[FIRSTS] Liam changed out his POD including extracting insulin (11/22/23)

We usually race…him taking off the old POD, cleaning the site and putting the Neosporin & bandaid on while i prime the new POD and get it ready.

Over the past month he started expressing interest in learning how to do it all so I’ve been working with him on the toughest part…getting the insulin out and removing the air bubbles.

Tonight, I wasn’t home and he was playing with his younger brother and it got ripped off. He asked me what he should do. I asked him if he believed he’s able to do everything alone or if he needs to get mama involved. He said he wants to do everything, then proceeded to change it out himself and had zero issues from start to finish!

One more step toward complete self management! I have never been about rushing him…when he feels he’s ready, I teach him a bit more. I want desperately to avoid burn out for him and undue stress, as a child. Any stress to be had, I want to shoulder it.

Kudos to Liam!

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Kudus to Dad and Liam, your approach is just right. If it won’t swell his head to much for his cap, tell Liam we are proud of him.

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Congrats to Liam!

:star_struck:

These are great milestones to celebrate. My parents kept the first syringe where I did it all by myself. My mom still has it!

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Great idea!

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Good for him! Taking one more step toward independence! Also congrats to parents teaching him how to do it!

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That’s wonderful! Good for Liam. There’s that fine line where he will have to learn, and he needs to learn just for when those things happen. And then not wanting to make life any harder on him as a kid. I think you handled it like a champ!

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Wow! What brand syringe? Mine may have been monoject, later BD.

I did it all myself when my Grandparents invited the “older” kids to stay with them a few days. I was told I could go if I did my own injection. At the time, I think I was still on single lente per day. (I am #4 of 8).

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Mine was a single injection of NPH and what was called “Regular”. Either pork or beef, just depended on what they had.

I used both BD and the monoject brand syringes. I think my first was BD.

Interestingly, I’m still using BD now.

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Agreed! I want my son to be ready for the tough world out there, have those setbacks and difficult experiences, let him fall and get back up, learn it all, so he can succeed in life … but, when it comes to having T1D at his young age, I wish so much I could just swap my functioning pancreas with his and take all the burden off him.

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