Pump X (Long&Combined)
Good Morning,
I am most grateful for the thoughts and time so many have spent concerning this discussion/debate as to pumps their positives and drawbacks alike! Thank you, lets keep this going more please, more, more, more
Jen.
Thank you for your thoughts.
<<I do love the control that i get from the pump. I had ok control with injections. I also am a huge fan of the freedom i get with the pump.
“Control” in the sense your A1C keeps dropping, correct? 5.2 is amazing…. would scare the pants off me, but I do appreciate the number wistfully. Ok, now for the questions… anyone else feel FREE to jump in here and give input…. please.
Were you checking THAT frequently while using injections, or only after you got slammed around HARD because to whatever degree we are able to prevent lows, you missed the last bunch and they rightfully so scared the hell out of you [I’m not asking to somehow ~stand in judgment~, merely following a developing hypothesis here.] ? Am I on the ~right track~ accounting for your rigorous testing regimen, more or less?
I do NOT (:::z “get” this ~freedom~ idea one iota. I’m attached to an external device which though pager, sized I am ATTACHED 24-7 period.
The machine requires serious maintenance; clogged/bent tubing, bad taping/insertion (which comes out), site shaving (I’m a guy), site rotation and placement for those of us who are rigorous in our respective athletics….site infection, insufficient insulin in the reservoir, tubing pulled accidentally yet removing the canula <sp.?
Add to that whereas I only had the meter, insulin pen, NOW I’ve got to ALSO have backup tubing, backup tape, a large CC syringe to prime said tubing, at least one extra infusion set, (likely 2), site prep wipes, must have an insulin vial & normal syringe etc., etc. It still all fits in the fanny pack but its a heck of a lot MORE crap I’m compelled to carry? How is that freedom (: ? I’m missing something… I’ve got to be.
As for the ability to ignore food, if you’re at work, or doing other things busy, forget and have no “bad” consequences, ok, I accept that. But injection regimen, if you ONLY cover for the sugar reading and NOT for any food, and poof… in the identical place, no more need to eat.
Lisa:
Again, humbly appreciate you have no challenges/negatives with the pump. When you separate from the pump, for ~intimacy~ <wg
The body somehow attunes/makes “status quo” getting that background insulin and rebels once deprived of it… no?
Liz:
<<1. No long-acting insulin in my body. This means that I’m not caught by surprise (sic. PERIOD)
Know that game all too well. IT took one hell of a lot of problems, going onto a pump, then being free of it for me to come to that realization/knowledge. Perhaps its NOT the injection that’s the problem rather the @*#(@& long acting insulin which is the core issue for so many of us?
(You found Lantus had a PEAK : o let us know more about that pretty please?)
<<2. Different basal rates. Hands down, this might be the best feature of the pump.
I accept that.
IYHE (in your humble experience), would it be possible to once attaining this knowledge very easily control by injection regimen? Consider, patterns have been established, in very precise time frames over a goodly period whereby, I’ve tested every hour for a four hour time slot for 3-4 days with zero long acting on board and have established the basal dose needs of my body in different time frames during the day? With that knowledge could I simply inject instead of pump?
<<3. My pump, and I assume the other newer pumps, will calculate how much insulin is still working after a bolus. This also helps to avoid lows.
Does it? But we’re still doing the guesstimation, telling the machine hey I had 85 carbs and it turns out to be 50 instead, no (Work with me here <s
<<Or, I might have a high reading & inject Humalog to correct it. An hour later if I was still high, I’d
inject again.
Ugggh. Ok, but that’s a procedural error/no-no… You know as well as I do thats dangerous-tricky. You watch your butt on the backend, the last hour, or two. I can do those calculations in my sleep. Must be one of my few strengths; the Humalog works 3 hours (dies in 4 +/-), so divide X dosage by 3 and gives me how much +/- is working in my system per hour. Doing them back to back (2 shots on board) is the same equation with a little addition…
<<4. This goes along with #2 - the pump does the math for me.
Ok, thats fair. I need the math, don’t want to get complacent. But I’m from the “exchange days” ; ) I can add and subtract, divide (simple math) pretty well, doing so let me have those extra cherries & a roll too ~back in the day~ at dinner, all I had to do was trade in & trade up.
<<Even on injections, those are numbers that everyone should know. I never did, and would always guess when it came to injecting before a meal.
