Pump??

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Paige

Paige

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Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
Hi, I’m a type 1 diabetic have been for nearly 14 years! I do struggle with my diabetes, which consists of 5 daily injections .. I REALLY want a pump but my diabetic team have said I need to get my diabetes into form for at least a year until they will consider but I struggle sooo much and think a pump would really help! How did you all go about getting a pump and did it help? Thankyou 🙂
 
Hi Paige

Has your DSN given you an idea of what they mean by 'getting your diabetes into form'?
Can you tell us more about what it is you are struggling with?
We may then be able to help you work on some of these things in order to achieve what you want.

I was refused a pump the first time, so I made an appointment with the DSN and asked what was concerning her about me having one. I made a note of her concerns, and then took the time to gather data and address each of her concerns. I was then put on the pump List. It still took me another 6 months to get one, but I was happy once I knew I was on the list.
 
Ps
Once I got the pump there was a lot of work to do in getting it matched to my individual needs (it is different for each of us). However it was well worth it as by diong this i improved my HbA1c and also had a lot more flexibility.
 
Paige said:
Hi, I’m a type 1 diabetic have been for nearly 14 years! I do struggle with my diabetes, which consists of 5 daily injections .. I REALLY want a pump but my diabetic team have said I need to get my diabetes into form for at least a year until they will consider but I struggle sooo much and think a pump would really help! How did you all go about getting a pump and did it help? Thankyou 🙂
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Hi Paige. I had to jump through a lot of hoops to get my pump. Did DAFNE, tried every different insulin, kept rigorous records for about a year and finally demonstrated that despite being compliant I was only able to maintain good levels at the expense of regular hypos.
The pump was not too big an adjustment after a year of rigorous adjustments to the various types of insulin and it has made a huge difference to my quality of life.
 
Paige said:
Hi, I’m a type 1 diabetic have been for nearly 14 years! I do struggle with my diabetes, which consists of 5 daily injections .. I REALLY want a pump but my diabetic team have said I need to get my diabetes into form for at least a year until they will consider but I struggle sooo much and think a pump would really help! How did you all go about getting a pump and did it help? Thankyou 🙂
Click to expand...

Hi Page what do your team mean by getting your diabetes into form?

To help yourself keep a diary food and blood sugars, show you can carb count and do show you know how to go about corrections.
Then show it to your team and ask for their comments/suggestions as to how you can improve things.

A pump only works if you put the work in as it can only do as you tell it 🙂
 
Hello @Paige

Welcome to the forum!

Have you been on a structured education course? Different ones are offered in different places, but they can help give you techniques and strategies to manage your diabetes that you will need to get the most out of an insulin pump. As others have said, it's really just a very expensive piece of plastic, unless you give it the right instructions and are able to adjust the settings (and then readjust them) to suit your changing insulin needs through the year.

Good luck with your pump application - if you haven't already, get in touch with INPUT, a small charity that helps people access diabetes technology.
 
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