In my attempts to reply to a person's remark about the Animas Ping insulin pump, I have been using it for more than 2.5 years. I hate it!. Due to malfunctions, it has been replace seven times in the past 2.5 years. Presently, my endocrinologist is helping me to ge out of the four year contract. I have many horror stories about this pump. You wouldn't mind, but I have used and insulin pump since 1996 and been on three other brands. I cannot wait to get rid of this embarrasing, occlusive-ridden, gargoyle in my cyborg-life.
I'm sorry you've had such a horrific experience. Replaced seven times in the past 2.5 years! Yikes! It just shows we all have different experiences. I have had my Ping for going on two years and have had no problems at all. I hope you get out of your contract and get something that works better for you.
I hope you can get out of your commitment to the Animas pump. No one should have to live with a device that makes them miserable. I’m a long term pumper as well. I’ve had good experiences with the Medtronic and the Animas Ping. My Ping experience has been the opposite of yours but I have developed some poorly absorbing sites on my abdomen. I’m currently experimenting with trying to find fresh sites I can use.
I did try the OmniPod for five months this year and have similar feelings you hold for the Ping. When I got out of bed on Thanksgiving morning eight hours into a twelve hour 200+ excursion and a “good morning occlusion” alarm, I gave up and returned to my Ping.
Whatever works is the name of the game! Good luck to you.
I agree with you 110%!!!! I had two MiniMeds and my favorite, the Deltec Cozmo (I am sooo angry that they pulled out of the USA!) and now three horrible years on the Ping.
Next month I am moving to either the MiniMed Paradigm Revel, or the Accu-Check Spirit. Neither have the features that I loved with the Cozmo, but they have to be better than the Ping.
We all have our favorites and things we do and don't like about certain pumps, but I just wanted to give a bit of perspective: I personally got my Ping totally covered on insurance and am incredibly grateful to have it. How many Diabetics around the world have access to or can afford pumps - a resource many of us now take for granted? Actually, how many diabetics are limited to outdated types of insulin, or need to budget their use so they don't run out. How many Diabetics around the world die because they can't afford insulin? Perspective.
I paid for the first two out of my pocket. They were MiniMeds and were good, but I did enough research to know that the Deltec Cozmo would be the right pump for me. I did get that one paid for by insurance and it was near perfect.
As happy as I am about being able to have a pump, that does not let the manufacturer off the hook for designing pumps that A.) Are reliable and B.) Have functionality that is important for keeping the user healthy.
Animas has dropped the ball on both of the above. I have had more problems with this one Ping than the three pumps before it combined. I wouldn't recommend a non-pumper becoming a pumper if the Ping was their only option available. I feel that it is dangerous and have reported it to the FDA two times for the same problem that A.K. experienced. And I am not making this up - it just started the occlusion problem once again only 30 minutes ago. So though I will replace it the second week of January, it looks like Animas will be sending me a third pump in three years tomorrow.
Did A.K. actually specify what her problems were? I respect the fact that you both have had problems and feel very negative about the Ping. But general statements that the Ping is "dangerous" and is not reliable or doesn't have functionality to keep the user healthy are just not representative of all Ping users...by any means.
I agree with Zoe. I am well into my second year with my Ping and my control has been wonderful. I haven't been easy on this pump, although I try. It has performed very well. the only failures I have experienced are a couple of reservoirs lost their prime, and it was discovered that I was not preparing them correctly for filling; my fault, not the pump's.
The Animas Ping is not a dangerous commodity. I understand if you are having problems with the pump that you are entitled to your opinion of it. For me, this pump came highly recommended by a trusted D friend and a D relative. It has been a very good choice for me and I will continue to recommend it to others.
I am sure that if you take your concerns to Animas that they will deal fairly with you. It is not fair to bad-mouth this product, or any D product, in this forum, just because you are not satisfied.
Brian,
I respectfully disagree that providing negative feedback is "bad mouthing" nor not "fair." Not satisfied describes my feelings about lack of critical features and Animas' lack of interest in considering them. You'll see no posts from me here about that; I'll change manufacturers and let Animas try to make it on their own.
However, the repeated failures of these pumps is dangerous, and my reports to the FDA under the MedWatch program is the responsible thing to do. Not reporting significant adverse events would be irresponsible given this is a life sustaining medical device and not a household appliance. Remember, we're not talking about my dislike of not having the effective notifications that my Cozmo did, we're discussing total failure of a non-abused medical device.
