# Broken pump



## AJLang (Dec 4, 2013)

My Accu Chek Combo is only a year old but yesterday the piston completely stopped working when I tried to do a cartridge change.  I had told them four weeks ago that there was something wrong with the piston but they said that it wasn't a problem. I've got to wait until tomorrow for my replacement.


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## Hanmillmum (Dec 4, 2013)

Oh no! How are you managing BG's in the meantime? We were sent a replacement in Sept exactly 3 years on but nothing wrong with pump, they just thought there could potentially be a problem with the motor. We carried on as normal with old pump and just swapped when it arrived next day.  

Good luck, remember to record all yr basals down


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## AJLang (Dec 4, 2013)

Thanks Hanmillmum. It has been a bit of a nightmare.  I went back onto the levemir straightaway but have had to bolus approx 10times since yesterday evening.  Fortunately the basal rates were still on the handheld so we've written them down. I can't wait to get the new pump. I'm just glad this didn't happen at Christmas


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## Hanmillmum (Dec 4, 2013)

AJLang said:


> Thanks Hanmillmum. It has been a bit of a nightmare.  I went back onto the levemir straightaway but have had to bolus approx 10times since yesterday evening.  Fortunately the basal rates were still on the handheld so we've written them down. I can't wait to get the new pump. I'm just glad this didn't happen at Christmas



Sounds like a nightmare, I would feel completely out of my depth going back to injections as we never had MDI experience before pump, just mixes. Pleased you had your rates to write down - pheww!! 

Let's hope tomorrow comes quickly for you


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## trophywench (Dec 4, 2013)

Mine did exactly the same a fortnight ago Amanda!  Had mine May 2011.

Just managed on Novorapid overnight and it wasn't actually THAT bad sans basal, but then I have tiny basal needs (TDD 9u and it was mid afternoon when it conked) so next morning by 9am it was here.

Took me about 45 minutes to start from scratch again! but I did have to get the manual up on the internet to remind me which bits do do in which order - it's available on the Roche website, in my 'My Accu-Chek'.


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## AJLang (Dec 4, 2013)

Hi Jenny sorry to hear that you've had this problem as well. Thanks for telling me where to find the manual.  I had 24 units of levemir 5.30 last night and another 10 this morning.  I will do the levemir again tonight But not in the morning. I hope that my pump arrives nice and early.


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## AJLang (Dec 4, 2013)

Hanmillmum said:


> Sounds like a nightmare, I would feel completely out of my depth going back to injections as we never had MDI experience before pump, just mixes. Pleased you had your rates to write down - pheww!!
> 
> Let's hope tomorrow comes quickly for you


Thank you.
It's good to have a basal insulin - levemir or lantus - in stock in case the pump breaks down.  I found guidance on the Internet which said what you should do with regard to insulin  if the pump breaks for any reason.


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## Redkite (Dec 4, 2013)

Oh no!  Hope the new one arrives quickly so that you can be up and running again.  We do keep stocks of levemir in the fridge but I'd HATE for him to have to go back on it.  If it was going to be less than 24 hours I think we'd cover with frequent injections of novorapid.


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## AJLang (Dec 4, 2013)

Thanks Redkite. I was reluctant about the levemir but have to be careful with how much I bolus and when because of the gastroparesis - even with the levemir and boluses at 9pm and 12am I was 14 at 3am - but fortunately that was the highest that it went.  I'm just really glad that it's happened over a time when I don't need to leave the house on my own


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## trophywench (Dec 4, 2013)

Yep - we are off a long holiday just before Xmas!  OK once we get there we'll be in one place for quite a while but we'll be travelling a week to get there and over a week coming back (could do it in a couple or 3 days if we did silly mileage but it's quite nice to see some of the countries you are passing through - instead of 'if this is Tuesday it must be Rome' sort of thing!)

So it could be an absolute PITA whilst travelling.

I hope I never find out how much of one!


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## AJLang (Dec 5, 2013)

trophywench said:


> Yep - we are off a long holiday just before Xmas!  OK once we get there we'll be in one place for quite a while but we'll be travelling a week to get there and over a week coming back (could do it in a couple or 3 days if we did silly mileage but it's quite nice to see some of the countries you are passing through - instead of 'if this is Tuesday it must be Rome' sort of thing!)
> 
> So it could be an absolute PITA whilst travelling.
> 
> I hope I never find out how much of one!


I hope that you never find out as well!  Pump arrived just after 7.30 am and is now up and running thanks to staying calm whilst we set it up whilst I was panicking I will keep a very careful on BGs today because of the levemir that I injected last night.


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## everydayupsanddowns (Dec 5, 2013)

Glad your replacement pump has arrived now AJ

Hope that Lev doesn't cause you too many wobbles.


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## Pattidevans (Dec 5, 2013)

The fact that you both had the same problem with the Combo pump makes me a bit nervous since I've just gone onto it.  I wonder how many peeps have had piston failure with it and if it's a known issue?


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## Hanmillmum (Dec 5, 2013)

Pleased you have your replacement sorted Amanda - fingers crossed for some smooth running


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## Pumper_Sue (Dec 5, 2013)

Pattidevans said:


> The fact that you both had the same problem with the Combo pump makes me a bit nervous since I've just gone onto it.  I wonder how many peeps have had piston failure with it and if it's a known issue?



Hi Patti, any pump can go wrong at any time or not as the case may be. You just have to remember it's a piece of electronic gadgetry and make sure you have your pump setting up to date at all times.
As I understand it the combo and animas plus Medtronic have the potential to have the piston go. My pump has just been replaced due to it losing time, which obviously affects the basal.


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## Pattidevans (Dec 5, 2013)

Thanks Sue I am keeping my settings and records on my PC so I can reconstruct stuff.  Not that it's optimum by any means yet!


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## AJLang (Dec 8, 2013)

I have to admit that I went into melt down when my pump first broke BUT it wasn't as bad as thought it would be. I went back onto Levemir - for the first 12 hours had to do corrections but managed to keep it between 8-14. I had my last Levemir injection Wednesday night and went back on the pump the next morning. I did have to feed the insulin for the first twelve hours whilst the Levemir was still  working but alternatively could have used a TBR.  I woke up Friday morning nicely in the 5's. Even with the pump breaking I wouldn't swap the pump for anything - but if I'm going anywhere for 12 hours or more I would make sure that I've got levemir with me and the stuff for bolus injections


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## Pattidevans (Dec 9, 2013)

Well done Amanda!


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## trophywench (Dec 9, 2013)

Glad it was sorted so quickly and comparatively painlessly Amanda.


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