Pump Class

What better way to spend a beautiful Autumn morning.. than at Children's Hospital in the "Whale" section, taking a class about how to use insulin pumps!
Ahh, the crisp air, the smell of flexible hospital tubing and fresh alcohol wipes--mmm!
We did get Pumpkin Spice Latte's just to cheer ourselves up, to bolster our confidence with three shots of pure, black, caffeinated espresso... it mostly worked.
I tried to pretend like it was a date. First the aforementioned decadent lattes, some hand holding, and then we had a break for lunch and went to delicious Thai food. I kept whispering "let's make out!" during the class, but Jer wouldn't. (It did make him smile, though-- my goal all along.)
We had pamphlets and booklets of all the major insulin pump manufacturers in the world spread all over our lunch table. Then, we had to return to the Hospital after lunch to meet with a Social Worker.

Why? You ask?
That is MY question!
I'm pretty sure it's because somewhere, someone wrote down that I was kind of on "problem mom" watch, (what with the needle phobia, heavy duty scowling, and tendency to shove medical supplies back across tables at nurses who helpfully would shove them right back.)
Don't they know I am so over my needle phobia? Geez.

Here's how the conversation went, when I scheduled our pump class with the registration nurse.
Scheduling Person: "Okay, you're all set up for the pump class, and.. um. oh what does it say here.. OH!" ( She reads something on her computer screen, then pipes up, brightly) "You can .. um.. also.. combine this visit with your Social Work visit, which I can schedule right after your class.. for convenience!"

Me: "No thanks. I'd rather rip out my own lungs."
(No, really I said) "I am seeing a counselor privately, and I feel all my needs are being met there, so if we don't have to have that appointment, I'd rather skip it," I say, hoping my obvious breezy attitude and cheery demeanor will convince her I am over my original needle issues/crankiness toward medical staff.

S.P.: "Oh.. well. It says here you um, have to come to this appointment if they are going to approve Logan for a pump..." She is hedging, and I can feel it.

Me: (sighing) "Ok, whatever we need to do, to qualify for the pump.. is this standard procedure?" I ask, somewhat annoyed at her crankiness -vector profiling.

S.P.: "Well, for some patients, we just like to.. follow up on .. social.. adjustment." She trails off, and I realize it's probably not an avoidable thing at this point.
So I concede, schedule the visit, and huffily tell Jer that they want us to meet with their Social Worker.
We both cast our minds back to how bad it was in the hospital, with the whole needle phobia and denial, and um. anger, resentment, rejection.. OK fine. It makes sense, I guess it gives me a chance to dazzle them with my progress from immobilized fear monger to 2nd Tier Diabetes Wrangler status! Hah! Not so bad, after all. I love a second chance to make a first impression...

The Pump class was great!

But I decided I hated the nurse who was teaching it, pretty much right away.
I didn't like the look of her.
I didn't like her stance.
I distrusted her smile.
I felt 'hustled' by her insistence on us showing her proof that we were registered in the class. (Who does she think I am?? That girl from Fight Club who attends medical support groups for fun?)
I was sure she was an alien, or a terrorist, or just a .. bad person.

Jer reminded me that I don't have to hate medical people, just because they hold pokey things, and smile when they say "blood glucose".

I did end up having to re-evaluate my opinion of her within 15 minutes, because she was so kind, knowledgeable, and supportive of all of our wacky questions, concerns, fears, and hopes with the pump.
FINE.
She was cool, I guess.
There was a super cute teenage boy getting his first pump and he was SO excited! Jer chatted with him for a while, it was inspiring to see him there, a football player, not slowing down at all. And lots of parents of young kids like Logan, with tons of questions.
We learned a lot, and at the end we got to handle and fiddle with all the different kinds of pumps that the hospital recommends.. there are only 4 models they recommend, but still there are so many minute differences, it boggles the mind.

Do we want a wireless one? One with tubing? Remote or no remote? Food database important or not?

We are still favoring the Omnipod, and the Animas Ping.

Here is a pic of the boy in question.. mesmerizing me into giving him a cookie...

We got another 'demo model' of the omnipod, which Logan is wearing right now.. to see if he can handle it. If he can tolerate that much skin contact full time (it's about the size of a small flip phone, but lighter) attached to him, then we will go with that one. But for a boy who MUST have all of his tags cut out of clothing before wearing them.. I have my doubts.

The other pump has tubing, but the only thing that is attached to your body is a small "insertion set" the size of a nickle..or small quarter.

The new news is, we can decide on a pump, and then we do "saline trial" where he wears it for a week or so, and we see if he is going to respond well, and if we like it. If we don't, we can do a different saline trial with a different pump. (everything works, it's just loaded with saline instead of insulin so you don't screw up).

AND when we do decide finally on one pump, we get at least two more classes in how to operate it, attach it, and use the remote.

I know, it's a lot of information, another big change, but I am excited about it for so many reasons.. mainly.. his blood sugar will be easier to manage, and we only HAVE TO POKE HIM ONCE EVERY THREE DAYS INSTEAD OF FIVE TIMES PER DAY! Freedom!

I am really impressed with how much Logan (and Gray) already understand about diabetes, and the pump's benefits and drawbacks. It just gives me new hope in technology, and hopefully we will keep on keeping up with latest changes and improvements for Logie.

Our Diabetes day walk was fun, and we had several friends come and join us~ Sherri, Heather, my Dad, Judith, Flora and Elinor. I made t-shirts, passed out completion certificates at the end, and we all trundled around the block, to 'raise awareness' of Diabetes. I fear the only awareness we raised, was that my kids think it's fine to walk along right down the middle of the road. After an 'awareness raising' speech on my part, the kids resorted to running ahead, and pretending to be store mannequins/robots, that we had to wonder over, and try and activate every 15 steps, just to get around the block.

I got one pic, though! Check out THESE scary robots!

My Birthday party was a glowing success, with guitar playing, laughing, eating, cake and cupcakes, and a toast made by my darling hubby- Jer. Seriously, I have not had so much fun in a long time! We danced, played Rock Band on the XBox, drank yummy drinks, and made mischief. My favorite kind of party!

Here I am, with some of the cupcakes of wonder..

And here is Gray, mugging at a restaurant last weekend... aww. He is hugging a cookie the size of his brain.

So I will be updating in a few days, to give reports on Logan's tolerance of the Omnipod.. and our decision on .. which pump to get..! (Dum Dum DUMMMMMMMMMM.. dramatic music fades in)

Peace out for now!