how can my daughter go on the pump?

Kerri - posted on 08/17/2009

Quoting Cheryl:

I am not sure about certain requirements that your talking about. I told my son's dr that I would like for him to be on a pump and he gave me all the information on the pump. I filled out the paper work and they talked with insurance company and now were waiting for the dr to put in his input. They said that when all the information is complete they would send the pump to the doctors office and they would call me. I have had no problems. It taken two weeks so far, but I believe the wait wil be worth it.

2 yrs ago my son went on the pump and it has made his life better able to "be a kid again".  He is 10 yrs old and has been diabetic for 5 of those yrs.  The pump came straight to us after we inquired about it etc....  It was free to us because we live in Ontario, we also get $600 every 3 mths to cover the supplies.  This money is about $200 every three months short of what we need I'd guess.  Once a yr we have to have a form filled out by our diabetes specialist to sign saying that we keep up our regular three month visits, he hasn't had any severe lows, that he hasn't had anymore than one episode of ketoacidosis in last yr, he records bllod glucose regularly, he has kept good A!Cs, he changes his site reguarly and he is showing good pump management.  With these reguirments met he can continue to recieve the $600 cheques every three months.  Like I have posted before it is stressful and a lot of work and learning in the beginning but it is worth it!!!  We had to all learn how to deal with this disease and this is just a new way to manage it...so there is some re-learning envolved.  I hope things go well for your son.  Please just write if you want any info., my son has the Medronic MiniMed and it has been great.  We order supplies through a company called Diabetes Express, there are faster and cheapier.  We have not had to replace it yet, and boy does my kid put it through lots!!!!  All the best everyone, Kerri

Jennifer - posted on 08/17/2009

yes it is worth the wait. and it make the strees of the blood sugars way better. my son has no more lows or the highs and its so much better

Cheryl - posted on 08/17/2009

I am not sure about certain requirements that your talking about. I told my son's dr that I would like for him to be on a pump and he gave me all the information on the pump. I filled out the paper work and they talked with insurance company and now were waiting for the dr to put in his input. They said that when all the information is complete they would send the pump to the doctors office and they would call me. I have had no problems. It taken two weeks so far, but I believe the wait wil be worth it.

Jennifer - posted on 02/02/2009

yes i do. your daughter need to be 100% sure that this is what she wants. U need to talk to your to the doctor about getting it they r very costly. so make sure this is what she wanta to do. it took my son 3 years before he decicded that is what he wanted. and let me tell u is make life so much less stress in our life

Helena - posted on 01/30/2009

Quoting Kerri:

The requirements that we had to meet were just pretty much that you went to regular 3 month appointents, no more than 2 severe lows in the past year, and that the A1C was a pretty good number, We deal with the London Health Sciences Centre in London and is an amazing place!! They were very good at giving us this type of information you are asking. We had a few appointments with them, then had to go to a pump clinic held at the hospital (with our son) to hear all the pros and cons of it to see if it was really something for us, we had to set up home appointments to meet with at least 2 different pump companies. We also had to order the pump on our own and attend many appointments at the hospital. The last appoinment before he went on the pump then we got a pump put on for the weekend with saliene in it. We had to bolus for each meal and treat it like the actual pump. There is a lot of blood testing before going on teh pump 10-15 times a day (usually) and getting up twice a night to check blood. All of this is tough and a lot of work. BUT the pump is amazing!! He is 9 years old and is actively involved in sports. It is so much easier on the pump. He can eat special things or meals at strange times and this makes him to "be a kid" again!! I hope that this works out for you, it makes life easier once you get through the initial weeks!! Good luck and keep in touch if I can help with anything!! Kerri

 

Thankyou all and thankyou Kerry, I am relieved to know that you are in the UKas i have been told the requirements to get on the pump in the UKare different to the U.S.

Melissa has appointment every 3months and has done for the last 4years and hasn't had a servere low for 2years but her A1C has been higher the last couple of visits. Her sugar level is kinda all over the place recently but i have been told its probably due to her age, she's 11, and hormones etc.