<Jeff whimpering like a cartoon character, yet only half kidding
<<5. The pump is convenient. Many times I would leave work to run some errands, and wouldn’t take any of my diabetes gear with me.
And in the reverse I never leave without a pen, I’ll leave the meter sometimes but not both. Cover for the food only is the name of that game. Or there IS playing “catch-up” too, but that’s not as much fun a game as eating spontaneously, and covering for it there and then.
<<6. It’s much, much easier to cover a high fat or high protein meal.
But is that sufficiently advantageous to “justify” (if you will…) the cost of having said pump?
<<7. I can’t forget an injection.
You did <Jeff pretending he’s never done that
<<8. Someone mentioned gaining weight on the pump. The pump has allowed me to lose weight.
See my questions to Jen above. Do you find you are eating less because you’re on the pump, and therefore made more aware darn, gotta cover that grazing, so you don’t???
Please do not misunderstand, I understand that for many the pump is a great answer. I am in part trying to clarify my own views, challenge myself, see what I’m missing… many of the ~positives~ I don’t perceive as such somehow, and would sorely love to understand them. If I can frame the idea better, get a handle on it… perhaps some day I can play with a pump…. but so far, not seeing it.
Respectfully….
Jeff (long winded and apologetic for being so)
June 18th, 2007 at 6:00 pm
Jeff,
I can only give my own experience with the pump. I am not, and never have been, very good at following directions I don’t like. That also works in the pump. So, if I can get decent control with the pump, the darn thing must be an asset. At least in my case.
As far as disconnecting for some special moments…. um, how to be tactful…..
If you are getting an equivalent of running 5 miles in an hour’s workout, who needs the insulin one would be getting if still connected??? : ) I have noticed ANY kind of exercise lowers my sugars remarkably. In that case, I just stay connected, don’t ALWAYS eat something, but put the pump on ’suspend.’ We went hiking last year, and the pump was off for more than 3 hours as we trekked up some hills in Glacier park. I cut the basal back for the rest of the night, too, for the exercise has lasting effects. The sugars stayed below 100, but did not bottom as they ordinarily would with any kind of insulin.
I like my pump because I can feel when my sugars are beginning to get low at work, when it would not be appropriate to dine on some smarties. “Excuse me, sir, I know your chest is open and your heart is stopped, but, really, I need to eat something.” On the other hand, if I feel my sugars getting higher, and I can feel this, I just have the pump shoot me as much or as little insulin as I think I need. After some time, this becomes fairly easy, I think.
Regarding all the ’stuff’ we have to carry with us. I take my relatively small carrying case with my meter, strips, sticker, an extra bottle of insulin, 2 syringes and 2 rolls of smarties with me almost everywhere. In my car I keep an extra infusion set/set up. I don’t take the injection device with me, for I find it is a convenience rather than a necessity. The extra insulin is already in my meter case.
Infection takes 3 days to colonize the catheter. That is where they are getting the magic 3 days between site changes. This is practiced with IV tubing, as well. Writing the date on the 1.25 inch diameter patch where the cath is inserted helps me remember when I put it there. (I have a TERRIBLE memory, except for unnecessary stuff.)
My biggest concern is waterproofness (Is that a word?) We are supposed to go to Cedar Point in 2 weeks, and I KNOW I will get wet in some way or another. Should I wrap my midsection with saran wrap, placing my pump under it? Should I put it in a plastic bag? Should I revert to Lantus (NOOOOO!) and take shots that day? As of yet, I don’t know.
The size of the catheter is VERY small. It is not like the public water line that one sees in urinary (foley) caths. It is not even 1/8″ in diameter. I have had the pump fall off wherever I had it clipped, and fall freely towards the floor. The insertion sticky stuff/tape did not budge, yet it removes easily when one pries on one of the edges.
OH! When I ’suspend,’ the pump gently reminds me it is in suspend mode. Where I am working, the 3 very little beeps blend with all the others, and no one even notices. In the classroom, the first 2 days of class were a bit fun, because others would wonder what that ‘beep’ was. After they all got used to the fact that I would stick my finger and the pump would receive the message from the meter and beep when it did, they would say, “oh, it’s just Joan.”
Jeff, again the decision is personal. OH, homeowner’s insurance covers the pump! Almost forgot.
Hope some of this helps. By the way, my husband LOVES it when I disconnect before going to bed!!!!! LOL
Warm regards,
Joan