accucheck spirit combo - a few questions

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Joanne5

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Type 1
Hi All - Hope you are all ok.
Thanks everyone for your advice and kind words to a previous post. feel a bit more at ease about having pump ..( Im glad I joined this site ) will certainly be trying out the phone to see how it feels and buying the book this weekend.

How do you find wearing the pump at night - Where do you put it, have visions of getting up in night and forgetting its attatched and it dangling and coming out.

Does anyone have problems with the canula's and how do you find inserting them do you do it manually or use a device whats better teflon or steel.

I believe the combo is a bit more technical to use than some others, hope I can get my head round it. How do you find it?

Sorry for the all questions.
 
Joanne5 said:
Hi All - Hope you are all ok.
Thanks everyone for your advice and kind words to a previous post. feel a bit more at ease about having pump ..( Im glad I joined this site ) will certainly be trying out the phone to see how it feels and buying the book this weekend.

How do you find wearing the pump at night - Where do you put it, have visions of getting up in night and forgetting its attatched and it dangling and coming out.

mine normally roams, you get used to find it and picking it up if you get out of bed, I've never had one pull out yet over-night and I move a lot in my sleep, so sometimes I have unwrapped the tubing from around me, others though clip pumps to the PJ's or some even wear a hoister thing on their leg..

Does anyone have problems with the canula's and how do you find inserting them do you do it manually or use a device whats better teflon or steel.

I use the Tenderlink teflon angled set, mine is Teflon so I only have to change sets every 3 days (Steel ones need changing every 2 days) I self-insert as I didn't like the inserter, I find it no different than injecting, I sure that I don't get set failures because I self insert..

I believe the combo is a bit more technical to use than some others, hope I can get my head round it. How do you find it?

No the combo is no more technical to use than any other pump, the menu's are pretty easy to follow, as with all pumps you don't have to use all to start with, you can build up using the various features as your confidence grows. If you can get your head around a mobile phone you have no problems with the pump

Sorry for the all questions.
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Don't be sorry about asking questions ask as many as you like, we are more than happy to answer.. As the more you know about the pump the more likely you are going to have a easier and more pleasant start to your pumping.
 
I agree with exactly what EJ says - except I do use the 90 degree Flexlink cannulas and I actually like the inserter. I didn't think the Tenderlink ones actually had an inserter? - we were told there wasn't anyway? (4 of us got our pumps the same day) - hence I've never tried them as I don't want to DIY if I don't have to.

The difference between our Combos and most other pumps, is the remote control, which is also your BG meter and the bolus calculator - this is great because with a different pump you'd have to test your BG anyway, then tell your pump that's what it is, then input your carbs, it would calculate your bolus and then you'd tell it to deliver the bolus.

You do all that on the 'meter' with ours. One of the ladies I was with, was getting married soon. So she would be able to bury her pump somewhere under her wedding dress, give her meter to her mum or someone - as you'd have to do anyway! - and do it all without having to get half undressed - it's bad enough going to the loo in a wedding dress!

I started off just using the pump and the meter as a meter. That get's you used to all the buttons and the different things you can do with a pump. Then once I was competent LOL, it was a fortnight-ish, we turned the Bluetooth on and I started using all the other features.

Brill ! - you'll love it!
 
Joanne5 said:
How do you find wearing the pump at night - Where do you put it, have visions of getting up in night and forgetting its attatched and it dangling and coming out.Funny enough i sleep with mine beside me on the bed even if i get up to use loo , i must robotically just take it with me lol and its always still attached in the morning .

Does anyone have problems with the canula's and how do you find inserting them do you do it manually or use a device whats better teflon or steel.Cannuals take a bit of getting used to , but so do most things i use the flexlink with the device to insert it .

I believe the combo is a bit more technical to use than some others, hope I can get my head round it. How do you find it?I thought the same but its because its something new , you adjust very quickly now i definately wouldnt be without it 🙂

Sorry for the all questions.Ask as many as you like , thats what we here for .
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Good luck pumping
 
I started in a group of 4 as well..

The main reason that I went for the 45 degree angle on was due to how skinny I am, it was likely that using a 90 degree I could on occasions end up hitting muscle either on insertion or while bending etc.

It was the reps demo of the inserter than put me right off it, he used the table top to fire it against, so it went of with one hefty loud twang with such force it sent shudders down my spin😱

I'm sure that the teflon 90 degree sets can be inserted with the inserter as both the steel and teflon cannula's have a inserter pin going through the cannula to prevent it kinking on insertion (in our house we call the pin a hat pin!)

I would actually advise that you give self insertion a go so that you have a standby knowledge just in case your insert breaks, gets lost or you forget it...
 
I could do it Ellie, NP ! - did I not use hedgestake blunt needles for years (got 2 with glass syringe, they were never replaced and when I asked I just got blank looks, nobody ever told me you could get em sharpened either) and then a disposable syringe for years after that (bought them myself off a veterinary supply rep I knew until we could get em on scrip) until I got my first pens in the mid 1980s.

Just don't wanna LOL - but of course I would if I needed to!
 
My 6 year old has the accu chek combo - we think it is brilliant - and she uses the rapid d link steel cannulas. Skinny as a rake, so I put them in what on me is a muffin top (more like a cupcake for her, at the top of her buttocks) and we have never had a failure. She has 6mm ones and I just push them in like a drawing pin. They say change every 2 days but we have done 3 on occasion with no problems. I am a big fan of the steel ones because they don't kink, hit muscle, need an inserter etc etc. They are certainly worth a try.

She wears her pump night and day in a spibelt, and takes it off only for bath. I'm not sure I would find sleeping on a buckle very comfortable but each to their own.

Mary
 
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