I am a relatively new pumper. Like GrantGram1337, I was not sure what the benefits were. After 4 months, I see pros and cons:
Pros
- Ability to adjust basal. These words meant very little to me when I first read them and I still think they are too scientific. Basically, the basal injection assume your body uses the same amount of background insulin 24 hours a day. However, this is not the case: at night when lying still, you need more insulin and during the day, especially when exercising, you need less. This has helped me at the gym and climbing significantly.
- Ability to "program" bolus dose over a longer period. When on injections, if I ate something which took a long time to digest (e.g. pizza), I would have to take multiple injections; with the pump, I can tell it to give me 50% now and 50% over the next 2 hours, say.
- Less "stuff" to carry to take out for a night. I no longer have to remember to take my pens with me as my insulin is connected. I still take my meter and dextrose but with only a few test strips, this is much easier. And, if I pop out for a quick drink, I can change my mind and have dinner too (before I used to go out without my insulin).
Cons
- It's bulky. This seems to be less of a problem for most people but having a small frame and being image conscious, I really dislike the "pack of cards sized bulge" in my clothing. There are options to hide it but these make it difficult to access when I need to bolus.
- Way more "stuff" to take on holiday. In the past, I used to sit on the floor counting needles before I went on holiday. If I did not have diabetes, I would not have to do this but, at least the needles took up little space. Now I have to take needles and pens, just in case, as well as lots of paraphernalia to change the canula every 2 - 3 days. For a week long holiday, this is a small carrier bag full which has to go in hand luggage.
- The pump cannot be x-rayed. So what, you may say. Well, since I had the pump (4 months), I have been on half a dozen flights and each time, I have to explain that I do not have something in my pocket: it is a pump which cannot go through the x-ray machine. This means, it cannot go through the body scanner (but ok through the "arch"). In my, limited, experience, the UK security guys recognise this and are very considerate. The US security are less so: they will not touch the pump and, instead, have to do a full body pat-down.
- The canula. This is the bit that is always attached and, being slim, I find it can be painful to attach. I have the ones that go in at an angle so they do not go so deep. However, they can still hurt. And they are a faff to change every 2 days (In theory, they could last 3 days but it hurts too much after 2 days for me).
- The pump is ugly and fiddly. I am an engineer so I don't have any problems controlling the pump. However, the user interface was designed about the same time as Nokia was designing their first phones ... except the pump doesn't even have a number pad.
Overall, I am sticking with the pump because of the benefits it gives me during exercise. However, it has not transformed my life.