I am going to deviate from the #NHBPM prompt for today and write about something new and exciting that's happening in our family!
Until recently, the phrase Low Glucose Suspend, or LGS, would have been a thing of the future; a feature I'd love to have on Dylan's pump, but didn't. Well, that is about to change. Today I started the process of upgrading Dylan's pump, as the 4 year warranty on his current pump has just expired.
Dylan currently wears the Minimed Paradigm 522 and he loves it. It's super easy for him to use on his own and it fits with his lifestyle. Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting that Minimed is a superior pump or anything. We have simply never tried anything else and considering Dylan does most of his diabetes care himself, it's easier to stay with what works for us, rather than switch to something different. I have looked at other options, but the new Minimed VEO just can't be topped for me. This new pump, available in Canada and Great Britain, but not yet in the United States, has a feature unlike any other pump: it has a low glucose suspend option. And when you have a type 1 child who is prone to hypoglycemic nighttime seizures, this feature is music to my ears.
So how does it work? Basically, you program your target zone and if your blood sugar level falls to the bottom of this zone (or below the target zone), the pump automatically suspends insulin delivery for 2 hours. Now clearly there are few things wrong with this. First, 2 hours may be more time than needed, but if that's the case, you can manually restart insulin delivery. Second, blood sugar may continue to fall after insulin suspension because of the amount of active insulin already in the body. Third, it is definitely not a replacement for nighttime blood sugar testing; I will continue to test at night no matter what. Albeit the system is not perfect, it sure is a heck of a lot better and more advanced than anything else on the market today. And if it can help to prevent Dylan's nighttime seizures, then I'm a very happy mama.
Stay tuned as I report back in a few weeks once we have the new pump and have been using it for a while!
And for more information on the Minimed Paradigm VEO, visit their website.
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