Zoe, A.K. mentioned "occlusive-ridden" as one of her problems which has plagued both of my Pings. When I called in on the first pump, the CSR put me through a scripted "did you do this, how about that? etc." as though it were my first pump instead of my third pump over eleven years. I played along, I understand the need to treat everyone exactly the same during troubleshooting, but it's a little off-putting. I have to call them yet today, and expect the same situation. Luckily I have my old pump as a fall back.
I don't think anyone was suggesting you not express your experience or your dissatisfaction with the Ping, Kevin. That is what TuD is all about: everyone's different experiences. Then the reader can pick and choose and make their own decisions. What I was objecting to was sweeping generalizations about the "dangerous Ping which lacks critical features" and "repeated failures of these pumps" instead of speaking from your own experience. Many of us use and rely on the Ping and are very happy with it (as well as with Animas customer service). And "occlusion ridden" is not exactly a specific issue. To be honest, if someone has had their pump replaced 7 times in 2.5 years I would suspect user error and be highly admiring of Animas to continue to replace it!
While I too have a tendency to make sweeping generalizations, especially when I'm upset by something, I appreciate when people call me on them and remind me that my experience is not everyone's and sometimes it's even in the minority. For example when I had repeated set failures and inquired if this was common, I got an overwhelming response that it was not. I re-read the directions, asked for specifics, changed my technique and boom greatly reduced problems. That's part of what TuD is good for imho.
Zoe,
I didn't take your comment as such. The occlusion problem with Ping is common enough, and given both my experience and A.K.'s many year experience with several pump brands, makes me believe that her experience is due to pump problems, as is mine. I didn't go into why I believe these pumps have it, as it's a guess on my part. But please understand that these pumps are having real non-user related occlusion problems. I am at my endocrinologist right now, but will post a picture when I return home, I just took it with my phone.
I also didn't get into the customer svc issues: I own a Customer Experience consulting firm and have rated Animas dead last out of the three pump companies I have dealt with, and Animas isn't even close. When I started with them, I found that the CSR I had started the procurement process with had quit, and there was no formal turnover procedure. My many calls to her were left in a VM box with no review, and the box was left with default privileges that left the security wide open. HIPAA anyone? I reported all to Animas mgmt, but it didn't get better from there. Will leave it at that. I responded to A.K.'s post regarding the lack of reliability, and apparently jinxed myself given this latest failure.....photo to come in a little bit.
Kevin,
Are you using the same sets that you used with the Cozmo? And if you are, do you have any idea about why you're having problems now when you didn't before?
Maurie (Whose beloved Cozmo is off warranty and about to be replaced)
Maurie,
They are different infusion sets due due to my insurance company wanting to get the infusion sets from the pump mfgr. But when my Ping went into permanent occlusion mode, my Cozmo worked fine with the same infusion set the Ping choked on. I have an idea why the Ping does this, but it's just a guess and I will sound sour on Animas, when I truthfully do not know the reason. Hint: lawyer shy, overly cautious?
BTW, am looking into buying another Cozmo out of pocket in a country where we are retiring to in a few years. Friend there is an endocrinologist, and he's looking into it for me.
I presume that when people talk about an "occlusion problem" they are referring to the error message that says "occlusion". I've only had 1 of those since Feb 2007 when I started using an Animas pump, that was due to a very pronounced kink in the tubing which was stopping the insulin from being pumped through, I'd somehow managed to bend the tubing. I straightened it & per Animas support changed the occlusion setting to "Low" & I've never had that problem again.
The error was with an Animas 1250 & now I use a 2020, but I have always found my Animas pump to work great, I put most of my BG fluctuations down to the vagaries of T1 & my moods, exercise etc, & the site on my body.
Annabella,
You are correct. And mine, like yours have occasionally been related to a true infusion set occlusion, as I very occasionally experienced with the MiniMeds and Cozmo.
A side issue is with the quality of Unomedical infusion sets; in April 2011 I received an entire box of sets that were blocked. That entire box of 10 had tubing blockage, yet Animas only replaced 6 of them no charge! Most recently, my last two orders have included two boxes with zero adhesive on them. As I stated above, my insurer (UHC) will only allow me to get infusion sets from the pump mfgr (Animas) and I have been lobbying them to change this mandate as any pump with a Luer lock infusion connection can work with any Luer lock infusion set. I had zero quality control problems with the Cleo infusion sets over three years and had one set of MiniMed infusion sets (proprietary, not Luer lock) with no adhesive on them over six years.
