Changing pump possibility

[bonerp]

Is there a market for second hand pumps??

Reason I ask is that recently I have discovered that although I signed up to a 4 year deal on a spirit pump over 3 years ago, Roche changed the terms to 6 yrs! Apparently this because they changed their set up for 4 yrs for 1 pump or 6 yrs for the spare pump deal. I had the spare pump.

I'm pretty miffed about this especially as they didnt even tell me! Also as technology changes so fast, its like being stuck with a mobile phone for these new long 2 yr contracts. Very old hat in now time at all.

I now see the mega benefit of built in CSMS like the medtronic set up. Especially as I have quite severe retinopathy and this new tech would help loads.

Medtronic have offered me a £££ value to change now. To be fair, its outside of my budget. I'd be happy to contribute maybe up to £1500 but they want a lot more than that.

So back to the original question. I have a spirit and the spare pump. Are they worth anything to anyone?

cheers
Paul

 

[jopar]

Hi Paul

Several problems with selling your pump..

One insulin pumps are Precriptions only.... So can't be sold on or given away!

The warranty isn't transferable...

And if your pump has been funded by your PCT, then it actually doesn't belong to you, but you are loaning it from your PCT!

If your pump suffers failures you will now be supplied with the newer Combo pump, which is a fast improvement on the old spirtit indeed, if you get the handset but if you are having a pump replaced under warranty then the handset will set you back £120 unless your clinic will fund it for you..

Another choice is to buy a CGM standalone such as the Dexcom (which is said to be very reliable, and more accurate than the medtronic!)

 

[bonerp]

Thanks - I'll look at the Dexcom. Not after one where you have to download the results after the event though..

Medtronic do one that is attached for up to 7 days then you download the info. This is just not useable in my eyes. You'd have to keep masses of info then workout what caused the results given! Realtime is the only way in my mind.

Interestingly Accu-Chek will not upgrade to the Combo. I've asked repeatedly whether they would as a result of a fault or upgrade deal.

Not really interest in the Combo - its a poor attempt to keep up with a moving market. It does nothing more than my current test meter and brain will do.

cheers for info
Paul

 

[bonerp]

Interesting CGMS and read up on a very detailed review on here. However £60 for 7 days worth using one sensor is just too waaaaay to expensive. I can live with £30 - £40 like the medtronic sensors but £60 gets expensive over a year. Also the size of the sensor looks huge.

Maybe I'll have to just wait for my ridiculous 6 year deal to expire on my spirit. I certainly would not have used the spirit if this was the actual deal at the time of taking the pump out.

 

[sugar2]

Hello,

I thought that CGM, is, for all but small children, and people who are really severly affected by swings in blood sugar ( I have just read about a girl who spent 3 years in hospital before they satabalised her enough to let her come home...and she still has to go back over niight.. the poor thing!) was something that you would use on occasional basis? I agree, real time would be fantastic...as would a pump that would react to teh data, but I don't think we are there yet. Doin a cgm session for 7 days would give lots of data about a typical week, but personally, I can't see it telling you anything that rigourous monitoring wouldn't...well, not yet anyway.

Liek Jopar says, if your pump belongs to the PCT, then I guess you are stuck with it....but, to go back to your analogy, at least you have a phone...although it may be a brick.

My PCT do not give you a choice of pumps by the way...so if you got a choice, then you are lucky :mrgreen: (nearest I could find to a jealous that you got a choice smiley!)

 

[bonerp]

I diasgree that CGMS doesn't provide anything more than regular testing does. I have used the downloadable cgms from the hospital and it gives a good insight as to what goes on at night for instance, when testing isn't so practical. However again the issue is that you wear it for 3/4 days then see what happened.

If I purchased one, it would only get used for a week a month or when I was ill or had poor control. Espcially at £60 a pop!!! The good thing is that I know a few people and mates that could also benefit from sharing it.

