It is not a nause???

[NICNAK]

Hi,

After all you lovely answers yesterday I have made an appintment to see my special diabetic nurse on Thursday. I am seriously thinging about asking for a pump - before I do though I have a few question I hope you can ask:

How big is a pump

Can you still wear close fitting clothes

Do you have to sleep with it attached

Doe it get in the way

How is it attached to your body

How does it get in the way of holidays - swimming in the sea and sand

I am sure there are millions of other questions but these are a few I can think of now.

Thank you 😛 x

 

[Phil65]

Hi,

After all you lovely answers yesterday I have made an appintment to see my special diabetic nurse on Thursday. I am seriously thinging about asking for a pump - before I do though I have a few question I hope you can ask:

How big is a pump

Can you still wear close fitting clothes

Do you have to sleep with it attached

Doe it get in the way

How is it attached to your body

How does it get in the way of holidays - swimming in the sea and sand

I am sure there are millions of other questions but these are a few I can think of now.

Thank you 😛 x

My ACCU-Chek pump is 9cm long, 6cm long 2cm deep slightly smaller than my blackberry.

You can pretty much wear what you want, i usually have it in my pocket, but you could strap it to your waist or leg.

I sleep with it attached.....no problems....you will forget about it in a few days!

Occasionally it gets snagged on door handles etc....small hassle!

you insert a cannula (mine is in my stomach) attach a line to the cannula and fix to pump....you can get different lengths, I change mine every 2 days and rotate my insertion site.

Whilst on holiday, i detach if I am swimming and am careful about sand!

Importantly though you must understand insulin/carb ratios, how to carb count, and to be well controlled you have to test lots (average for me 6 or 7 times a day).....It is hard work....but worth it! 🙂

 

[novorapidboi26]

There are lots of successful, experienced pumpers on here that can tell you all you need to know, however as mentioned, you have to go through an educational programme and pump specific training first..........

Doesn't mean you shouldn't ask for one though, I look forward to hearing your nurses thoughts......🙂

 

[Pumper_Sue]

There are lots of successful, experienced pumpers on here that can tell you all you need to know, however as mentioned, you have to go through an educational programme and pump specific training first..........

Doesn't mean you shouldn't ask for one though, I look forward to hearing your nurses thoughts......🙂

If you mean that you have to go on a carb counting course, then this is not true. All you have to do is prove you can carb count. (NICE guidelines) Pump training is normally a 2 hour sesson 🙂

Originally Posted by NICNAK
Hi,

After all you lovely answers yesterday I have made an appintment to see my special diabetic nurse on Thursday. I am seriously thinging about asking for a pump - before I do though I have a few question I hope you can ask:

How big is a pump
That depends on the pump, but no bigger than a small pager

Can you still wear close fitting clothes
Yes you can as load of belts harnesses etc to cater for this

Do you have to sleep with it attached
Yes you do as you are drip fed insulin 24/7

Doe it get in the way
No it doesn't. Even though I had been on insulin injections for over 40 years before I started to pump it took less than 6 hours not to notice the pump. I kept checking to make sure I still had it with me

How is it attached to your body
A small cannula is inserted into your tummy or other body parts and attached is a length of tubing to the pump. You can choose what length suits your own needs.Cannula is changed every 3 days.
How does it get in the way of holidays - swimming in the sea and sand
The only pump not waterproof is the medtronic pump. But you can also get waterproof cases to put them in. Some people just disconnect the pump though for an hour then reconnect and bolus for any missed insulin. Other people take a pump holiday and go back to MDI.
I am sure there are millions of other questions but these are a few I can think of now.
Ask away when ever you want we will all try and help out 🙂
Thank you x

 

[shiv]

How big is a pump
- as others have said, about the size of a pager

Can you still wear close fitting clothes
- yes, you just find somewhere to hide the pump!

Do you have to sleep with it attached
- yes else you would have no insulin in your system overnight - at the moment your basal insulin takes care of your background needs, the pump is attached 24/7 and only uses fast acting insulin (much more like a pancreas)

Doe it get in the way
- not really! it depends what context you mean - it is easy to hide and keep discreet, they come with clips so you can attach it to your clothes, etc

How is it attached to your body
- as others have said, by a cannula. the cannulas are small, and sit under your skin for 2/3 days before you change it. most pumps are then attached via a piece of tubing, but there are pumps like the Omnipod that sit directly on your skin.

