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Good appointment

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brett

brett

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
Well, I had a very good appointment with my dsn today 🙂. Went through all my insulin requirements and explained that I need very different levels of base at different times resulting in big sugar swings resulting in me not having any base and just using 40 ~50 units of nova rapid each day. I was then asked would I like a pump 🙂. Yes I would please was my reply. I asked for a pump that does very little doses if needed so was suggested I have the accu chek spirit combo. Got the new meter today already as there was one in the office. pump on order and was told there will be another 3 people having it so will just be waitig on the date we all meet to have tuition on it. I do have a few questions though.
How long does the training for the pump take and how long afterwards did you start using it?
Is this a good pump to have ?
Also had bloods done for hba1c thingy, so waiting to find put how that is.
 
That's terrific news Brett! :D I don't pump, so can't answer your questions about them, but I'm sure there are others here who can! 🙂 Have a browse through the Pumping section.
 
Thanks northener, will be doing alot of readin g andbrowsing next few days
 
Well they asked us to wear one for a week, pumping nothing but using it to pretend bolus, correct etc. just to get used to wearing it then we had a morning where we took delivery (4 of us) and learned to fill reservoirs, insert cannulas and stuff, and she calculated the base rates for us to start with. Then we had to match the meters and pumps to each other so they could Bluetooth and off we went - firefight for 3 days - then start basal testing.

Back again in 7 days to discuss tweak adjust - but we were also given her mobile no and can actually ring her 24/7. Special phone for pumpers! For when it goes t*ts up and you panic. That WILL probably happen!

Anyway right now, buy the book 'Pumping Insulin' by John Walsh - AKA the pumpers' Bible - and get reading it.
 
Did 4 half days. The first day we set up basal, filled reservoir and hooked up. Set temp basal to take account of any long acting left and went home fully operation for bolus. The other three days we changed sets and reservoirs reviewed our nos and adjusted basal and ratios.
 
Hia good news indeed. I was given as much time as I wanted on saline until I felt completely happy to switch to inuslin (within reason I guess). I was on the saline for 2 weeks but that turned out to be a good things the quick sets I was first given just kept on rejecting and giving 'no-delivery' messages. I switched to silhouettes and have never looked back. I switched to insulin with my DSN and the Medtronic rep present but then after that it was just a case of going home and seeing how things panned out. I did have to keep in touch with the hospital team for quite a few weeks to get basal and bolus rates right. Now, because my insulin requirement seems to fluctuate a lot, I'm happy to change rates myself ehich is just as well as its a regular occurrence for me. I do test a lot! All the best - I'm sure you'll get on fine. Please don't hesitate to ask any questions of us already pumping.
 
You won't have any of these quickstep or soggystep problems LOL.

You'll just get the choice of straight uns (Flexlinks) or angled uns (Tenderlinks) Different lengths so nursie will use her judgement there, but if they hurt etc then you'd try longer/shorter ones. Both of those are Teflon. Should you have probs with teflon itself, ie the inner reaches of your dermis not liking it - which isn't that common TBH but does happen - then there is a straight steel one you can have instead, so never fear.
 
Thanks everyone for your replies, even more eager to get started now , can't wait 🙂
 
Hi Brett
That's great news. Think training varies between hospitals- we never did a saline trial (thankfully), had an introduction to the pump on the Friday morning, given it to play with over the weekend (unattached to you!), set pump up with insulin and away we went Monday morning, phone call from DSN at 4 and 10pm, back to check progress on tues, fri and following mon. Did training in a small group.

If you can work a phone you can work a pump. It is hard work and there's a lot of trial and error but its really not that complicated. Have got pumping insulin but didn't get anything from it i didn't get from my DSN and to be honest thought it complicated some things, it is a useful text- just dont get hung up on the maths! I had an accucheck spirit and loved it, really easy to use, good alarms, customer service was excellent. Good luck
 
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