the beginning of August. Wierdly enough, my sugars weren't too bad after that (do you think the evil db heard what the consultant said????😱) Anyway, nothing much happened between then and now apart from me getting an appointment to see the dietician which I am seeing tomorrow. Anyway, I have received a letter from the hospital for an appointment to go and see the pump nurse at the pump clinic to have a "chat". I am excited but worried that I might have to put my case forward again (even though the consultant said I WILL get a pump). My appointment is a week on Tuesday so I suppose I'll have to wait and see.

Tracey W, can you shed any light on what happens now as I see that you are also from Warrington so I presume that your pump nurse was Angela? (that is who my appointment is with).

Sorry to go on for sooo long but after trying not to think about it for a while it has suddenly landed with a big bang!

Lesley x
Click to expand...

hi Lesley, good to see you back. i have sent you a pm
 
thanks trace, I have pm'd you back but I didn't put on my pm that i wanted you tell me any predicaments which you may have had! its sooooo wrong! if we all lived in america then we would all be on them and at the end of the day, we all pay enough nhs contributions from our wages so why should we be denied what we deserve to have a normal life????? It so gets me wound up!😡
 
lesley1978 said:
thanks trace, I have pm'd you back but I didn't put on my pm that i wanted you tell me any predicaments which you may have had! its sooooo wrong! if we all lived in america then we would all be on them and at the end of the day, we all pay enough nhs contributions from our wages so why should we be denied what we deserve to have a normal life????? It so gets me wound up!😡
Click to expand...

yep i agree, unfortunately it doesnt work like that, :(
 
arrrrggggghhhhhh it gets me so annoyed!!! why should we have to justify ourselves??? I am so scared that my "chat" will result in a big fat "NO"!
 
Hi all,

I just read a few pages, so I am sorry if I miss anything or anyone out!

Oh Bev, I am so sorry to hear about this episode with A. You too sound very upset about it. I dont know anything about teenagers (apart from having being one several moons ago) but I have to say I didnt deal with my diagnosis for about a year and a half, when it all went wrong for me. I 'thought' I had already dealt with it, but I was just functioning and being practical- in a sense I was doing what needed to be done and just getting by. Maybe A does have a delayed reaction to it all? Perhaps exam stress is just manifesting? I find it very hard to concentrate since diabetes....or perhaps he is just being a teenager. And of course, sometimes we all just need a bloody good cry. I really hope you are all ok.

Lesley, I dont think we have met or chatted before so I shall say hi! Would like to know how you got on and interested to hear about news on the pump front. I recently went to a wedding, posh frock and all that jazz so I might PM you about my efforts to scafold that pump in rather that scare the hell out of anyone about what I did! but dont worry, you can wear it discreetly!

So, we havent talked pasta for a few pages people, let us recap!
I felt a bit crap today as I hypo'd this morning post a massive technical drama. To break it down, I went to the gym yesterday evening, trained hard for one hour and then ate late. I murdered the pasta at 9pm and dual waved. I took 6.6 units initally (cant remember the percentage) and then square waved 10 units over 5 hours. Then my pump started alarming as that changed the estimate time of my syringe finishing from 12 hours (change when I wake up) to 5 hours (2am). Could I change that dual wave once I had set it? I couldnt do it so I had to go SUSPEND. Then I did a set change and reservoir 😡 I would never have meant to do this BEFORE bed and then re-programmed a square wave, my maths was shots to bits by this point:confused:....because I had decided to go over 5 hours that late I didnt check my BM and woke up at 6am in hypo at 2.4mmols. I even know I was out of it because instead of opening the fridge to get my lucozade, I remember tapping my pump on the fridge door for a while trying to get in before I realised what I was doing. Stupid, It was my own fault. I was experimenting and gave myself way too much insulin at a stupid time of day that I wasnt willing to check my BM afterwards. What a plonker.

So I have spent the day feeling abit 'hungover' in that way after a bad hypo that you dont really fully recover. My "challenging" client group today picked today to excel in their capabilities, and to be quite frank this Coldplay concert on Absolute Radio is really starting to depress me! Moving swiftly on!!!

How did the rice work out for you Patricia? There are obviously things brewling with E being back at school and I hope everything is ok.

My second lot of Medtronic supplies have arrived. Thats nearly three months I have been pumping 😛 I am none the wiser to the 8 bags of air they have sent in both boxes. Are they trying to make the box lighter? :confused:

Ho-hum, sorry that was a long one- but I feel better for it, thank you! xXx
 
Hi Lou,

A is only 11 - so not a teenager yet thank heavens!

Although you made me laugh about knocking on the fridge door - its dangerous! You silly moo! Dont ever do a set change before bed unless your prepared to check every hour!😱

A was a lot happier tonight and is looking forward to his day out tomorrow.🙂

Bev x
 
You do *absolutely kill me* Lou. Cripes. Are they trying to make the box lighter?! Nothing to do but put your head down and laugh...

