Hello,
I have decided to get an Animas Ping. However, I'm concerned because we don't have a rep in my area (Southwest Michigan). My endo's office has one staff member trained on it, but when I had my pre-pump appt yesterday, they tried very hard to talk me into a pump they supported.
This is a life altering decision for me, I don't want it mucked up because I don't have support.
Any thoughts/suggestions?
Thanks much.
Michelle
I live in Wisconsin and we may have a Rep. Somewhere but We haven’t needed them in 15 years. For pump training it would be nice but I’m sure they’ll send one up if you want. We did it with my daughter at the dining room table and an animas rep and nurse. Our clinic wanted us to wait months, called animas and had them here in a week. If your clinic has someone trained in Animas training take it. BY NO means let them influence you in whatever pump they get kickbacks on. I so hate that! Customer service on Animas is awesome and I’m sure will help with any issues. Stick to your guns and scold them for trying lol. Good luck! Lizabeth Mom to McKenzie (13) dx @ age 3 Animas Ping & Dex
Did you have a pump B-4. What kind of support are you looking for besides what your endo gives you?
You can get any "factory" support by calling the toll free numbers animas gives you.
A rep can't make medical decisions any way they rep the product the administering of the medication that is the responsibility of the Dr and the medical staff.
As for usage that all is very well documented in video's and booklets that come with the product and as mentioned if there are any questions a 24 hr/day support is available.
Go for it.
When I first started pumping, I was trained by a CDE that didn't use Cozmoe (my first pump) herself. but together we figured it out. The manual and the online training as well as any telephone call if needed will usually work. tHE SETUP ON MOST PUMPS IS THE SAME - IF YOU KNOW YOUR BASIC NEEDS FOR INSULIN:CARB RATIO AND CORRRECTION RATIOS (oops, sorry hit the capital button). This website for both animas user groups and the pumping insulin boards can help. In my mind, pumping is pumping.
Honestly, you can find everything you need to get started on youtube. I did!
When I decided on an Animas Pump in early 2007, the Animas sales rep & trainer in the Portland OR area had both just left! But Animas went out of their way to provide support. First the Animas sales manager from southern California came up to demo the pump, then the clinical manager from central California came up & spent nearly a day at my home training me. After I went live with Insulin she phoned me every day for a couple of weeks as we fine tuned the pump settings. So don't worry, unless thinks have changed dramatically Animas will go out of their way to give you the support you need. They want your business!
Somewhere there is a rep assigned to cover your state. They may not be local but if you or your endo’s office needed help something could be arranged as needed and Animas will send someone out. Animas has a 24 hour help line that has been very helpful whenever I’ve had problems.
One disadvantage of not having a local rep is that your office won’t have Animas supplies on hand if there’s a problem with your order so I would do everything you can to make sure you don’t run out. Use auto ship or order ahead if possible, and make sure your prescription is written for an adequate supply such as change every two days if needed rather than every three days depending on the volume of insulin used.