# Looks like I will be having a pump



## Bessiemay (May 21, 2015)

i haven't been around much lately as my husband has a nasty illness and will be starting treatment next week. In the meantime the DSN gave me a week with a CGM to try and find out what is going on with my random levels. Apart from anything else it seems I have been going hypo during the night without knowing. I had a pump assessment yesterday and will be trying a saline pump just to see if I can bear it and if so the doc said he will request funding. I realise it may be a while but I find I have changed my thinking from 'I couldn't possibly deal with all that complicated stuff' to this could be the way to get my BS sorted. Have been reading posts on this board and I am looking forward to it. Many thanks for the information given to others.


----------



## KookyCat (May 22, 2015)

Great news Bessiemay, getting to try it out as it were should help to make the decision


----------



## Northerner (May 22, 2015)

Good luck Bessiemay, I hope the trial works out well for you  Good luck to your hubby too, I hope his treatment is successful and that he is back to full health very soon


----------



## Pumper_Sue (May 22, 2015)

Bessiemay said:


> i haven't been around much lately as my husband has a nasty illness and will be starting treatment next week. In the meantime the DSN gave me a week with a CGM to try and find out what is going on with my random levels. Apart from anything else it seems I have been going hypo during the night without knowing. I had a pump assessment yesterday and will be trying a saline pump just to see if I can bear it and if so the doc said he will request funding. I realise it may be a while but I find I have changed my thinking from 'I couldn't possibly deal with all that complicated stuff' to this could be the way to get my BS sorted. Have been reading posts on this board and I am looking forward to it. Many thanks for the information given to others.



Good luck, you will be fine. The pump is self explanatory though as instructions appear on the screen.
Buy yourself the book pumping insulin by John Walsh (amazon)
I hope your husband is soon on the way to recovery as well.


----------



## HOBIE (May 22, 2015)

Bessiemay said:


> i haven't been around much lately as my husband has a nasty illness and will be starting treatment next week. In the meantime the DSN gave me a week with a CGM to try and find out what is going on with my random levels. Apart from anything else it seems I have been going hypo during the night without knowing. I had a pump assessment yesterday and will be trying a saline pump just to see if I can bear it and if so the doc said he will request funding. I realise it may be a while but I find I have changed my thinking from 'I couldn't possibly deal with all that complicated stuff' to this could be the way to get my BS sorted. Have been reading posts on this board and I am looking forward to it. Many thanks for the information given to others.



Once you get used to it "Wild Horses" would not get it off me . Hope hubby on the mend & please tell him we were asking after him. Good luck


----------



## Flower (May 22, 2015)

I hope your saline trial goes well Bessiemay and you feel a pump is something you would be happy to use  I hope your husband starts to improve soon with his treatment. Good luck


----------



## trophywench (May 22, 2015)

They always sound are lot more difficult than they actually are - we merrily talk about such things as TBRs and multiwave boluses all the time - but they are just 'extra features' you get with them - and jolly useful things to have as add-ons - once you've got used to all the ordinary stuff.  Which is basically not that much different to MDI, it's just the delivery of the insulin that's different - and if nothing else at all, it saves you having to affix a needle and deciding where to stick it 5 times a day!

The first times any of us used these extra features - it was not without trepidation, I can tell you.  But it works !  LOL

And the pump itself is not half as awkward as you think it might be.

Hope it all goes well !


----------



## Bessiemay (May 22, 2015)

Thank you all for your replies and also for your good wishes for my OH. I will certainly buy the book you recommend Sue. It's the enthusiasm that most people on here have for their pumps that encourages me.


----------



## Copepod (May 22, 2015)

Hope all goes well with your trial. Sounds a good idea to check you can tolerate the pump box and tubing before relying on it for insulin administration.


----------



## AJLang (May 23, 2015)

I hope that you get on well with the pump.  I was anti pump but TrophyWench persuaded me to apply for one and it is the best thing that I have ever done I hope that your husband's treatment works really well x


----------



## Pumper_Sue (May 23, 2015)

Bessiemay said:


> Thank you all for your replies and also for your good wishes for my OH. I will certainly buy the book you recommend Sue. It's the enthusiasm that most people on here have for their pumps that encourages me.



To start with in can be a bit fraught  TW was tempted to hurl her pump off of the top of a multi storey at one point. Once the teething problems are sorted things are def better and no quite so much work. Just don't expect miracles to star with lol.


----------



## Bessiemay (Jun 10, 2015)

I've now got my trial pump for a couple of weeks to see if I like it ( I do ) I'm pleased it's only saline in it or I probably wouldn't be here by now! I have been told that there will be 6 pumps to choose from so I will give this one a few days before I say yes and get all the names. I remember the insight and omnipod which I've read about on here with good reviews so that's a start. She did say that the ones with cgms wouldn't have the CGM part funded. Is that normal or just that I don't fit the criteria. It's good to see all the posts from enthusiastic pumpers.