But Bev. I'm so sorry about last night. It's gut-wrenching, horrible and makes you rage against the world. It may not have had anything to do with anything specific, or anything he could name...but it sounds like it all just got to be too much. Just too much. A is so happy, so calm and accepting, from what you say...that I imagine sometimes it all collapses. The only thing I can add is that certainly a month or two after starting pumping, we all kind of relaxed, and then things got worse in our heads for a bit, esp E, who felt he had nothing in the future. He was grumpy and more upset with the big D than he'd ever been. What has helped us is good HbA1c. When is A's next one? ... Just to say too that you are being a good mum just by being there. He will always remember that you were there for him in every situation, even when he didn't know what was wrong.

Mand, I think your idea of space is very wise, VERY wise. My other half is good at sensing this with E. I am bad at it, often fussing far too much. Sometimes people just need space. You good mum you!

Lesley, I don't think we've met either -- hello! I'm interested to hear your pumping thoughts -- and don't get me started on fair/unfair. We had an easy ride compared to practically everyone on here...but I know that the tension around the whole issue is ridiculous. Just look at other countries! You want to scream...

Lou, I'm sorry about your messy hypo. What a flipping drag. I'm glad (of course) that it worked out okay, but sorry you had to feel bad. And hell, sorry you had to do it at all! This is what I dread with E, this responsibility. At least now we can always take it off him, and remember to test, and get up, etc...Ergh. Sorry.

Tracey, I want to know how your adjustments went? Are you still feeling positive? Are you in touch with a DSN for advice? This does seem crucial...

Here numbers were back down today -- as predicted! Clearly something weird was up with E from the weekend, and today every number was in range with a 110% basal. So tonight he is off the temp. We have *tried* rice at 50/50 over 3 hours. Last time we did rice we did 30/70 over 3 hours, and he hypo-ed at 5 1/2 hours. I've just checked at 2 hours, and he's 7 something. Fingers crossed. That seems *little* low for mid-dual wave...We'll then get up at 3am and see if he's risen.

Adrienne, I hope J is a bit more stable for you? Becca, how are you?

Over and out, all. Bev, I'm thinking about you in particular tonight. Our precious boys.
 
Hi guys

Sorry I didn't message you last night Bev, early mornings, late nights and the flippin builders in so I'm knackered. Sorry Alex was feeling so awful. This is one this we will never be able to understand as mums without D. How the hell they feel. The others on here can tell us till they are blue in the face but we will never get that feeling, we feel something entirely different which is also hard to explain. He'll be ok, its not even a year. Not sure whether you noticed but others do something on diagnosis day every year. Some say its a celebration and others just mark the occasion by going out somewhere for a meal or something. Do you think Alex would like to do something like that?

I asked Jessica once but of course her diagnosis day was the day she was born so she decided to celebrate pumping day each year which is 14 December, it will be year 3 this December.

I hope you are ok Bev. Sorry I couldn't take your call the other day, where was I, can't remember now, oh yes I was in a maths lesson I think at school. How lovely for me, NOT !! Hope you got it all sorted. Remember though, anytime and if I can help and speak I will.

Jessica is ok now ish. We have cut right down on morning basals and increased evening basals, she was just hypo but has been playing after school with a friend.

Anyway I'm knackered and off to bed. Night x
 
Damn forgot to say we did pasta tonight. We did 80/20 over 3 1/2 hours. She has just gone a bit low so maybe 3 hours would be better but it worked. I'm going to try that for a while now.
 
Thanks all for your kind words - i really means a lot because you can all relate to how things are with diabetes.🙂

Adrienne, I had never thought that J had not ever had a diagnosis day - but of course it was the day she was born....I am in two minds about what to 'do' on Alex's diagnosis day - not sure whether to mention it to him in case it upsets him even more - i may just be guided by him -thats if he remembers!

Also, just to say i dont really comment on J's highs or lows - not because i dont care - just simply because you already know everything and i feel i have no wise words to add! But i do feel sorry for her having all those hypo's and then the crazy highs.......have you got to the bottom of it yet? Is it simply being back at school do you think?

I had rung you the last week because our 'nice' consultant wanted to know exactly what sort of support other hospitals offer to their pumpers - I had complained to him that i felt abandoned (he had been on holiday when we started pumping) - so he invited me to send an email detailing what sort of help i would have liked and what sort of help all the people on the 'list' get when they first start pumping. I sent him the email and he was really grateful - so were the DSN's - they told me they are going to show it to the PCT to help get more funding for more staff - and they told me that they do realise that they are not giving the amount of support they would like to give and they feel really bad about it! They want me to keep them updated with what other teams offer as they want to improve their service - so i am happy with this - even though i was a little worried that i would be labelled as troublesome - but they have all re-assured me that they value my input as they need to see it 'from the other side' as it were.🙂

A has gone on an adventure day today - so set a 45% temp basal for the whole day - its a very active type day - not sure if this is right - we will see later on!🙂Bev
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top