support for parents
Technology's and diabetes
Is it necessary to follow the technology’s pace in diabetes?
Are you the type to own the latest iPhone, connected to your Apple Watch 6?
Do you survive in teleworking mode with your MacBook Pro and have asked for airpods for Christmas?
Do you know many of these people who live at the pace of technology and get the brand-new model as soon as it becomes available? Some may need it, but most people manage to do their jobs well with a very ordinary computer!
While some people will always aspire to expensive technology, others will never buy the newest models from the giants of the market.
Products in the field of diabetes have particularly evolved in the last few years and this, at a great speed! Not a week goes by without announcing a longer-acting insulin, a new pump that works with more autonomy or an insulin pen that remembers the last dose injected better than you do. What about the new, thinner, continuous glucose meter, the glucose meter that requires even less blood and the glucagon that you don’t even need to inject anymore! When all people with diabetes and their parents are waiting for the day when a cure is announced, pharmaceutical companies dream of the day when they will announce a product that will perform even better. Competition is sometimes fierce.
The evolution of products for
diabetics is extremely rapid
Although we can appreciate the arrival of this technology that (sometimes) lightens the burden of this condition, it is quite a challenge to find one’s way around it. Keeping up to date in the field of diabetes is virtually impossible for a person with diabetes. When it’s not your budget or insurance that’s holding you back, it’s the contract you signed that may be preventing you from having access to the latest developments. Many parents also wonder about the best products, while others are left wondering when their teenager flatly refuses their offer to use the latest model of diabetes management technology. After all, some diabetics feel good in their good, old-fashioned shoes.
Should we be less technological? Is it normal as a parent to be unable to keep up with the rapid changes in the field? Should we follow the “fad” of diabetes? If I feel comfortable with my insulin pens, should I look for something else? Should we force a blood glucose meter on the teenager who doesn’t want one? How can we as parents ensure that we are offering the best, to the best of our ability (because here we sometimes talk about expensive technology)? We could talk about this at great length, but the answer is probably not the same for everyone!
What do your kids think?
In fact, to find out how to answer these questions, it’s usually enough to ask our children who are probably sitting in front of the TV right now or doing their homework! When discouraged parents approach me on the subject, my answer is simple: What does your child want? Yes, as a parent, you may want to get the latest (best) technology for your child, but if it’s not used enough, what good will it do? If the child doesn’t like his pump because you chose it for options that YOU found convenient, it will probably be for him/her hard to live with. Of course, deciding with your child, no matter what it is, must be an informed decision! And don’t think he’s too young to take part in it! Involve him in the decisions, look at the different options with him. Oh, of course, you can always try to influence him, they are so easily influenced, take advantage of it! Make them choose, listen to what they have to say, take advantage of the trial periods of certain companies, because, after all, they are the ones who use them and live with all these new imposed gadgets!
Remember that the arrival of diabetes in their little lives brings a LOT of things that you can’t control. Sometimes choosing not to use a pump is a way for them to keep some control.
Meeting with other young people means deciding for other technologies
If you can do so, don’t hesitate to send your children to places like camp diabetic children’s camps or have them participate in F faites-les participer aux Fred’s activities, this will allow them to meet other young people. They will understand each other, they often influence each other positively, they explain things to each other with simple words. Nothing better than a friend your age to convince you that you need the coolest pump that goes in the pool!
diabetic children’s camps or have them participate in Fred‘s activities, this will allow them to meet other young people. They will understand each other, they often influence each other positively, they explain things to each other with simple words. Nothing better than a friend your age to convince you that you need the coolest pump that goes in the pool!
When it comes to offering the best, the best is simply what meets your need, what makes you feel good and functional. I’ve seen many kids achieve very acceptable glycated hemoglobin results with a good old-fashioned method, but I’ve also seen kids hooked up to all the latest technology that had results that were, let’s say, not quite optimal.
You know what? That’s the beauty of this disease, there are dozens of possible combinations, because every diabetic I meet is different and unique. Precisely, they all use different combinations for their treatment, and they are all as fantastic as each other! Diversity and free choice is what makes our community so beautiful!
Source
By Andréane Vanasse
Aka Milimole at Camp Carowanis
Head nurse
