Starting with a Pump

[charleym]

I've been put forward for a pump and was wondering how long people have found the process as consultant/dsn were rather vague. I'm in Surrey/Sussex.

I have appointment to 'look at pumps' next month but think I'm going for the omnipod due to the lack of tubes.

When I did the carb counting course a couple of years ago someone had just moved to a new pump and had been told to do glucose tests every hour for a week.... is this normal? As I can't imagine managing to go to work around that.

Also, I know it's going to take time to get the settings right but is this likely to be that they're a bit high/occasional hypos or at a level where I can't drive? I do social work so am out driving/on visits most of the day.

Trying to get an idea as my supervisor at work has asked what effect it's likely to have and I don't really know what to expect!

 

[Postleneo]

Hi there fab new about the pump... Probably best move you'll have ever made! If you have a good understanding employer may be worth while asking for a couple days off work if possible as a lot of basal testing will need to be done initially. I took 3 days off as I felt the most important was to do overnight basal tests immediately from go live date... Last thing you want is overnight hyo's..... It may also help to invest in a freestyle libre to see trends etc and to help to give a basic base line of readings during the day until you are able to do proper basal tests. I used the 3 days off to do overnight basal tests and afternoon tests to kill two birds with one stone so to speak. Pumps are hard work at first but we'll worth the effort you put in.. good luck and congratulations

 

[Deleted Account]

When I went on a pump, I did more tests than usually but not as many as every hour and continued with work as usual (except the annoying additional hospital appointments for training).
I agree with @Postleneo that pumps can be hard work to tune at first: try not to get disheartened as your settings are sorted out.
However, my settings were pretty easy: I had one week's worth of CGM readings which my diabetes nurse referred to to set up the pump. I got the impression this was normal in my area. There were a few tweaks but no overnight hypos.
To be honest, the first few days were not representative as my basal (Lantus) still hung around which would affect the BG so I started with a conservative basal on the pump to avoid hypos and adjusted it over the next couple of weeks.

That said, the best way to find out what is recommended in your area is to ask when you go for your pump selection.

Reading around, the Omnipod looks great. It was not available for me so I have an Animas Vibe (no longer available). There is a lot of discussion from people selecting pumps about wanting to go tubeless. From my experience, I would say the tube does not get in the way or get caught so if the Omnipod is not available for you, don't shy away from tubes.

 

[Bluey1]

use a GGM and it makes life simple and easy to tune

 

[sninge]

I remember my first day clearly (11yr ago)
I was only the 4th person at my hospital to go on a pump, the nurse wanted me to have lunch at the hospital so I suggested a pub would be tastier and so we trotted off to a local pub with the pump rep!! Was feeling as scared as you as after the lunch i was back to work on my own, a yard of horses with their owners away on holiday, but I had to remind myself the worse that could happen was low/high bloods which happened all the time on MDI. It took me about a yr of fighting to get funded for a pump and in that time I read Pumping Insulin ( might be even better books now ) so when i started pumping a had a v good idea what was going on and had to do. I was so excited the night before I could barely sleep. I think I checked my blood every 2 hrs when I started but things may have changed. It is hard work to begin with, but hang in there, it is so worth it.

 

[charleym]

Thanks for all your replies. I'm relieved testing hourly all night for a week doesn't seem to be the norm!
Think I might have to adjust to having more 'normal' levels as currently have hypos every night of I manage to stay below 10 when I wake up due to dawn phenomenon and often in the 20s during work due to stress so hoping this will give me more room to control it.