Hi All,
For those that know me, and have read some of my posts, you know I have been waiting for my first pump. It took a bit longer than most people have to wait, because I specifically wanted a Tandem t:slim X2, which my CGM did not "stock" at the time.
However, I perceived, and listed all the reasons that I wanted it and why I thought it was the right pump for me.
Lucky for me, my Diabetes team seemed impressed with the research I had done, and yesterday (Friday 25 October) , at 3pm, I strapped on the first t:slim X2 pump in the West Sussex area.
As it was my first pump I was very nervous, and there was a few seconds pause when everyone at the table held their breath before I pressed "Confirm" and my little pump started whirring away.
My first evening meal got off to a slightly shaky start but only because I messed up on my carb counting. No pump in the world can help you if you get estimate too many carbs. I should have stuck to something out of a tin or a packet instead of celebrating with a treat from our local Indian Take Away. Like I said, DEFINITELY not the pumps fault.
So it was with some trepidation that I set of to bed with Heidi.
Heidi is not my girlfriend. It is the name I have given my little pump, because she is so slim and small and it is so easy to Hide her away.
I woke up this morning at 08:30AM. That in itself is just A-MAY-ZING (Big Strictly fan).
A full night's sleep with no alarms from xDrip.
After hearing so many stories from other users about their first night with their new pump I was fully prepared for a night of Jelly Babies and Biscuits as well as furious reading of manuals etc. But no, nothing.
I would have been more than happy to have called this a Real Result just in itself, But no, it got even better.
Bleary eyed I leaned over to my tablet on the wall beside my bed. It was reading 7.1
Now some of you might think that this doesn't seem that remarkable. In fact most would say that this is a bit high. But for the last 3 years I have woken up at about 6am, after a fitful nights sleep, to see a figure closer to 20.
When I have spent the whole evening trying to go to bed with a reading of about 6.5, this has been completely soul destroying. Knowing that I would be starting the day so high and that it would take me until lunchtime to get it under 10, AND then knowing that I would quite often have a little hypo at about 12:30, no matter WHAT I did.
So, to wake up feeling refreshed, with a BG of 7.1 I was over the moon.
THEN I looked at my xDrip graph, from my Libre/MiaoMiao combo and found that I had risen from 6.8 last night to 7.1 this morning in an almost flat line. No peaks and troughs, just the tiniest bump at 3am, when I normally start my stratascopic rise into oblivion.
So. Why am I writing this (very long) post?
It's because my Diabetes team and my rep said that they no longer read the forums any more because so many 9f the posts were from people who had had a negative experience and were either upset or looking for help, or both. They said that hardly anyone wrote in to say that their initial experience was a good one.
So I thought I would set the record straight, at least as far as my PERSONAL experience is concerned.
I know that there are a lot of good friends on this site (and I thank you all for your support and kindness) who often post to others who are afraid or have had a bad experience at first and one of the things that they always say to reassure these people is that it is perfectly normal to have a difficult time of it for the first few weeks on a new pump. I quite agree with this, and I so grateful for these words of reassurance from all you great guys.
I am even happier to report that it is also true that some people, like me, have a really positive first experience. I am so glad I got my pump.
Best Regards
Capt_Slog
For those that know me, and have read some of my posts, you know I have been waiting for my first pump. It took a bit longer than most people have to wait, because I specifically wanted a Tandem t:slim X2, which my CGM did not "stock" at the time.
However, I perceived, and listed all the reasons that I wanted it and why I thought it was the right pump for me.
Lucky for me, my Diabetes team seemed impressed with the research I had done, and yesterday (Friday 25 October) , at 3pm, I strapped on the first t:slim X2 pump in the West Sussex area.
As it was my first pump I was very nervous, and there was a few seconds pause when everyone at the table held their breath before I pressed "Confirm" and my little pump started whirring away.
My first evening meal got off to a slightly shaky start but only because I messed up on my carb counting. No pump in the world can help you if you get estimate too many carbs. I should have stuck to something out of a tin or a packet instead of celebrating with a treat from our local Indian Take Away. Like I said, DEFINITELY not the pumps fault.
So it was with some trepidation that I set of to bed with Heidi.
Heidi is not my girlfriend. It is the name I have given my little pump, because she is so slim and small and it is so easy to Hide her away.
I woke up this morning at 08:30AM. That in itself is just A-MAY-ZING (Big Strictly fan).
A full night's sleep with no alarms from xDrip.
After hearing so many stories from other users about their first night with their new pump I was fully prepared for a night of Jelly Babies and Biscuits as well as furious reading of manuals etc. But no, nothing.
I would have been more than happy to have called this a Real Result just in itself, But no, it got even better.
Bleary eyed I leaned over to my tablet on the wall beside my bed. It was reading 7.1
Now some of you might think that this doesn't seem that remarkable. In fact most would say that this is a bit high. But for the last 3 years I have woken up at about 6am, after a fitful nights sleep, to see a figure closer to 20.
When I have spent the whole evening trying to go to bed with a reading of about 6.5, this has been completely soul destroying. Knowing that I would be starting the day so high and that it would take me until lunchtime to get it under 10, AND then knowing that I would quite often have a little hypo at about 12:30, no matter WHAT I did.
So, to wake up feeling refreshed, with a BG of 7.1 I was over the moon.
THEN I looked at my xDrip graph, from my Libre/MiaoMiao combo and found that I had risen from 6.8 last night to 7.1 this morning in an almost flat line. No peaks and troughs, just the tiniest bump at 3am, when I normally start my stratascopic rise into oblivion.
So. Why am I writing this (very long) post?
It's because my Diabetes team and my rep said that they no longer read the forums any more because so many 9f the posts were from people who had had a negative experience and were either upset or looking for help, or both. They said that hardly anyone wrote in to say that their initial experience was a good one.
So I thought I would set the record straight, at least as far as my PERSONAL experience is concerned.
I know that there are a lot of good friends on this site (and I thank you all for your support and kindness) who often post to others who are afraid or have had a bad experience at first and one of the things that they always say to reassure these people is that it is perfectly normal to have a difficult time of it for the first few weeks on a new pump. I quite agree with this, and I so grateful for these words of reassurance from all you great guys.
I am even happier to report that it is also true that some people, like me, have a really positive first experience. I am so glad I got my pump.
Best Regards
Capt_Slog