How did you go about enquiring about the pump, did you just mention it at one of the regular appointments with the diabetes team or did you go straight through the london health sciences centre?  I'd love it if we could have a conversation. Many thanks for your help, Helena x x

Kerri - posted on 01/29/2009

The requirements that we had to meet were just pretty much that you went to regular 3 month appointents, no more than 2 severe lows in the past year, and that the A1C was a pretty good number, We deal with the London Health Sciences Centre in London and is an amazing place!! They were very good at giving us this type of information you are asking. We had a few appointments with them, then had to go to a pump clinic held at the hospital (with our son) to hear all the pros and cons of it to see if it was really something for us, we had to set up home appointments to meet with at least 2 different pump companies. We also had to order the pump on our own and attend many appointments at the hospital. The last appoinment before he went on the pump then we got a pump put on for the weekend with saliene in it. We had to bolus for each meal and treat it like the actual pump. There is a lot of blood testing before going on teh pump 10-15 times a day (usually) and getting up twice a night to check blood. All of this is tough and a lot of work. BUT the pump is amazing!! He is 9 years old and is actively involved in sports. It is so much easier on the pump. He can eat special things or meals at strange times and this makes him to "be a kid" again!! I hope that this works out for you, it makes life easier once you get through the initial weeks!! Good luck and keep in touch if I can help with anything!! Kerri

Tania - posted on 01/28/2009

Also, you need to contact your insurance company to see what requirements they have, if any. Sometimes they require a certain 'test' period. We have Tricare, my husband is in the army and we had to get a lot of documentation from the Endo. Once he was approved, the process went smoothly.

Tania - posted on 01/28/2009

Talk to your doctor about their requirements. Our Endo just wanted to make sure Aric was checking his blood regularly and was responsible enough to keep a close watch of his sugars. He has been on the pump since 2005 and there are some complications. He has gone into DKA due to pump malfunctions, the catheter kinked when it was inserted.both times.  Because of the lack of long acting insulin, DKA can happen very quickly. I believe most Endos are seeing that the benefits outweight the risks and it has helped him so much!

Helena - posted on 01/26/2009

Thanks all for the info. I have made an appointment in 2 weeks with my diabetes team so i will bring it up with them and go from there. No doubt I will need more help after the appointment in selecting the right pump etc. I am looking forward to a greater quality of life for my daughter and all your replies and suggestions have been very helpful. Its great to find a place where I can talk to other parents who have gone through similar things. You are all great and I wish you all the best xxx

Tiffany - posted on 01/25/2009

I know from personal experience that transitioning your son or daughter to a pump can be challenging. If you would like help in picking  a pump my son is on his third one. Even though your endo and insurance determines getting you on the pump, it will be up to you to pick which one .If you would like me to tell you some about them and which is better I would be glad to help you and try to make it easier for you. Please let me know. Hope I can help. Tiffany Smith

Maureen - posted on 01/24/2009

Hi my son has been on "The Link" by Medtronic for 4 years now it has totally changed our lives, as for as going on  we just phoned up the company they came out to our house and expaned everything of course we talked to our diabetec team first , That was the best move we ever made for our son he has all the freedom to enjoy being a teenager now. I hope you can do this for your daughter, I believe every child every where should have the pump available to them   GOod luck.   P>S> my son was 7 years old also when he was diagnosed he is now 14

Kathy - posted on 01/20/2009

Here are some thoughts: Usually the endocrinologist guides patients to the pumps. Call the pump rep. and ask for help. you can call several and they will introduce you to their pumps and once you choose, they can assist with insurance. Another way, go on line or call your insurance company to have them tell you what their requirements are. Our insurance had a decision tree of requirements. Our daughter qualified for the very first and simplist Diagnosis after age 13 made the qualifications more difficult for some reason. The three pumps we looked into were Animas, Medtronic, omnipod. best of luck

Kimball - posted on 01/20/2009

It all depends on your endo.  If your endo is positive about the pump it is easier to get on.  My dd was also dx at 7 she was on the pump by 8.  She is on her 3rd year and starting with puberty it has been tons easier in my opinon to manage the constant changes.

The pump company that we picked help us make sure we qualified for what hoops our insurance company wanted.  Our dr didn't require us to take any class though I know lots of people in different parts of the company are required too.  From decided to go on the pump to actually being  connected live I think was about 5 weeks for my dd. 

Start with your endo and find out what they require.