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Pump delivered to my address, what next?

A

Ackers01

Member
Messages
5
Hi all!

Long time lurker, first time posting.
I was approved for an insulin pump sometime in December 2021. By Christmas my clinic hadn’t yet applied for funding so I expected it to be a few months before it would all be arranged. But this morning I had an unexpected delivery of the pump at home (Tslim X2). I didn’t even realise funding was approved!

My question is basically what now? I had thought the process in the UK is that it would be sent to the hospital and then I would get a date for my pump start/training but I haven’t been told a thing. I’ve seen others in the USA get pumps at home and then book training with Tandem directly rather than their clinics. Is there something similar here? Or do I just have to wait and speak with the clinic on Monday when they open.

Thanks for your help!
 
I know when I started my pump due to Covid they weren't doing the training at the hospital (due to timing the pump turned up at the hospital and I ended up having to go collect it myself), but I had the training done through a Zoom (or something similar) call - mine is Medtronic and one of the Medtronic trainers called me and we went through it like that, it may be similar for you (mine was obviously Medtronic rather than Tandem).

But if in the UK it should be the hospital that initially sets it up for you if they are doing it that way, so I'd contact your hospital clinic asap (cos some of them are not fast at doing anything - mine took months to set it up!)
 
I have a Medtronic pump but when I first started with it I had 2 group training sessions at the hospital with DSNs and a rep, first one we set up the pump with saline and then the next session was a week later and we started insulin.
The next pump was an upgrade but still Medtronic so just the one group session to learn the new features.
Latest pump was at a new hospital but the same pump and I had an individual training session on Teams with a DSN.
Although my funding was approved and I already had the same pump I had to wait several months past my warranty expiry because there was uncertainty with Covid and quite a few people needing training, initially I was given an appointment for in-person training, which I politely declined and the online training was arranged. If your clinic does pump stuff in waves then there might be a delay with training if there are a few of you due to start.
So...I'd give them a ring on Monday

P.s I don't imagine you're silly, but obviously don't try and start using it without any training
 
My pumps have always been sent to my home address even pre-covid. I don’t want the hassle of carrying all the supplies home when they could just be delivered to my address in the first place.

As others have said, many pump starts are being done over video at the moment. But, in the position, I would be contacting my diabetes team and asking them rather than speculating based on what happens in other clinics.
 
Thanks all for helpful advice! Happy to hear that it’s normal to receive the pump at home even in the UK. I guess the mistake my pump clinic made was not letting me know beforehand to avoid this confusion.
Of course won’t use it before the training and will give them a ring on Monday.
 
Enjoy your t slim and i hope you get a face to face session!
I have to admit I got mine out and did practice charging it and then got the hang of it by watching the official YouTube getting started videos.
You will need to get 10ml fast acting insulin vials onto prescription too and to check how you order the consumeables.
If this is the first pump then you will need to await formal instruction however just because your insulin needs will be about 2/3 of your existing basal ones.
Good luck and I hope you can get started soon remembering that it will feel tricky and awkward at first but gets much easier with practice.
 

thanks very much that’s great advice! One thing I just realised is the clinic got me the Basal IQ version a instead of Control IQ. Not a massive deal but do you know how difficult it would be to get an update to Control IQ? Bit surprised as from the Nice guide it looks like a £200 difference so presumably they would need to go back to the CCG. Is it something I can fund myself?
 

It’s the same hardware for both versions, you’ll likely need to perform a software update to the pump to enable control iq, which you can do at home if you have a computer. The hospital and tandem should be able to advise on how to do it
 
I think it would be great if you could because I think this enables use of Dexcom should that ever be a possibility for you. Down in Surrey I am lucky to get funding and am getting fab results so I assume that closed looping will eventually come to all.
NHS admin rules seems such that you can't just chip in with your own cash but maybe you can make a case for the Control IQ if it is also on their list of approved gear on the basis that you may choose to fund Dexcom yourself. Someone in the Diabetes team may have to fill out another form but that may be worth it to you to ask nicely for this.
 
As an update, I rang my clinic and they set up an appointment in March for my pump start! Good news albeit it’s a month away. The better news is they said I should have gotten the Control IQ version, not Basal IQ, and will sort it out. Thanks everyone for your helpful advice!
 
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