But the problem I have experienced with the Ping pump is that the infusion set has no blockage - the same infusion set works fine with my Cozmo pump, but the Ping pump chokes on it and even with a new infusion set not set into me. The pump's occlusion logic is off or something is wrong mechanically that causes the logic to register an occlusion.
No mention of BG fluctuations from me - this is a technology problem. I do just fine with a working pump.
2225-20121227_143725_454.jpg (863 KB)
Do you have the occlusion option set to "Low"? I was advised to do this by Animas support. My very knowledgeable Animas trainer also said as I had done MDI for so many years I had fatty buildup & it was advised.
Yep, starting Day One three years ago.
1 2 3 … 8 9 >>
“OCCLUSION DETECTED, OCCLUSION DETECTED”
Posted on October 12, 2012 by woodnputer
For diabetes caregivers, friends, family members and, of course, T1 AND T2 diabetics, this article regards one of many operational defects involved with having to wear an insulin pump. Let me [try] to familiarize this phrase for you: “Occlusion Detected.”
Occlusion plainly means “blockage” – something has been blocked. “To close or shut off” is the printed definition in The American Heritage Dictionary. In this case, the delivery of insulin through the tubing (infusion set) of an insulin pump into a subcutaneous (just beneath the skin) area of the body has been stopped. The reasons depend upon a number of variables that I will momentarily address.
I began wearing a name brand insulin pump, Disetronic, in 1996. Much to my dismay, approximately four years later, the Disetronic Company was ’bought out’ by another insulin pump provider known as AccuChek. (https://www.accu-chekinsulinpumps.com/ipus/.) In a state of mourning, I did not want AccuChek. I was being forced into using their product. I did not like the aggressive attitude of the sales person whom was assigned to my case. Therefore, negative plus negative equals zero in my book. However, because I had a multiple-year warranty contract in existence with Disetronic, I had to get an AccuChek brand, initiating another contract, or purchase one on my own for $5k without medical insurance assistance, or submit to their rules. I submitted.
The transfer from the usage of one pump to the other was quick. I learned the machinations of this new pump and smoothly glided along in heels.
After a few years of use, this pump failed. I did not aggravate it on purpose! We actually befriended each other, so to speak, and I used it night and day caring for it as directed. A replacement was sent to me. Occlusions continued. And continued. These repeated occlusions decidedly and ultimately cancelled the contract. With the immediate assistance of an endocrinologist at the time, the MedtronicMinimed brand and company was highly recommended (http://www.medtronicdiabetes.com/products) and replaced the AccuChek. The year is 1998.
I conceded with the fact that my medical insurance would pay the expenses. Initial adjustments went along smoothly, once again. After all, wearing an insulin pump 24/7 was better than having to physically inject insulin multiple times per day. Or was it? Hmm…
Oh, about ten days into wearing this particular pump, one early morning about 7:00am, I was washing my face, getting ready for the day. Well, a drop of water – a single drop – landed on the pump. I wiped it off and proceeded with my day.
MANY hours later, just before 10:oopm, my blood sugar was irregularly high for no apparent reason. I bolused and continued to bolus until 4:00am. My blood sugar measurements were now past the 400mg/dc mark! Yes, highly alarming, frightening and sickening. There was no Occlusion alarm – or any other type of alarm!
Confused and vomitous, I drove myself to the nearby hospital. I was checked in with ketoacidosis and remained there for four days with the precise goal of stabilizing my blood sugar levels. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diabetic_ketoacidosis.)
In my numerous decades of living with diabetes, I have NEVER had ketoacidosis. I NEVER want to be in that state again.
While I recuperated in the hospital, my attending physician had expressed alarm at not being able to get through to a MiniMed representative. He adamantly wanted me to get back on the insulin pump, being familiar with an insulin pumps’ best-diabetes-control-practices.
To shorten this part of the story, this doctor told me that he had to threaten the MiniMed company with a lawsuit in order to get me an immediate (same-day-air) insulin pump delivered to the hospital. Finally, it was done. It arrived. You might have thought it was Christmas in July! Once he excitedly brought it to me, I knew exactly what to do as he watched me go through the processes of initializing, programming and inserting the infusion set (a stainless steel needle thinner than the stainless steel head of a thumb tack) into my tummy area. That night, I was watched closely, carefully taken care of and grateful to not only be alive, but especially to the efforts of my attending physician. I was released that fourth day.
