insulin pumper-to-be

hello jen
and congrats on the date, i am unable to give advice im afraid as our start date is tomorrow so we will be newbie pumpers together lol or my son will be ill be assisting. good luck in ur new adventure and welcome im sure u will get some great advice from some pros very soon
anna marie

Jen,

I've been on the Medtronic Veo since October last year and I get my first HbA1C results tomorrow (here's hoping!). The first few weeks were rather stressful and in hindsight there were a few things I had done differently. This first thing that I found was try not to do set changes when you are pushed for time, like trying to get out the door to get the train to work. It eventually becomes second nature but while you are still getting used to it, you don't need any additional stress during set changes.

I also wish I had taken control a bit earlier. My DSN was good but could be hard to get hold of. My first couple of weeks I had a few times where my BG was all over the place but then I did some research on the internet and got the book Pumping Insulin and started doing fasting tests to get basals sorted out fine tuning the carb ratios etc for the boluses. My average day now averages about 6 - 7 but there are still the odd days when things are harder to control without reason, but the highs on those might be 10 - 12.

With the Veo, you can also do the CGM which I have self-funded a few times and this has provided a lot of insight into what happens overnight and post meal.

Good luck.

Peter

hi jen

yes we are up and running albeit with saline for the first week but i can already see the advantage of not injecting and so can dylan which surprised me thought he would take longer to convert lol, dylan is managing beautifully and started doing boluses himself on the first day as its so easy once programmed to ur ratios.

he has also done swimming with the pump disconnected and coped fine, sleeping has been no problem thanks to the nurse who gave him a lenny the lion teddy with a zip up back to hold the pump he cuddles it all night and loves him. I too have been looking at pouches to carry the pump in at the moment he has a clip which goes in his pocket but when the clothes have no pocket he is clipping it to the waistband of his trousers and complains it digs in abit so someone recommendid diabete-ezy which is a lycra belt that fits around the waist, it looks fab but is from australia altho they do deliver here so im def going to order one i dont want dylan in too much discomfort and because its not on his clothes going to the toilet wont be difficult either.

The biggest challenge we have had so far is getting dressed lol which i want dylan to do for himself with no help from me because of p.e in school, hes getting there with it. now we just cant wait to get on the insulin on mon and be started for real altho the saline trial was a good idea as we are doing everything we would normally do and any questions im writing down to ask when we return

anna marie

Scoots

If you google 'Tummy Trimmer' or search eBay you will see something that can be adapted very easily to hide an insulin pump. Simply put it on and fold the bottom over (bit like Tubigrip lol) and then pump is held secure and the infusion set is ok as well :wink:

A good bit of advise is to change one thing at a time so you know what has worked and what hasn't, then testing and more testing.. Write as much as you can down, the more detail you have the easier it's is to understand your results... And make adjustments etc...

Pumpers have all sorts of things for holding there pumps, from camera cases, mobile phone cases through to baby socks etc... Once you've got your pump it's a lot easier to see what you can utilize for it...

As to sleeping, this seems to be one of the highest concerns, either by disturbing sleep or pulling canulars out etc.. Me my pump is allowed to roam at will, I've never pulled it out even though I moved a lot in my sleep...

Good luck for the 21st, have they told you yet whether they are going to faff around with saline first or put you straight onto insulin? I did the later which I was glad of

Jen,

My HbA1C was 6.7 - I was so chuffed. My previous one post DAFNE was 7.2. The 6.7 was after about 9 weeks on the pump of which the first three were not good while I was adjusting basals and carb ratios etc. So next time I am expecting better...

The CGM kit you can get direct from Medtronic. They have a discount if you get it the same time as the pump. It seems that some PCTs will pay for CGM while others won't. It doesn't come with a remote control but is controlled via the pump. The readings are about 20min behind what a finger prick test would show. There's not a lot to control with it really. Once you stick the sensor in, you just have to do a few calibration finger prick tests through the day which you can line up with meal testing anyway.

I wear the pump attached to my belt or in a pocket. Since there isn't a remote control, it needs to be fairly accessible. For sleep I just put it in a pyjama bottom pocket or allow it to roam.

I absolutely agree with jopar - same principles as for DAFNE; change one thing at a time and evaluate and move onto the next thing. There's just a lot more things to change with the pump.

The other thing I thought of afterwards was that it was a bit emotionally challenging to live with lower BG without being worried about them going through the floor. Previously if I had 5 - 6 I would be getting a bit nervous. It took me a while to get used to not worrying about being 4 - 5.

Good luck with getting started.

Peter