When I first decided to go with two different pumps for the girls, I thought I might be taking on too much. Maybe I had lost my mind? Well, I am pretty sure I lost it a couple years ago when Lovebug was diagnosed but I was thinking pretty clearly when I choose to go a different route for Princess then I had for Lovebug.
So, when it came time to choose a pump for Princess, I was immediately drawn to the Medtronic Revel with the integrated CGM. I knew the CGM would befit her and if I could avoid her having to carry two devices around her waist like her sister, then I was going to go for it. Of course I had some reservations about Medtronic's Guardian. The size and the insertion are a lot different then the DexCom and I was a little uncomforable at first. I decided to call our endo and see if there was a trial like with the DexCom. Thankfully there was and after a few days, I was hooked. I knew we were going the right route with Princess and her pump.
Needless to say, there are A LOT of things that I LOVE about the Medtronic Revel. One of my favorite is what they call the Square Wave Bolus. At first I was a little "scared" to use it, but I was like that with the Combo Bolus on the Lovebug's Ping. Are you wondering what the heck a Square Wave Bolus is? Well here you go:
Square Wave Bolus: delivers a bolus evenly over a period of time (30 minutes up to 8 hours). This bolus can be used for insulin delivery when you have eaten a long meal with extended snacking (commonly called grazing!) It can also be useful for delayed food digestion or (my favorite) meals high in fat (hello Pizza!) A Square Wave bolus can be useful if a normal bolus drops your blood sugar too rapidly.
Can I hear a WOO HOO! I LOVE this bolus! It works GREAT with ice cream, pasta and pizza. (for Princess anyway) All the foods with fat or slow adsorbing carbs. It has worked SO well for Princess that I found myself wishing that Lovebug's pump had that feature.
Cue the "aha moment"! One day I was thinking about the Combo Bolus and how it works on the Ping. Remembering that you can give a certain percentage of insulin upfront and a certain percentage of the bolus of a period of time. Then it hit me...I bet I could do a Square Wave bolus using the Combo Bolus on the Ping. How, you ask? Well let me explain.
Remember that a Square Wave gives you your entire bolus over a set amount of time. It drags it out, so to speak. Well, I figured with the Combo Bolus if I gave 0% up front and 100% over a certain period of time, wouldn't that be the same as a Square Wave Bolus on the Medtronic? A couple weeks ago I got brave and tried it when we had pizza for dinner. And you know what? IT WORKED!!! Lovebug didn't have a delayed spike from the pizza!! She stayed nice and steady! I was super excited!! (yes, I have used it numerous times since then and It's still working!)
Another common problem we have with Lovebug is that she will be low before a meal, we will wait to bolus her until after she is done eating (yes, we typically bolus before meals, for both of the girls) and then a couple hours later we check her (or Dexie is beeping at us) and her blood sugar is HIGH. Then we do the big, "oops" I forgot, yet again! Ugh, I hate it when I forget and she suffers for it!!
So another conclusion I came to was, why not use a Squared Combo Bolus (as I call it) for Lovebug when she is low before a meal? (I am talking between 60 and 80 here) I can still bolus her (because she isn't getting any insulin up front) and then by the time her blood sugar is back up and her food is starting to kick in, the insulin is starting to trickle into her system. Hence no low blood sugar and no rebound spikes from the low either. And guess what? I tried it and IT WORKED!! It works wonderfully!
Needless to say, I am VERY happy! These two little "discoveries" were a God send to me. It has made managing Lovebug's crazy numbers a little easier. Anything to make this disease a little easier to handle makes for one (a little) happier mama!!