Reviewing all this drama with my endocrinologist, I practically begged him to get me off this thing. Get me another pump. I no longer trusted the MiniMed brand name. Asking me what I preferred, I answered “Disetronic. I had been on their pump for four years without a problem. I want to go back.” “You can’t,” he said. “They are no longer in business. You’ll have to use the AccuChek again with their updated model.”
Okay, this scenario didn’t last too long. I ended up with an Animas model that I utilize to this day – when it works. You see, in the past 2 1/2 years since I began with this model, it has been replaced 7 – yes, seven – times! It has occluded at least every three days. Once it starts there is no stopping it. Changing the infusion site, nor changing the cartridge, nor changing the battery has helped. Over and over and over again. June, 2012, was the last replacement.
All in all, I’ve used four different brands of insulin pumps over the last sixteen years. Initially paying out-of-pocket for my first insulin pump, the followers were cost-effective and covered through my medical insurance, each with a four-year warranty contract. That’s all fine and well for the company, but it screws up my mind, body and routine horribly when such chaos strikes. You see, without the pump, I have to resort to six injections per day, the same time every day, using two different insulins – a short acting type and a long acting one – in order to maintain my life. I have since learned to travel with these insulins whether I am attached to the pump or not. It is my “Plan B,” my emergency back-up plan.
The insulin vials with syringes are packed in a cooler of ice along with juices and crackers. I am no longer shy about bringing the cooler with me wherever I need to be, conducting business as usual. My blood sugar readings tell me what I need to do: take insulin or get juice. I test my blood sugar 8 – 10 times a day. Discretion is always used.
For instance, recently re-attaching myself and wearing the thing for three days, after being without the pump for three weeks due to my bad attitude that leads to depression and awaiting replacement product from the company, the pump is presently alarming once again with a reading “Occlusion, Occlusion.” This means the insulin is stuck and can’t deliver through the tubing (aka: infusion set). Such instances ALWAYS happen in the wee hours of any morning or during a speaking engagement. It happened yesterday afternoon at a book signing. The alarm is LOUD and attracts attention! Alas, fatigue, depression, no energy, ho-hum, bad attitude.
When in public, I discreetly excuse myself, go into the restroom – or my car – and fix the situation. Fixing entails one of three decisive procedures: either (a.) “priming” the pump (pressing one of the buttons to pass about 10 units of insulin through the tubing to clear it) or (b.) removing, then re-attaching the infusion set to another body site or (c.) completely removing the darn thing and resorting to injections.
It’s a machine. I am a cyborg and take care of it and me as time and circumstances avail. Ugh. Often embarrassing and often uncomfortable.
Contacting the various company(ies) about problems has been frustrating. You see, the technicians on the other end of the line ALWAYS blame me for the machines’ malfunctions. Either I didn’t tighten the screw heads on one end or the other, or I put in the wrong battery, or I didn’t expirate the cartridge, or (and this is the best one that I have repeatedly been told) “you have too much scar tissue.” Duh. No kidding. I’ve been diabetic for 53 – yes, fifty-three – years!
The variables are non-stop.
2012 – Please pray for a cure. This expensive disease is chronic, baffling and tiring.
Truly, A. . Buckroth (at Amazon.com).
1 2 3 … 8 9 >>
“OCCLUSION DETECTED, OCCLUSION DETECTED”
Posted on October 12, 2012 by woodnputer
For diabetes caregivers, friends, family members and, of course, T1 AND T2 diabetics, this article regards one of many operational defects involved with having to wear an insulin pump. Let me [try] to familiarize this phrase for you: “Occlusion Detected.”
Occlusion plainly means “blockage” – something has been blocked. “To close or shut off” is the printed definition in The American Heritage Dictionary. In this case, the delivery of insulin through the tubing (infusion set) of an insulin pump into a subcutaneous (just beneath the skin) area of the body has been stopped. The reasons depend upon a number of variables that I will momentarily address.
