We are pumping!!

Ok...maybe not we, but Cale is officially on an OmniPod insulin pump. So far, so good. We had our 2 hour initial start training last night and it went very smooth. The nurse from our endo's office did the training (she has been living with Type 1 for over 20 years) and for the most part, she had Cale do all of the work. He sat between Pat and I and held the PDM (personal diabetes manager) or as Cale calls it his "remote control" and she had him go screen by screen and read what was showing. He actually did a great job reading considering he has never even heard some of those words. He learned what each screen meant and pressed all of the buttons to set it to all of his "specifications".

Once it was programmed, it was pod activation time. Insulin into the pod, belly cleaned, priming done, attached pod, pressed a button and TICK - it was done!!! I tell you, the noise is so loud - but the pain is so minimal! He was pumping!!!!

After that, we (Mom, Dad and our school nurse - gotta love her!) learned the remaining functions and had question/answer time. Maybe I am a little naive about this, but it doesn't seem all too difficult. I think I actually won't have to use my brain as much (bad thing, it will wilt away!!). This thing does EVERYTHING!! I love the fact that if his BG (blood glucose) reading is on the "low" side and he is going to be eating, the PDM will adjust his insulin lower in order to compensate. I had no idea!!! I'm telling you, so far this thing is better than a good clearance sale!

Last night, I was up a couple of times to check his BG (the only drawback I have found is that using the built in glucose monitor is a little cumbersome, especially in the middle of the night. I'm sure that we will get used to it and if we don't we can use any other monitor and just manually input the BG number). Normally, during the night, his BG rises and I have been giving him a correction shot. Last night, his BG wasn't even close to needing anything extra. At midnight he wsa 125! Granted, at about 2:30 a.m. his BG was 73, so I popped a couple of glucose tabs in his hand and he ate them (he does this in his sleep - as soon as I give them to him, his hand goes to his mouth and in they go - all while sleeping). I checked him again at 4:30 a.m. and he was 95 - not bad!! However, he did wake up at 58, so we need to look into that.

For the next 2 weeks, his BG needs to be checked 2 hours after every meal just to make sure that his insulin to carb ratios are right on and that his basal rate is correct. The school is going to love seeing me . They should just give me a real job there and all would be right in the world.

I'll keep you updated on our new adventure! YEAH!!!!