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Pump Therapy - Backup Plan

C

cgillett76

Member
Messages
5
Type of diabetes
Family member
Treatment type
Pump
Hi all,

My partner is type 1 and has been on pump therapy now for 3 years. Although here control is OK she is still very nervous with the pump and particularly when travelling. Her main concern is that the pump fails when she is abroad. Last year we had a back up pump sent by Medtronic that put her mind at rest but she still has concerns. She has been given a back up procedure if the pump fails where she fails over to injecting Humilin I as the slow release insulin. I'm not trying to be critical but the plan we were given by our health team was a bit 'pack of a cigarette pack' scribbled on a piece of paper. We have never had to use this fail over plan and my biggest concern is having to do this abroad and complete untested. I want to conduct a controlled test where we 'simulate' the pump failing and use the fall back plan in a controlled environment. When I raised this with the health pro they said it wasn't a good idea. I was wondering if anyone has any experience of using the Humilin fall back plan or if any one has a view on if a controlled test is a good idea.

Any information or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Chris
 
Although I'm not a pumper (at the moment), I believe others keep spare short and long acting insulins in the fridge for use in the case of pump failure. I'm sure @donnellysdogs, @ElyDave or @Omnipod can give you some good advice in this space.
 
Thanks Tim. We have the slow and fast acting insulin ready as a backup. We have never tested relying on it for a longer period like a couple of days.
 
I'm a pumper using a Medtrnoic pump and like your wife carry a spare pump when abroad. This goes a long way to make me feel a bit more re-assured as the risk of a second pump failing must be slim. I do however know where she's coming from being the nervous type, I have a very specific calculation to do and use my long acting Levermir should my pump fail. I'm happy to share that with you if it helps? Sorry I've not tried it though!!
 
Thanks Riri.

I have attached a picture of the procedure we have been given. I would just like to try it at home where we have support instead of doing it abroad in a panic
 
Wish I could help.. But I have no back up plan at all!! I wouldn't have a clue what insulin doses to go back to! I have supplies in the fridge. When my pump did die I just got my syringe out and did novorapid every 5 hours till the new one arrived the next day...

I don't go abroad though and to be honest I don't carry spare pens or anything when going away in Uk. Tbe only thing I do take with me is a syringe so if the pump fails I can use the insulin in the cartridge of it to draw it up and dose every 5 hours.

Not a good plan but it did work when my combo pump died last year.

I certainly have never done a dress rehearsal for a failure.
 
The thing is as well you need to keep aware if the total daily doses you are using if you reaort to going back to long acting.

I don't keep a record of anything to be honest... Trouble is when your pump dies it is not going to revive.

I had to go back to my record books of 2 years ago to reprogram the hourly basals... and start again.

I just do not keep up todate records of my basal units or anything to be honest. So it is like starting again when your pump does die.

Infact my new Insight pump had an E57 message last night and on the old combo that I think was pretty much a fatal message. So I did panic a little but I got the manual out and took the rechargeable battery out of the handset and it came back to life..but still haven't weitten anything down. So thanks for the reminder I will do it now!!
 
Write your ratios and your total 24hr basal dose down. Take newly ordered QA and basal insulin with you, pens etc. And yes if you are both nervous, I would do a dry run in the UK first.

Bear in mind pumped insulin is more effective than MDI so be cautious with your injected doses. Adjust up as needed, trial and error.
 
That's the exact calculation I have so at least we're all getting a consistent method to follow . As Spiker said write down your basals and carb ratios on a piece of paper. I have books of them now as I have to change rates fairly regularly. I also write down all the other settings you need to input e.g. Active insulin time and insulin sensitivity. All the best. If you do go ahead I would be really interested to hear how it went. All the best.
 
Thanks guys appreciate all the advice. I upload the medtronic settings to Carelink which uploads your basal rates as well so take a printout with us when we go abroad.

Good idea as a plan if we only have a pen backup to inject every 5 hours.

I'm going to go with a 'dress rehearsal' in the UK. Will update on findings
 
Teh only problem with that calculation is that it takes no account of better insulin absorbtion on the pump.

I can only speak for myself, but my TDD when on pumped novorapid only is about 50-60% of my MDI doses. When I temporarily resorted to MDI after the Cellnovo fiasco, I simply went back to the doses I was using pre-pump. I appreciate that this may be more difficult for those who have been on the pump for longer.
 

Trouble is you got to be able to remember your pre pump doses!!
I can't and a lot of my notes went missing. No records of anything in4 years of Wales living (where I got the pump) moved back to England... Lost forever..

Just remembered tho have got back up pump!! From the upgrade permanently..even forgot that! So now (for me) can at least use that.

Mine would definitely be injecting every 5 hours with QA and just a lettuceeaf diet for a day or so till things sorted. Can't evenimagine going back to the old pump either...
 
Agreed pump doses are smaller for me too. If I'd forgotten I would convert Basal into long lasting and bolus as normal. Taking care for few days to adjust. Can still remember both of mine - after being IDD for so long its hard to forget.
 
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