I began wearing a name brand insulin pump, Disetronic, in 1996. Much to my dismay, approximately four years later, the Disetronic Company was ’bought out’ by another insulin pump provider known as AccuChek. (https://www.accu-chekinsulinpumps.com/ipus/.) In a state of mourning, I did not want AccuChek. I was being forced into using their product. I did not like the aggressive attitude of the sales person whom was assigned to my case. Therefore, negative plus negative equals zero in my book. However, because I had a multiple-year warranty contract in existence with Disetronic, I had to get an AccuChek brand, initiating another contract, or purchase one on my own for $5k without medical insurance assistance, or submit to their rules. I submitted.
The transfer from the usage of one pump to the other was quick. I learned the machinations of this new pump and smoothly glided along in heels.
After a few years of use, this pump failed. I did not aggravate it on purpose! We actually befriended each other, so to speak, and I used it night and day caring for it as directed. A replacement was sent to me. Occlusions continued. And continued. These repeated occlusions decidedly and ultimately cancelled the contract. With the immediate assistance of an endocrinologist at the time, the MedtronicMinimed brand and company was highly recommended (http://www.medtronicdiabetes.com/products) and replaced the AccuChek. The year is 1998.
I conceded with the fact that my medical insurance would pay the expenses. Initial adjustments went along smoothly, once again. After all, wearing an insulin pump 24/7 was better than having to physically inject insulin multiple times per day. Or was it? Hmm…
Oh, about ten days into wearing this particular pump, one early morning about 7:00am, I was washing my face, getting ready for the day. Well, a drop of water – a single drop – landed on the pump. I wiped it off and proceeded with my day.
MANY hours later, just before 10:oopm, my blood sugar was irregularly high for no apparent reason. I bolused and continued to bolus until 4:00am. My blood sugar measurements were now past the 400mg/dc mark! Yes, highly alarming, frightening and sickening. There was no Occlusion alarm – or any other type of alarm!
Confused and vomitous, I drove myself to the nearby hospital. I was checked in with ketoacidosis and remained there for four days with the precise goal of stabilizing my blood sugar levels. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diabetic_ketoacidosis.)
In my numerous decades of living with diabetes, I have NEVER had ketoacidosis. I NEVER want to be in that state again.
While I recuperated in the hospital, my attending physician had expressed alarm at not being able to get through to a MiniMed representative. He adamantly wanted me to get back on the insulin pump, being familiar with an insulin pumps’ best-diabetes-control-practices.
To shorten this part of the story, this doctor told me that he had to threaten the MiniMed company with a lawsuit in order to get me an immediate (same-day-air) insulin pump delivered to the hospital. Finally, it was done. It arrived. You might have thought it was Christmas in July! Once he excitedly brought it to me, I knew exactly what to do as he watched me go through the processes of initializing, programming and inserting the infusion set (a stainless steel needle thinner than the stainless steel head of a thumb tack) into my tummy area. That night, I was watched closely, carefully taken care of and grateful to not only be alive, but especially to the efforts of my attending physician. I was released that fourth day.
Reviewing all this drama with my endocrinologist, I practically begged him to get me off this thing. Get me another pump. I no longer trusted the MiniMed brand name. Asking me what I preferred, I answered “Disetronic. I had been on their pump for four years without a problem. I want to go back.” “You can’t,” he said. “They are no longer in business. You’ll have to use the AccuChek again with their updated model.”
Okay, this scenario didn’t last too long. I ended up with an Animas model that I utilize to this day – when it works. You see, in the past 2 1/2 years since I began with this model, it has been replaced 7 – yes, seven – times! It has occluded at least every three days. Once it starts there is no stopping it. Changing the infusion site, nor changing the cartridge, nor changing the battery has helped. Over and over and over again. June, 2012, was the last replacement.
All in all, I’ve used four different brands of insulin pumps over the last sixteen years. Initially paying out-of-pocket for my first insulin pump, the followers were cost-effective and covered through my medical insurance, each with a four-year warranty contract. That’s all fine and well for the company, but it screws up my mind, body and routine horribly when such chaos strikes. You see, without the pump, I have to resort to six injections per day, the same time every day, using two different insulins – a short acting type and a long acting one – in order to maintain my life. I have since learned to travel with these insulins whether I am attached to the pump or not. It is my “Plan B,” my emergency back-up plan.
The insulin vials with syringes are packed in a cooler of ice along with juices and crackers. I am no longer shy about bringing the cooler with me wherever I need to be, conducting business as usual. My blood sugar readings tell me what I need to do: take insulin or get juice. I test my blood sugar 8 – 10 times a day. Discretion is always used.
