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Monday, January 10, 2011

My 10 Year Old is Now Hooked Up: CGM

Well, we pulled the trigger and got our daughter the upgrade for her Minimed insulin pump to a Revel with the Continuous Glucose Monitor. I warned her it was coming, but I was not prepared for the resistance to putting the sucker on her.

The pump is great, the CGM sensors, not so much. They are freakin' huge needles and it took me one hour to convince her to let me put it on her. We iced her bum, we talked, we cajoled, we pleaded, we reasoned, but the only reason she consented was because we had a birthday party to go to, the clock was ticking and I refused to back down.

We had to establish the rules of engagement. Three kisses, then I had to count to three, but I couldn't touch her with the inserter until three. Then I had to say "ok" before I pushed the button.

She did it and cried like a baby. Said it hurt like hell. It bled a little, but she said it hurt for a good 20 minutes, but she was fine by the time we reached the party.

We didn't start the sensor until after the party and the sensor had its wick wet, so calibration was immediate. She thought it was pretty cool when the blood sugar numbers finally popped up on the screen of her pump.

She watched it through the afternoon and into evening. We'd ask, "Have you taken your blood sugar lately?" with a smile and she would whip out her pump and tell us the number.

We calibrated at bedtime, but she lost the sensor around 11:00 pm. I positioned it closer to her Minilink Transmitter and she was fine, until 3:00 am. She came in and said she was high, so I wanted to check against her meter and it was off. CGM said 315, meter said 230. That was significant enough for me, because the calibration had about the same difference earlier in the evening. I sat in the dark and decided to turn off the CGM and restart the sensor.

By morning things seemed to match, but she was still running high. She took some Advair for breathing difficulties and I know that was shooting her blood sugars up. She called me from school and said the thing was beeping all morning. High blood sugars, missed bolus warnings, even though she bolused. I reminded her it is going to take time to balance her insulin levels to match what is happening in her body. When that happens, she hopefully won't hear any beeps at all .

More in my next post, but I'm not sure I will be able to convince her to put that sensor on again. We'll see. More later.

6 comments:

Kelly said...

My daughter is 10 too, and says she HATES wearing the sensor....but I almost think she says that just for the control of it!

I know the tape is the most annoying thing for her with itchiness (I agree!) and the alarms are irritating, even if we just set it on vibrate. We are due to upgrade to the Revel in June, I cant wait for the .025 basals! I hope it starts to calibrate well for you!

Continuing Education for Counselors said...

Hope it starts to adjust- thanks for sharing

Anonymous said...

We tried the Minimed system once. Same problems with needle length ...
Do you know the Freestyle Navigator sensor system? Injection needles are by far shorter. Okay, the receiver is an extra device, but with a range of more then 9+ meters it's actually even better. Our 6-year old is using it for nearly a year now.

Anonymous said...

Hi! My daughter has the Revel pump as well as MM CGM. We LOVE it! I really can't say enough good things about it. Yes the needle is large, but they are working on that.
I was wondering if you had tried Emla cream before inserting it or ice? The ice really helps dull the pain for my daughter she is 7. She wears hers 24/7 I really can't imagine diabetes without it.
As far as the alarms, set them with realistic expectations. Or don't set some of them if you find they are alarming all the time. We never use the missed bolus alarm, but she again is 7 and does not do the boluses her self. I would love to help in any way I can.

Kelly

Wendy Morgan said...

Hi Kelly,

Slow to respond, but I did want to thank you for your post. We haven't tried the emla cream because her doctor doesn't recommend it any more. Something about other health related problems caused by the cream in some patients. I tried ice, but it isn't the pain that is the real problem, it is the anticipation of the potential pain. I can't even get her near me to put it on.

When she was four, we had to hold her over our knee to get infusion sets on, but we can't really do that with a 10 year old. I am patiently waiting on the new sensor, which they said should be on in April. Pretty sure that is BS, but I'll wait.

I use mine all the time and am so thankful for it.

To the person who asked about the Navigator, I started this blog when I did a trial for the device. See my oldest blog posts. I liked it a lot, but really want the symbiotic system.

Wendy Morgan said...

As an additional follow up, the sensor worked great for 6 days, but she will not wear it again. The good news is that she experienced the current sensor with all the trauma, so if they come out with anything new, it will be "better." So, I expect compliance. No, I demand it! Ha!