Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Wendy M on July 22, 2009 at 8:02pm

Heather,
Picking a pump is hard! I just picked my 4th pump and it took me a month to really pick the one I wanted (but its in the mail! I am so excited!). Your NUMBER ONE question should be to your doctor. Ask what pumps they can work with. I switched to a pump that my doctor knew how to use, even recommended it, however his staff had barely a clue how to download my numbers. So just watch for that.

Smart choice going with waterproof. Just food for thought though.. where are you going wear it? You mention being able to hide your pump. Mine often hides in my bra or underwear. Mine is currently not waterproof so I have to take it off to swim. I wouldnt even know where to put it when I swim. So get your hands on some demos from your doctor and really get a feel for the pump.

Congrats on the pump though. You will love it! It does take some time getting used to. I have worn one for 12 years and I love the freedom it gives me.

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Permalink Reply by Kristin on July 23, 2009 at 12:09am

The best advice that I can give you is to call all the companies and see if they will send a representative to your home or to your doctors office. Often you can meet with the rep and see the pump in your own hands. Or go to a diabetes support group and see them.

In my experience, everyone loves THEIR pump best. And I think that all of the pumps are good-- with some different advantages and disadvantages. Search in the forum for the pumps that you are interested in by name and you will fight lengthy comparisons (sometimes even fights) about which is better. They might be informative!

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Permalink Reply by Jessica C on July 23, 2009 at 3:57pm

You should figure out what pump will have the most support available to you, and what the replacement policy will be where you are at. =) I think you can't go wrong with the Animus or MM!

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Permalink Reply by gw on July 23, 2009 at 9:56pm

I use the One Touch Ping by Animas and it is good for the reasons you were concerned about; it's waterproof, which makes showering and swimming very easy, and it's also very easy to conceal it and remotely deliver insulin for meals using the meter. Ive found myself eating at fancy restaurants, jacket required, and also at dinner parties, and even fast food restaurants, testing blood glucose and bolusing without ever raising an eye. People most likely assume its a PDA or a cellphone. Ive also swam in very cold lakes and taken hot showers with it between the legs and it is still working flawlessly. Hope I can be of help, and good luck!

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Permalink Reply by gw on July 23, 2009 at 10:34pm

Another thing you will have to decide on is the infusion set. I first tried the Insets that were shown at the pump training and did not like them at all. They have alot of extra plastic and seem to involve an unecessary mechanical device that failed to insert the cannula properly nearly 50% of the time. So I went for the Contact Detach, which is a metal cannula which works for me for several reasons. For one I am rather slim; not alot of body fat, and also I am so used to injections (20+ years,) that I prefer sticking myself, and not relying on a plastic contraption. Also it has two spots that stick to your skin, so that if the pump swings to the ground or gets caught on a door, there is no tension or pull on the infusion site, only on the detach site, which is a several inches before the infusion site.

I alternate the Contact Detach with the Comfort Short, which is made of teflon, is slightly longer, and is designed to go in at an angle, manually. The metal needle is retractable, leaving only the teflon, and I use it in the abdomen primarily. So these are some other things you will have to decide, and hopefully you will not have to go through too much trial and error in regards to the infusion sets, but you can get samples from Animas, and other companies I believe, if you ask.

I actually got a few weeks supply from my CDE of the Contact Detaches in the beginning of my pump therapy, as I was having such inconsitencies with the Insets, and I needed something in the interim until I could replace them.
I found the the Insets were kinking quite a bit, so I found my preferred method to be short straight metal sets, and short angled teflon, both manually inserted. One other thing is that teflon sets leave a large mark that take a bit longer to heal, perhaps due to my body's sensitivity.

Despite this, I must say that pumping is far superior to injections. The difference between 5-7 daily injections or more and one insertion every three days is itself a major improvement, not to mention improved BG and A1c's.

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Permalink Reply by Mike Ratrie on July 24, 2009 at 4:40pm

As in many things you ask for advice from others who are using the product(s) you are interested in and then bump that against your particular needs. From what I have seen, all the pumps do virtually the same things.

* Basal rate delivery with more than one profile.
* Temporary basal rate
* Bolus delivery
* Extended/Multiwave Bolus (great for those parties/holidays that have extended eating periods, and certain foods)
* Alarms for various pump conditions/errors

From there you begin to see the variations. Getting the reps to physically show you their pumps is a great way to go. In the past, I have shown my pump and all the in/outs to diabetics considering the pump, so if there is a pumper in your area that might help, too.

For me, it really boiled down to one "feature". Accu-chek offered the Spirit with a 180-day back-up pump. Since I travel and spend most of my time in areas with really pitiful mail/express delivery services, there was no question for me.

Fair Winds,
Mike

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Permalink Reply by heather mallett on July 29, 2009 at 7:55pm

holy crap mike ive never even heard of extended/multiwave boluses and profiles etc!
accu-check sounds good with the 180 day back up pump- do they just lend it to you for the 180 days when you travel?? how does that work?

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Permalink Reply by Mike Ratrie on July 29, 2009 at 8:41pm

Accu-chek (aka Disetronic USA) offered the back-up as an option which I selected. So when I received my Spirit pump, I also received an identical pump that will run for 180 days. When not in use I have the back-up stored in a case with the battery removed.

The extended bolus (mini-med calls it something different) tells the pump to give a bolus over an extended period of time. For example, if I go to a cocktail party where I might be snacking for an hour and I think I will have 60g carbs, I can tell the pump to give me 4 units over that hour.

The multiwave is similar (again - mini-med has a different name), but it let's you bolus more initially. For the same example, if I know that 15g of the carbs are going to be eaten right away, I can tell the pump to give me 1 unit initially and then 3 units over the hour. I use the multiwave for pizza or pasta dishes.

I cannot emphasize enough Saya's comment below - take your time and establish your own set of important pump features since you will be stuck w/the decision for at least 4 years. I have heard many women HATE being tethered to a tube style pump and HATE the fact that women's fashions (including sports clothing) make it hard to wear a pump.

Other pumps offer CGM, while others offer "calculators" and/or "controllers' that help you determine bolus amounts. Of course, CGMs can be added but not necessarily integrated with the pump. Omnipod is tubeless, but has its own issues.

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Permalink Reply by Kristin on July 29, 2009 at 9:43pm

I think most pump companies will give you a back up pump while you travel. I had this with Cozmo (now out of business). It is great to have.

What makes Accu-chek unique is that they actually send two pumps to all their customers. I know from Cozmo, I had to request this and they send the back up pump just before my trip.

The only reason that I did not consider Accu-chek is that they do not have a bolus calculator built into the pump. They have a separate device that you need to carry to calculate your bolus. They bolus calculator is an INCREDIBLY useful feature in my opinion!

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Permalink Reply by Abby on August 26, 2009 at 8:17am

I have the Accu-Chec Spirit, I was told by my Diabetes team that I wouldn't be given a spare pump, mainly due to the fact that people weren't needing them so it was too expensive to continue, I don't know if it's different depending on where you live though. I was told that if my pump stopped working, and I needed a replacement, I was to ring the number they gave me and I'd have a new pump within 24-36 hours.

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Permalink Reply by Asma on July 24, 2009 at 11:00pm

take your time choosing the right pump
because you are probably going to be stuck with it for at least 4 years

you should look for things that you need
for example,if you are hypo unaware,you may go with medtronic for the cgm
in your case,waterproof may down the choices only to omnipod and animas

and dont forget rading pumping insuline,it has a whole chapter aout choosing the right pump
hpe it helps ^.O

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Permalink Reply by heather mallett on July 29, 2009 at 7:57pm

do animas pumps have cgms in them??

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