For instance, recently re-attaching myself and wearing the thing for three days, after being without the pump for three weeks due to my bad attitude that leads to depression and awaiting replacement product from the company, the pump is presently alarming once again with a reading “Occlusion, Occlusion.” This means the insulin is stuck and can’t deliver through the tubing (aka: infusion set). Such instances ALWAYS happen in the wee hours of any morning or during a speaking engagement. It happened yesterday afternoon at a book signing. The alarm is LOUD and attracts attention! Alas, fatigue, depression, no energy, ho-hum, bad attitude.
When in public, I discreetly excuse myself, go into the restroom – or my car – and fix the situation. Fixing entails one of three decisive procedures: either (a.) “priming” the pump (pressing one of the buttons to pass about 10 units of insulin through the tubing to clear it) or (b.) removing, then re-attaching the infusion set to another body site or (c.) completely removing the darn thing and resorting to injections.
It’s a machine. I am a cyborg and take care of it and me as time and circumstances avail. Ugh. Often embarrassing and often uncomfortable.
Contacting the various company(ies) about problems has been frustrating. You see, the technicians on the other end of the line ALWAYS blame me for the machines’ malfunctions. Either I didn’t tighten the screw heads on one end or the other, or I put in the wrong battery, or I didn’t expirate the cartridge, or (and this is the best one that I have repeatedly been told) “you have too much scar tissue.” Duh. No kidding. I’ve been diabetic for 53 – yes, fifty-three – years!
The variables are non-stop.
2012 – Please pray for a cure. This expensive disease is chronic, baffling and tiring.
Truly, A. . Buckroth (at Amazon.com).
1 2 3 … 8 9 >>
“OCCLUSION DETECTED, OCCLUSION DETECTED”
Posted on October 12, 2012 by woodnputer
For diabetes caregivers, friends, family members and, of course, T1 AND T2 diabetics, this article regards one of many operational defects involved with having to wear an insulin pump. Let me [try] to familiarize this phrase for you: “Occlusion Detected.”
Occlusion plainly means “blockage” – something has been blocked. “To close or shut off” is the printed definition in The American Heritage Dictionary. In this case, the delivery of insulin through the tubing (infusion set) of an insulin pump into a subcutaneous (just beneath the skin) area of the body has been stopped. The reasons depend upon a number of variables that I will momentarily address.
I began wearing a name brand insulin pump, Disetronic, in 1996. Much to my dismay, approximately four years later, the Disetronic Company was ’bought out’ by another insulin pump provider known as AccuChek. (https://www.accu-chekinsulinpumps.com/ipus/.) In a state of mourning, I did not want AccuChek. I was being forced into using their product. I did not like the aggressive attitude of the sales person whom was assigned to my case. Therefore, negative plus negative equals zero in my book. However, because I had a multiple-year warranty contract in existence with Disetronic, I had to get an AccuChek brand, initiating another contract, or purchase one on my own for $5k without medical insurance assistance, or submit to their rules. I submitted.
The transfer from the usage of one pump to the other was quick. I learned the machinations of this new pump and smoothly glided along in heels.
After a few years of use, this pump failed. I did not aggravate it on purpose! We actually befriended each other, so to speak, and I used it night and day caring for it as directed. A replacement was sent to me. Occlusions continued. And continued. These repeated occlusions decidedly and ultimately cancelled the contract. With the immediate assistance of an endocrinologist at the time, the MedtronicMinimed brand and company was highly recommended (http://www.medtronicdiabetes.com/products) and replaced the AccuChek. The year is 1998.
I conceded with the fact that my medical insurance would pay the expenses. Initial adjustments went along smoothly, once again. After all, wearing an insulin pump 24/7 was better than having to physically inject insulin multiple times per day. Or was it? Hmm…
Oh, about ten days into wearing this particular pump, one early morning about 7:00am, I was washing my face, getting ready for the day. Well, a drop of water – a single drop – landed on the pump. I wiped it off and proceeded with my day.
MANY hours later, just before 10:oopm, my blood sugar was irregularly high for no apparent reason. I bolused and continued to bolus until 4:00am. My blood sugar measurements were now past the 400mg/dc mark! Yes, highly alarming, frightening and sickening. There was no Occlusion alarm – or any other type of alarm!
