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Permalink Reply by acidrock23 on May 27, 2012 at 6:23am

I haven't noticed any "adrenaline" spikes from roller coasters or anything like that. Then again, I'm 44? Most of our recent trips have been to Disneyland but we also hit Six Flags near Chicago every now and then. Usually the marching around leaves me munching a lot of garbage all day. I agree a basal cut, maybe 70-85% of regular would be a good idea.

I usually bring my own jelly bean stash. I think that many of the parks prohibit bringing your own food so if you'd want to bring sandwiches, or whatever, you might get some static from security? I haven't had any problem with that ever though.

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Permalink Reply by Jim on May 27, 2012 at 7:29am

No better way to ruin a trip to six flags then to be dealing with low bg all day long. So a temp rate might be good. I would choose to run a little high than trying to maintain the perfect BG level that day.

What I might do is ask him to get there and run around for an hour or so and then test to see what way he is trending to get a baseline. If he's running steady or a little higher, your temp basal guess is probably good. If you guessed wrong and he is trending lower than you want then you might have a new predetermined lower temp rate.

Also I'm sure you have other experience with similar activity (e.g. an afternoon of hiking) that I'm sure you could use as a starting point for your plan.

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Permalink Reply by AustinMom on May 27, 2012 at 8:03am

We've had two of 6 Flags field trips since my son was diagnosed - one without the pump and the most recent one with the pump. He also went once with a friend. He was remarkably stable all three times with near perfect sugars. There didn't seem to be an adrenaline effect and the walking didn't seem to drop him - maybe they counterbalanced one another?

I had him text me his number at agreed upon times, made sure he had stuff for lows with him, made sure he had cash in case he needed to buy food, and made sure at least one friend in his group knew what to do in the event he needed help. He also didn't eat a ton of junk food while he was there, so that helped, too.

I don't know much about the electronics of the Omnipod, but the Ping says it should not go on any rides with magnets (such as those ones that let you free fall and then stop before you hit the bottom) and that it can go on roller coasters but should be disconnected. I asked Animas of they have ever had known problems with insulin delivery on coasters, and they said not that they know of but it is technically possible, so for an abundance of caution, disconnect. I know a lot of people don't follow that guideline. You might see what the guidelines are for the Omnipod, so you can plan accordingly.

Equip your son with good tools and good information, make a plan, then relax and let him enjoy the day!

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Permalink Reply by Jacob's mom on May 27, 2012 at 11:41am

sounds good! thanks for the reassuring advise!

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Permalink Reply by sweet livy loo's mom on May 31, 2012 at 12:56pm

I think you have the right idea to lower his basal rate...better high than low! I hope he has a great time!

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Permalink Reply by Stuart on May 31, 2012 at 9:49pm

This one is easy...

Let the boy run a little higher than normal... maybe 20% higher, as if he was intensely exercising. That will give you/him the buffer which his body will have to literally walk through before any worries about lows can ever surface.

You don't care much about "highs" we can hammer them back into place. Lows, far more dangerous suddenly. Make sure he covers whatever garbage he ends up eating CONSERVATIVELY. Don't over do the garbage eating...

Pssst if , if he does get regular soda, get the BOTTLES of it. The fountain stuff can be severely watered down between the mixture-ratio of carbinated water to syrup. Be real careful (go very very lite "covering" it) if he gets soda from the fountain(s) instead of in a bottle(s).

Stuart

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