Applied for Pump Approval..What's next?

[sgrtron]

I've been a T1D for over a year now and was interested in pumping, so I spoke to my team. I am currently on MDIs and have attended pump clinic apptmnts.. and my DSN team have applied for funding for an insulin pump!! yay i pray it gets approved! ^__^ for current pumpers..i have a few questions how soon from applying for funding did you receive confirmation for the pump? ive been told by the end of this season-ish and my team were quite positive



how long did it take to get used to the pump? I've also researched insurance and have come across insurance4insulinpumps- anyone insured with them? and any other insurer recommendations? many thanks for responses ^_^



oh and one last question..with MDIs my short acting is novorapid, and I understand with the pump one type of insulin is used in the cartridge for both bolusing and basal rates. With MDIs there's a waiting period of 2 hours or so after eating whereby you can't eat any carbs until the insulin 'peak' has lowered and sufficiently completed its processes ( and the insulin leaves the system after 5 hours). With the pump, I've read that it's possible to tweak basal rates with boluses so the 'eating window' can be more spread out? any pointers on this topic would also be appreciated

 

[Juicyj]

Hi @sgrtron I got my pump in January, still getting used to tweaking my settings, it's an ongoing process, don't expect miracles as it does take alot of work from both you and your DSN to manage the settings and fine tune, even then there will still be ongoing tweaks. The quick acting acts as both basal and bolus, so on the pump there are 2 settings for both, the basal is being constantly fed through the pump so acting as the pancreas would in regulating glucose levels in the body, then the bolus is the adjustment for carbs eaten. The bolus can be operated in a way that it will extend the duration of the bolus given to cover food that is higher in fat and slower to absorb, so for instance if you wanted a pizza it will administer a dose over a prolonged period to prevent the effects of running higher BG levels say 3-4 hours after eating, quite useful if you like to eat pizza or a take away.

Doing as much as you can while you wait will help knowledge build and get you on track quickly with your self management, good luck

 

[noblehead]

how soon from applying for funding did you receive confirmation for the pump?

I think it was around 2-3 months, from approval to actually pumping insulin it took 3 months.

how long did it take to get used to the pump? I've also researched insurance and have come across insurance4insulinpumps- anyone insured with them? and any other insurer recommendations? many thanks for responses

Took me around 2 weeks to get use to it, the pre-pump training days as well as reading the book Pumping Insulin enabled me to adapt quite quickly to using a pump. As for insurance, check with your household insurance as they may cover your pump for no additional charge.

oh and one last question..with MDIs my short acting is novorapid, and I understand with the pump one type of insulin is used in the cartridge for both bolusing and basal rates. With MDIs there's a waiting period of 2 hours or so after eating whereby you can't eat any carbs until the insulin 'peak' has lowered and sufficiently completed its processes ( and the insulin leaves the system after 5 hours). With the pump, I've read that it's possible to tweak basal rates with boluses so the 'eating window' can be more spread out? any pointers on this topic would also be appreciated

Yes, the Novorapid acts as both your basal & bolus insulin. The peak of the insulin is just the same as on MDI, but with difficult meals like those that are high in fat you can extend the bolus dose using what some manufacturers call a Dual-Wave bolus, it's a bit like using a split-dose bolus on MDI.

On a pump you can have multiple basal rates which can give you a better 24 hour coverage, you'll learn all about this during your pump training and by reading the book I mentioned earlier. Good luck and hope your funding is approved.