How does it get in the way of holidays - swimming in the sea and sand
- my pump is waterproof (Animas) so I just keep it on. Sand you have to be careful with incase it gets in the tubing/cannula, but it shouldn't be too big a deal...you could choose to go back to injections for your holiday.


Hope that helps 🙂

 

[Ellie Jones]

As what the others say.. Concerning your questions..

I actually don't find pumping hard work, but there again keeping up with MDI was pretty intense for me as I regularly ended up with 6+ injections a day, so for me the setting and sorting out of my basal rates were intense but once this was done, it's been a lot easier indeed..

Different clinics will have different protocal's around how long the process takes to how they trainin individuals on pumps..

Some clinics will make the patient go through as many hoops as they possibly can think of and attempt to stall as long as possible, others will be swift with issuing a pump..

Then some clinics will start pumpers off in groups or individual, training can be anything from a mim of 2 hours to a couple of days.. some put pumper straight onto insulin while others make them use saline for the first couple of days to a week before swapping over to insulin!

Me it took me almost 3 years to extract a pump from my clinic, then I had to wait 6 months from being agreed until I started training, 3 days in total, 1 day of carb training (I'd already carb counting even before going on DAFNE) a month before I got my pump, which consisted 2 days of training, with nurses and rep from Roche... 4 of us started at the same time..

 

[novorapidboi26]

If you mean that you have to go on a carb counting course, then this is not true. All you have to do is prove you can carb count. (NICE guidelines) Pump training is normally a 2 hour sesson 🙂

I do apologize, my closest pump center have all their pumpers [adult]go through DAFNE before being considered........but 'educational programme' isn't limited to DAFNE, it just means learning to carb count......as DAFNE contains more information to calculate doses manually etc.......😉

 

[Pumper_Sue]

I do apologize, my closest pump center have all their pumpers [adult]go through DAFNE before being considered........but 'educational programme' isn't limited to DAFNE, it just means learning to carb count......as DAFNE contains more information to calculate doses manually etc.......😉

It's known as shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted 😡
Now if people were taught to carb count from day one then 90% of the problems people encounter would not happen.
Once carb counting and then put on a pump they all think it's the pump that's the magic cure all of all their problems. When infact it's the carb counting that has fixed most of the problem.

I was shocked to hear a very snotty dsn tell me once that it was a waste of time teaching people to carb count unless they were going on a pump😱 Oh and to add to it she also said most diabetics were to thick to understand the concept of carb counting.

My personal view is that it's negligent to let people loose with insulin unless they have been given basic instruction from day one and follow ups until they are happy and confident in what they are doing.

Having a pump also means that you really must know how dif food affect you thus you can adjust insulin accordingly, know what to do when ill regarding insulin usage and know your correction factors as well.
The main attribute though must be an ability to think for yourself. Which seems sadly lacking in some people ( they blame everyone except themselves for all problems incountered)

Sorry gone off subject op.

 

[shiv]

My personal view is that it's negligent to let people loose with insulin unless they have been given basic instruction from day one and follow ups until they are happy and confident in what they are doing.

Could not agree more. People forget what a powerful drug insulin is, and teams need to give support to people to ensure they have grasped the very basics at least.

 

[Phil65]

It's known as shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted 😡
Now if people were taught to carb count from day one then 90% of the problems people encounter would not happen.
Once carb counting and then put on a pump they all think it's the pump that's the magic cure all of all their problems. When infact it's the carb counting that has fixed most of the problem.

I was shocked to hear a very snotty dsn tell me once that it was a waste of time teaching people to carb count unless they were going on a pump😱 Oh and to add to it she also said most diabetics were to thick to understand the concept of carb counting.

My personal view is that it's negligent to let people loose with insulin unless they have been given basic instruction from day one and follow ups until they are happy and confident in what they are doing.

Having a pump also means that you really must know how dif food affect you thus you can adjust insulin accordingly, know what to do when ill regarding insulin usage and know your correction factors as well.
The main attribute though must be an ability to think for yourself. Which seems sadly lacking in some people ( they blame everyone except themselves for all problems incountered)

Sorry gone off subject op.

Totally agree!! .......you sound as opinionated as me! 😉