Confused and vomitous, I drove myself to the nearby hospital. I was checked in with ketoacidosis and remained there for four days with the precise goal of stabilizing my blood sugar levels. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diabetic_ketoacidosis.)
In my numerous decades of living with diabetes, I have NEVER had ketoacidosis. I NEVER want to be in that state again.
While I recuperated in the hospital, my attending physician had expressed alarm at not being able to get through to a MiniMed representative. He adamantly wanted me to get back on the insulin pump, being familiar with an insulin pumps’ best-diabetes-control-practices.
To shorten this part of the story, this doctor told me that he had to threaten the MiniMed company with a lawsuit in order to get me an immediate (same-day-air) insulin pump delivered to the hospital. Finally, it was done. It arrived. You might have thought it was Christmas in July! Once he excitedly brought it to me, I knew exactly what to do as he watched me go through the processes of initializing, programming and inserting the infusion set (a stainless steel needle thinner than the stainless steel head of a thumb tack) into my tummy area. That night, I was watched closely, carefully taken care of and grateful to not only be alive, but especially to the efforts of my attending physician. I was released that fourth day.
Reviewing all this drama with my endocrinologist, I practically begged him to get me off this thing. Get me another pump. I no longer trusted the MiniMed brand name. Asking me what I preferred, I answered “Disetronic. I had been on their pump for four years without a problem. I want to go back.” “You can’t,” he said. “They are no longer in business. You’ll have to use the AccuChek again with their updated model.”
Okay, this scenario didn’t last too long. I ended up with an Animas model that I utilize to this day – when it works. You see, in the past 2 1/2 years since I began with this model, it has been replaced 7 – yes, seven – times! It has occluded at least every three days. Once it starts there is no stopping it. Changing the infusion site, nor changing the cartridge, nor changing the battery has helped. Over and over and over again. June, 2012, was the last replacement.
All in all, I’ve used four different brands of insulin pumps over the last sixteen years. Initially paying out-of-pocket for my first insulin pump, the followers were cost-effective and covered through my medical insurance, each with a four-year warranty contract. That’s all fine and well for the company, but it screws up my mind, body and routine horribly when such chaos strikes. You see, without the pump, I have to resort to six injections per day, the same time every day, using two different insulins – a short acting type and a long acting one – in order to maintain my life. I have since learned to travel with these insulins whether I am attached to the pump or not. It is my “Plan B,” my emergency back-up plan.
The insulin vials with syringes are packed in a cooler of ice along with juices and crackers. I am no longer shy about bringing the cooler with me wherever I need to be, conducting business as usual. My blood sugar readings tell me what I need to do: take insulin or get juice. I test my blood sugar 8 – 10 times a day. Discretion is always used.
For instance, recently re-attaching myself and wearing the thing for three days, after being without the pump for three weeks due to my bad attitude that leads to depression and awaiting replacement product from the company, the pump is presently alarming once again with a reading “Occlusion, Occlusion.” This means the insulin is stuck and can’t deliver through the tubing (aka: infusion set). Such instances ALWAYS happen in the wee hours of any morning or during a speaking engagement. It happened yesterday afternoon at a book signing. The alarm is LOUD and attracts attention! Alas, fatigue, depression, no energy, ho-hum, bad attitude.
When in public, I discreetly excuse myself, go into the restroom – or my car – and fix the situation. Fixing entails one of three decisive procedures: either (a.) “priming” the pump (pressing one of the buttons to pass about 10 units of insulin through the tubing to clear it) or (b.) removing, then re-attaching the infusion set to another body site or (c.) completely removing the darn thing and resorting to injections.
It’s a machine. I am a cyborg and take care of it and me as time and circumstances avail. Ugh. Often embarrassing and often uncomfortable.
Contacting the various company(ies) about problems has been frustrating. You see, the technicians on the other end of the line ALWAYS blame me for the machines’ malfunctions. Either I didn’t tighten the screw heads on one end or the other, or I put in the wrong battery, or I didn’t expirate the cartridge, or (and this is the best one that I have repeatedly been told) “you have too much scar tissue.” Duh. No kidding. I’ve been diabetic for 53 – yes, fifty-three – years!
The variables are non-stop.
2012 – Please pray for a cure. This expensive disease is chronic, baffling and tiring.
Truly, A. . Buckroth (at Amazon.com).