I love Insulin Pumps. Insulin pumps make managing diabetes easier for me and my kids. We didn’t wait longer than was required by insurance to get insulin pumps for our kids. Sugarboy has been using an Animas pump since August of 2007 with no interruptions. Sweetstuff began pumping in August of 09 but took a short pump hiatus in the spring of 2012 before realizing managing her diabetes was easier with the pump – despite the fact that it didn’t look fantastic with skinny jeans.
Thus I have been a pump master for nearly 2000 days, which would equal roughly 666 infusion set and cartridge changes just for Sugarboy and another 400 for Sweetstuff – give or take the occasional 4 day site or lost site or questionable insulin cartridge.
With all this in mind – I would not expect my daughter to come into my room at 3:17am to tell me her pump won’t shut-up because she is out of insulin. I had just fallen back to sleep from a 2am blood sugar check. Alas – she hands me her pump and returns to her bed while I stubble downstairs to fill a pump reservoir. Trudge back upstairs and reconnect her pump while she slumbers away already fast asleep. (sleeping on her infusion set site BTW – which requires me to twist her around and fish around for her site – she slept through it all)
Did I say I would not expect it to happen? What I meant was it happens all too frequently with my dear daughter. Her pump is set to alert her to low cartridge at 20 units left. How often does she ignore this alert – too often.
Thus – Dear Animas, Would you consider in future pumps to include an option for low cartridge alert, very low cartridge alert, and a you’re gonna be in trouble with your mom alert.
Just an idea.
Stick With It Sugar 
Maybe you need to make her stay up with you to help fill the cartridge! Hopefully she values her sleep enough to start paying attention to the alerts.
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Hi Mary. As a parent that likes to teach my kids responsibility I would normally agree with you. Right now my dear daughter is 13 and when she doesn’t get enough sleep we all pay for it the next day. Also – right now I can do this for her. In 5 years she will leave my home and go off to college then life – My rest will come after her and her brother are off keeping themselves alive and well. She sees my exhaustion – the lesson she learns is guided by her love for me and her willingness to recognize the toll diabetes takes on me too and make changes to lesson my burden. She is an amazing soul – wise beyond her years. However – in regards to her leaving her pants inside out with undies inside when she puts them in the dirty clothes – well lets just say she will be going to school naked if she doesn’t fix them or wash her own clothes.
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When I was 13 or 14 or so, my parents started making me book my own doctor’s appointments and renew my own asthma meds. As soon as I could drive, I was also responsible for going to fill the prescriptions too. I found it really unfair at the time and fought it for a while, but my mom kept insisting these were life skills that I’d have to be doing for myself for the rest of my life, so I’d might as well start while she could still nag me about it. I’ve told this to other asthmatic friends of mine and some have called it mean/unfair. But then again, one of those was a friend whose mom still renews/fills her inhalers for her when she’s in her 20s.
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Oh yeah, also I wanted to say but forgot – around that age, my parents also would complain if I woke them up in the middle of the night (“We both have work tomorrow! We need our sleep!”). If I woke up in the middle of the night needing a breathing treatment, I was expected to set it up myself (thank God I haven’t needed nebulizer treatments much as an adult) and only wake them if I was still struggling afterwards. I resented this, since while I was able to set the thing up myself, waking up in the middle of the night struggling to breathe isn’t fun, and it sucks more if no one wants to sit through it with you.
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That is scary. What if it got worse and you couldn’t get to anyone? That’s why I check the kids at night – if their sugars get really low they loose the ability to think clearly (or worse) and wouldn’t be able to get me.
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Thanks for the comment Ellisheva – I think requiring my kids to do a lot for themselves will build independence and I do strive for that but I also think they will have all their lives to have to deal with it – for now I can lesson that burden. I don’t want to be their personal assistants when they are in their 20’s. 😉
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