----------



## Pumper_Sue (Jun 10, 2015)

Bessiemay said:


> I've now got my trial pump for a couple of weeks to see if I like it ( I do ) I'm pleased it's only saline in it or I probably wouldn't be here by now! I have been told that there will be 6 pumps to choose from so I will give this one a few days before I say yes and get all the names. I remember the insight and omnipod which I've read about on here with good reviews so that's a start. She did say that the ones with cgms wouldn't have the CGM part funded. Is that normal or just that I don't fit the criteria. It's good to see all the posts from enthusiastic pumpers.



Hi Bessiemay,
glad you are happy playing with the trial pump 
Pumps on offer are the
Omnipod 
Animas Vibe (CGM)
Medtronic (CGM)
Roche insight This only uses a certain cannula and only takes novarapid
DanaR
Can't think of no 6 sorry.

CGM is very difficult to get funded so no it's nothing to do with you personally.
If you want a CGM though the cheapest option is to go for the Animas Vibe as many people can get the sensors to last weeks rather than the 6 -8 days from Medtronic.
Hope that helps a bit


----------



## Bessiemay (Jun 10, 2015)

Thanks Sue I will have a look to see if there are reviews. I like the sound of the insight because of reviews.


----------



## trophywench (Jun 11, 2015)

Sue _ I remember it well - and it hasn't ever surprised me to read that various people who I regard as fairly normal, intelligent people 'like me' - have nearly ALL gone through the same thing that I did.

Perhaps I sounded a bit extra forlorn about it at the time Sue? - at that time 4+ years ago it was only a couple of years really since I'd recovered from having a complete mental breakdown  - which I now lay firmly at the door of a number of things at the time, the straw that actually broke this camel's back being the terrible affect that statins had on my brain - so when I found this here pump thing didn't appear to be complying with the diabetes intuition I'd gained over the previous 3+ decades - I really felt the wind , which I'd only just managed to regain again - had been taken out of my sails - and I DID feel like chucking it in the bin.

BUT when I actually sat down and had a talk to myself using logic - instead of emotion - and asked myself if I REALLY wanted to be beaten by a few bits of plastic and some electronics - of course the answer was a very definite NO !!  Which was the point when I said to you, Sue - Thanks - but No thanks - this is something I NEED to work through on my OWN.  Essential for my own sanity - any benefit to my diabetes was almost secondary really - just an added bonus - should it actually benefit at all !

Well it did benefit.  And it still does !!  I'm now on under 9u a day of basal - instead of 18 or 20u.  My A1c continues to hover at high 6s, sometimes like 7.1 - today's result was 52 - and I can't say I've been trying that hard, frankly, due to various 'just life' reasons my eye has been quite off the diabetes ball.  I'm happy with that, it seems to suit me.  Hypos are rare, and frustratingly usually because I'm late eating in the evening and just forget to allow for it - but we're only talking middle 3s anyway - not dangerous ones.

It's just mind over matter sometimes, Bessie - but it IS logical - every bit of it - so you WILL get there - but only if YOU want to !


----------



## Bessiemay (Jun 11, 2015)

Gosh Jenny ( my name is Jenny too, I can never think of user names until after I've done it.) That is an inspirational story and I am so pleased to hear that you beat it and your levels, to me, sound great. Thank you for sharing. I realise it won't be without effort and I really feel I have no alternative so I am looking forward to starting for real.


----------



## ingrid (Jun 11, 2015)

Great news and all the best for hubby's treatment and health.

Just to add I never had a meltdown period with pumpie but then I have flatliner basal rates (same amount each hour) so my basals were easy to sort which makes other settings and twiddling around much more straightforward. Also to add I'm on Animas Vibe (like Sue) & love it  it has its irritations but none of them are perfect ;-) all have their little idiosyncrasies. In case it's a factor for you, the Vibe doesn't have a remote control/meter thingy, you have to access it directly.

Good luck with everything, you won't regret it!


----------



## trophywench (Jun 11, 2015)

I'd miss the handset so much if I had a pump without one.

You know the 640G, does it 'pick up' your BG from your meter - or do you have to use your meter and then tell the pump the answer? - see I love having it all in one place, and hitting the 'Deliver' button without getting El Pumpo out of wherever it's residing that day!


