I’m very interested in taking my 8 yr old daughter for a second opinion for the treatment of her diabetes condition. She already has the insulin pump, but still, we need to preak her fingers up to 8 times daily!! and her sugars are not completely under control. I want to know if there is a hospital that is performing other treatments for children ie. transplants, stem cells, etc. And to know any other system of insulin pump that can save my daughter some of that pain…Please advise. Thanks.
Answer
The Mayo Clinics are very good…their diabetes educators are top notch, and their treatment is covered at least half by many insurance plans.
However, as a pumper who has had Type 1 for 24 years, I need to let you know that what you’re experiencing is perfectly normal. With the pump you have to monitor your blood glucose 6-10 times a day. Since you’re using just fast-acting insulin with no long-acting in the background, if there’s something wrong with the pump or infusion site, you can get in trouble really quickly, so it’s important to test often. And it’s also normal to have out-of-range BG’s, sometimes it happens in spurts, where you just can’t seem to get any normal BG’s that day. Keep in mind that the pancreas’ natural insulin response is a critical and very complicated metabolic function. Since we Type 1′s don’t have any of that anymore, we need to just do the best we can to keep our BG’s as normal as possible, so please don’t beat yourself up when she’s out of range…just correct it as soon as you can and see if you can gain any new information from it. Our hormones and stress responses are complicated and affect our BG’s greatly…sometimes you get a weird BG and just have to throw up your hands and say “whatever”.
They are working on islet cell transplants experimentally, but then you have to take anti-rejection drugs that bring their own set of problems. She’s won’t be a candidate for a pancreas transplant for a long long time…they only do that when the kidneys fail, and they transplant kidneys and the pancreas at the same time. The pump is the best option for her right now. Perhaps your endocrinologist can recommend pump support groups or pump clinics that might help you further.
I’m very interested in taking my 8 yr old daughter for a second opinion for the treatment of her diabetes condition. She already has the insulin pump, but still, we need to preak her fingers up to 8 times daily!! and her sugars are not completely under control. I want to know if there is a hospital that is performing other treatments for children ie. transplants, stem cells, etc. And to know any other system of insulin pump that can save my daughter some of that pain…Please advise. Thanks.
ALL of us who are injecting insulin either with syringe or pump are pricking our fingers a lot!! and yep!! they get sore, but there isn’t much you can do about that this moment.
There is a new pump to come on the market really soon if it isn’t already here:http://www.debiotech.com/debiotech.html
The best hospital may be the one that is closest to home. That is more important than you think for an 8 year old. Friends and family can visit and she can do homework, etc.
Otherwise contact the Mayo Clinic and see what Case-Western Reserve is willing to do.
My aunt died of this and she was young. The word “diabetes” doesn’t sound nearly as mean as it is.
Actually, people on the pump generally test their blood sugar MORE often than people who are not. You’ve taken pump education classes, right? I’m surprised they didn’t make that clear.
Pancreas transplants are last-resort treatments, only given to people who are already receiving another transplanted organ such as a kidney. The side effects from the anti-rejection drugs are much, much worse than being Type I diabetic, especially for a child.
Is she type one, insulin dependant? Are you using insulin called Humanlin M3? I use this and I have been told I have near-perfect body control for the past six years.
At your local hospital I would recommend contacting or even visiting a clinic speciallised in Diabetes where they can provide you with calorie counting, food awareness, activies to lower high blood levels and how to use Act-Rapid to bring the levels down safely if they are dangerous.
Encourage her to exercise as much as possible during and after finding more help from a Diabetes clinic. Exercise is an ESSENTIAL part of a heathly lifestyle for a diabetic, I would reccomend swimming, walking and just general activies which she is happy to do at her age.
I hope I helped some, there is plenty of help out there- look to google with information for where you live if still unsure. The best of luck!