Apparently the pumps with built in cgms are nearly there (I've been told that this may be within the next 18 months - I believe one partially does this already and is great for kids at night) with changing doses based on ranges set up in the config. So effectively it will enable the pump to control hypos and highs with less need to manually control them. Fab or what?!

Maybe I should just wait for this.....I just hope my retinopathy doesnt get much worse in this time though. This is my thinking - I would rather pay myself now to have this extra control. My eyes are a bit special to me :wink:

 

[MushyPeaBrain]

Bonerp have you looked at taking Pycnogenol to help your retinopathy?

About a decade ago I was diagnosed with retinopathy in my left eye and had laser in it. During a check up for that they discovered retinopathy in my right eye too. They pushed me to have laser right away and a locum performed it. He lasered the centre of the eye by mistake and caused a macular tear and retinal detachment. They didn't tell me what he had done and tried to fob me off. Eventually they performed a vitrectomy while I still had some sight and bodged that, causing me to go blind. They also ripped the muscle in my eyelid and spilt oil on my lens disfiguring my eye

Now the eye they messed up was the better eye so you can understand I want to hold on to the sight in my other eye. After months of research I came across Pycnogenol and studies in the states that prove it can halt and sometimes reverse retinopathy (this is only if VERY mild with reversal). I started taking it and didn't tell my eye doctor. He was amazed my eye stabalised and is still going strong. We don't know what the future holds as I've had all the laser possible in that eye but for now so far so good.

It might not be the Pycnogenol at all but if I stop taking it I notice a slight difference in my vision. I buy mine from Holland & Barratt as you need to make sure you get the real stuff. Don't take my word for it - research it yourself!!

 

[bonerp]

thanks MPB I will look into that. I use Bilberry extract, and take grapeseed extract and Lutein for mine. Right eye is a bit dodgy but not as dodgy as the left was last year!

Since the Vitrectomy in my left eye, the vision is much much clearer (I saw nothing from it for 6 weeks!) and is now more stable, but I have lost a quadrant of vision - if someone stands just behind my left shoulder I can't see them.

thanks again.
Paul

 

[iHs]

This is going away a bit from what this thread is all about, but I've used vitamin B1- 100mg since 2007 when I got told that I had the start of some blood vessel damage to my right eye.

Through worry I did tighten up my control and started to test 6 times a day instead of just 4 and then altered my carb intake so that my bg levels were running on a more even line through the day. Within 6 months the background retinopathy had cleared but this is due I think to 2 things - better bg levels and taking Thiamine (tablet form) every night before bed. I haven't looked back and still take the Thiamine.

This site gives news of the latest drug therapy for retinopathy and also mentions Thiamine.
www.diabeticeyes.com/whatsnew.htm

 

[ruralweb]

I would not get too excited about the Medtronic CGM which works with the Veo pump. Its a different beast to the one you wear for several days.

The one that connects to the pump needs changing every 3 days as the reagent it uses becomes causes inaccuracies after that time. Even when new it needs calibrating every 6 hours and can drift off quickly eg reading 3 when the correct BG is 12. Medtronic say its NOT to be used for calculating insulin doses so you still need to do blood tests and its very intensive to work with - may be OK for an adult but impossible to use with a child as the controls are all on the pump rather than on a remote.

IMO CGM is not there yet and the advertisment Medtronic use with the child sleeping is very missleading. We gave the medtronic system back to the PCT and now use the Accu check combo which is vastly superior IMO. Accu Check have a CGM system almost ready for the market but they say they will not release it until it works 100%

 

[bonerp]

I am seeing my accu-chek nurse at pump clinic this week so will ask her about this....

Had a chat with Dexcom consultant yesterday and may give this a go - will cost me £250 every coupld of months though :shock: . Hopefully it will be useful for a couple of years twice a month, until pump is up for renewal. By then something slicker will come along and be more integrated into a pump and be more accurate.

 

[sugar2]

Best of luck! Let us know how you get on with it.