----------



## Pumper_Sue (Jun 11, 2015)

ingrid said:


> Great news and all the best for hubby's treatment and health.
> 
> Just to add I never had a meltdown period with pumpie but then I have flatliner basal rates (same amount each hour) so my basals were easy to sort which makes other settings and twiddling around much more straightforward. Also to add I'm on Animas Vibe (like Sue) & love it  it has its irritations but none of them are perfect ;-) all have their little idiosyncrasies. In case it's a factor for you, the Vibe doesn't have a remote control/meter thingy, you have to access it directly.
> 
> Good luck with everything, you won't regret it!



Not having a remote is a God send as one less thing to go wrong


----------



## Bessiemay (Jun 11, 2015)

Ingrid thank you for your good wishes for my hubby. He is going on ok. Pleased to hear you adapted to your pump so well. I expect trouble because it's so erratic now on MDI but who knows. 

I quite like the idea of a remote control but I will definitely need a bigger handbag.  I noticed there's a sale at Kipling Kookykat


----------



## trophywench (Jun 11, 2015)

LOL Bessiemay!  (I always wonder, whenever I see your name, whether you HAVE, yet, or not?)  (since you say you MAY do it LOL) (bit like 'Barkis is willing'?)

Well I already carried my meter in my handbag wherever I went - since they were the size of half a housebrick  - so no difference for me! (in its case with the strips and the bodger)


----------



## AJLang (Jun 12, 2015)

Bessiemay said:


> Ingrid thank you for your good wishes for my hubby. He is going on ok. Pleased to hear you adapted to your pump so well. I expect trouble because it's so erratic now on MDI but who knows.
> 
> I quite like the idea of a remote control but I will definitely need a bigger handbag.  I noticed there's a sale at Kipling Kookykat



Hi Bessiemay my levels were also very erratic on MDI, due to the effects of gastroparesis. Since I've had the pump it has made the world of difference to me. I have the Accuchek Combo and find the remote invaluable.


----------



## Bessiemay (Jun 12, 2015)

trophywench said:


> LOL Bessiemay!  (I always wonder, whenever I see your name, whether you HAVE, yet, or not?)  (since you say you MAY do it LOL) (bit like 'Barkis is willing'?)
> 
> Well I already carried my meter in my handbag wherever I went - since they were the size of half a housebrick  - so no difference for me! (in its case with the strips and the bodger)


Sorry, yes I said yes and the consultant is requesting funding. I didn't ask the timescale but I guess it will be a while. Looking forward to it anyway. Not sure which one but like the sound of the insight.  I used to have a mobile phone like a brick and thought it was wonderful at the time.


----------



## Bessiemay (Jun 12, 2015)

AJLang said:


> Hi Bessiemay my levels were also very erratic on MDI, due to the effects of gastroparesis. Since I've had the pump it has made the world of difference to me. I have the Accuchek Combo and find the remote invaluable.


Thanks AJ it's comforting to hear these success stories.  The trial one that I have is the combo but there isn't a remote with it.  Nice though.


----------



## trophywench (Jun 12, 2015)

LOL - so was the one I had! - but tell you what, I still use the 'Quick Bolus' feature direct on the pump if say I just decide I will have that piece of fruit after dinner or that biscuit with a cup of coffee, without bothering to test as I've not that long ago done so anyway.

It's OK, cos when you next turn the meter on, providing you go to 'MY Data' on the menu it picks up the 'jab' and you can then modify that reading to add the carb value you ate, otherwise the meter will just think you had 2u for no reason 2 hours ago so will knock the 'insulin on board' off the next calculation it does for you.  Or of course you can alter the dose yourself if you don't agree with it - but it's MUCH safer to get in the habit of doing it properly and sorting that entry out, before you ask it to calculate the next dose you need.


----------



## Bessiemay (Jun 12, 2015)

trophywench said:


> LOL - so was the one I had! - but tell you what, I still use the 'Quick Bolus' feature direct on the pump if say I just decide I will have that piece of fruit after dinner or that biscuit with a cup of coffee, without bothering to test as I've not that long ago done so anyway.
> 
> It's OK, cos when you next turn the meter on, providing you go to 'MY Data' on the menu it picks up the 'jab' and you can then modify that reading to add the carb value you ate, otherwise the meter will just think you had 2u for no reason 2 hours ago so will knock the 'insulin on board' off the next calculation it does for you.  Or of course you can alter the dose yourself if you don't agree with it - but it's MUCH safer to get in the habit of doing it properly and sorting that entry out, before you ask it to calculate the next dose you need.


Trophywench which pump do you have


----------



## trophywench (Jun 13, 2015)

The Combo Jenny! - just waiting for my new Insight to replace it !


----------



## Bessiemay (Jun 13, 2015)

trophywench said:


> The Combo Jenny! - just waiting for my new Insight to replace it !


Aha another seasoned pumper moving to the insight. Look forward to hearing your reports


----------

