How do you swim every day with an insulin pump?

[littlbugmom]

My son is 8yrs old. His pump site is on his bottom. (he's thin and can't handle using his stomach)

We're taking a 2 week vacation soon that will include swimming every day. We hit the parks at RD and then return to our condo for a midday swim. The second half of our vacation will be on the cruise so we'll be at the pools every day and at Castaway Cay. We have a very hard time keeping his site when it gets wet. Showers and baths make his site come off! So frustrating. How do we handle swimming every day?

We've tried IV "skin" over top of his site (we cut a hole large enough to go around the connecter piece and we've tried the sticky wipes that make his skin stickier....neither have worked very well. We only had samples of the sticky wipes, so maybe we didn't use enough?

How do you keep a site on through daily swim sessions?

 

[ttintagel]

What kind of pump/infusion set are you using?

 

[littlbugmom]

Minimed paradigm with quick-set infusion set.

 

[ttintagel]

Minimed paradigm with quick-set infusion set.

Ah. I never used that particular infusion set, so I don't have any specific tips I can personally swear by. but there are other T1DM's on here who probably have.

I've known people who had good luck making them stick better by putting down polyskin/tegaderm and then inserting the set through that. (That's what I do with my Omnipod, too, but that's another story.)

 

[buffettgirl]

we use the following:
Alcohol wipe
followed by
IV prep
followed by
Skin Tac.

That combo seems to work, however, when we're swimming every day (and throwing a shower in ) sometimes we do have to change sites every day. Just a fact of life in the summer. So, we pack at least one site change per day for vacation, depending on the trip, maybe 2. Then, we don't change the tubing and reservoir, just the site.

You could also try spraying antiperspirant on his skin first, or a product like mastisol.

IV 3000 I'm going to guess is what you used, and I find that has no sticking power at all (we tried it for CGM ). You could try Hypafix tape which is a bit more mesh like and lets the water run through easier, rather than puddling up underneath. The skin breaths.

You could try a different type of set - the quick set only has a small bit of tape, how about MIOs? They are the SAME set, just with a built in inserter, and I feel like the tape is a bit different. They are made by the same company though, so the set itself is exactly the same. We use silhouettes and they have a lot of tape. Different set. Angled vs straight. But there is a lot of tape.

Oh, and lastly, you could always take a pump break during vacation and go back to shots.

 

[Selket]

We do something similar as the poster above me. I found his sites were still coming off for some reason so I started putting Opsite Flexifix over them and that seems to work better than any other over-bandage that I've tried. You can buy rolls of it from medical supplies stores. I prefer to get it at American Diabetes Wholesale - best price and really fast shipping. I'd get the 4" width rather than 2" in order to cover the set. You get 11 yards and cut what you need so it lasts a REALLY long time:

http://www.americandiabeteswholesal...-flexifix-dressing_2107.htm?source=SiteSearch

He wears a Dexcom CGMS and this works to tape that down also. You may have to trim the tape if it peels up and retake for something that stays in a week like a cgms.

 

[littlbugmom]

These might be stupid questions--


How do you ese the iv skin? Do you put it on first and then put the insertion set right through it or do you put the insertion set on first and the iv skin on top of it?


Similar question for the Skin Tac....are you careful to avoid applying it where the needle inserts the tube into his skin?

 

[buffettgirl]

These might be stupid questions--


How do you ese the iv skin? Do you put it on first and then put the insertion set right through it or do you put the insertion set on first and the iv skin on top of it?


Similar question for the Skin Tac....are you careful to avoid applying it where the needle inserts the tube into his skin?

I don't use a tape skin under . IV Prep is a wipe as is skin tac. But the needle can insert right through it as both dry just like an alcohol wipe. Skin tac leaves a tiny tackiness to the skin but nothing that prevents the introducer needle from going in.

 

[ttintagel]

These might be stupid questions--


How do you ese the iv skin? Do you put it on first and then put the insertion set right through it or do you put the insertion set on first and the iv skin on top of it?

I put the skin on first and insert through it. I did it when I was using the MiniMed Silhouette sets, too.

 

[buffettgirl]

oh, and they're not stupid questions. I'm sure we've all asked the same things.

 

[katml14]

My daughter wears a MM pump/MIO set. She pulled out two sites in one day in August, so we just bought a box of (large) bandaids at Walgreens and cut a whole in the middle where the canula part is and put the sticky part over the MIO - it worked for us. Sometimes medical tape can be too harsh for her skin - she's 4 and primarily keeps her site on her sides.

Hope this helps - have an awesome trip!!

 

[rubybpc]

My son has the same pump. During the summer months we have a hard time keeping his site on for more than 2 days. But, what I've found works better is antiperspirant. To be specific, SECRET solid. He uses Tergaderm film and I cut a hole in it like the previous poster said. I also bought him a waterproof plastic bag that buckles around his waist. We've done Schlitterbahn, Six Flags, Sea World, swimming all day with no problems. Hope this helps.

 

[Chickenlady]

ttintagel,
I noticed your comment about using polyskin with your ominpod....This summer I started reacting to the adhesive on the ominpod....huge itchy blisters. Does the polyskin help???

 

[rubybpc]

My son is 8yrs old. His pump site is on his bottom. (he's thin and can't handle using his stomach)

We're taking a 2 week vacation soon that will include swimming every day. We hit the parks at RD and then return to our condo for a midday swim. The second half of our vacation will be on the cruise so we'll be at the pools every day and at Castaway Cay. We have a very hard time keeping his site when it gets wet. Showers and baths make his site come off! So frustrating. How do we handle swimming every day?

We've tried IV "skin" over top of his site (we cut a hole large enough to go around the connecter piece and we've tried the sticky wipes that make his skin stickier....neither have worked very well. We only had samples of the sticky wipes, so maybe we didn't use enough?

How do you keep a site on through daily swim sessions?

If you'd like to try out the tegraderm pm me your address and I'll mail you some, I have extra since my DS mainly uses them during summer months (which in Texas could be March-October.) I sometimes even double them up to make sure they are secure enough.

 

[littlbugmom]

Thank you very much for the suggestions! He's really looking forward to swimming every day and it would be nice to not have to deal with a new site every day!

 

[rubybpc]

If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to know how you're trip went. We've been wanting to do a cruise and knowing how u guys managed with so many diffident activities.

 

[ttintagel]

ttintagel,
I noticed your comment about using polyskin with your ominpod....This summer I started reacting to the adhesive on the ominpod....huge itchy blisters. Does the polyskin help???

Yes! I had the same trouble, both with the Omnipod and Silhouette. Polyskin helped with both.

 

[CKCruising]

I find the Skin Tac (I get mine from Animas with my pump supplies) works the best. With the Skin Tac, I've caught my pump on a doorknob and pulled it off my belt rather than pulling the site off.

I've tried Skin Prep and IV solutions, but they didn't work.

 

[melancholywings]

What are the sticky wipes called that make the skin sticky? The last couple of weeks we've started having trouble with the pod falling off.

 

[buffettgirl]

What are the sticky wipes called that make the skin sticky? The last couple of weeks we've started having trouble with the pod falling off.

skin tac is what we use.