My six year old, diagnosed a year ago, just started on a pump, and we love it! However, I am realize that I want to understand the postprandial rise in blood sugar better than I do. Boluses are a bit different than shots. Do you have any suggestions about learning resources in this area? I don’t just want to be told what boluses to give and when. I want to understand it.

Two excellent pump resources:

The Insulin Pump Therapy Book
Teens Pumping It Up: Insulin Pump Therapy Guide for Adolescents by Elizabeth Boland, MSN, APRN, PNP, CDE.

Both are available from the MiniMed’s web site or customer service or in bookstores.

Also, Insulin-Dependent Diabetes in Children, Adolescents and Adults by Ragnar Hanas, M.D. has a great pump section plus lots of other valuable information.

There is no difference in using basal-bolus injections or insulin pump boluses vis-a-vis postprandial glucose control. Both involve detailed detective work with different foods to see what happens before and after analog insulins are given, what changes are needed for different food-food mixtures etc. Once you learn what pizza needs, you’ve learned it. Then move on to pasta, hamburgers and rolls, fries, cereal, bagels etc. Analysis of your son’s own blood glucose data allows this to happen.

SB

[Editor’s comment: I would also highly recommend Pumping Insulin by John Walsh, PA, CDE and Ruth Roberts, MA.

SS]