When I started pumping, I bought the “Pumping Insulin” book by John Walsh. For me, it was a good initial read, but not something that I kept as a reference.
Recently, I read about a book called, “Thinking Like A Pancreas” by Gary Scheiner, MS, CDE and a T1 diabetic. A quick look on Amazon makes me think it could be a good read/reference.
Gary is well known in the diabetes world and his book is a great reference.
He also has a very very good carb couniting reference book with counts to all sorts of foods.
I visit his site at integrateddiabetes.com quite often, and have worked in a small way with him through his long distance program for fine tuning your diabetes.
His pump comparisons have been really valuable to me and pumpers who belong to my little online pump groups.
I just hope he updates them soon!
I’d suggest checking out your local library, because I agree, one reads a book once and seldom goes back to it. If you find that you want to continue checking out the same reference book over and over, then you’ll know you have found what you are looking for.
We have Pumping Insulin and Diabetes for Canadians for Dummies and of course the books that came from Medtronic with David’s pump. We bought Calorie King’s pocket size Calorie Fat & Carbohydrate Counter that I carry around in my purse, but David has had to become adept and estimating carbs as Mom is not always with him when he eats these days.
I am probably overdue to re-read what we already have as some of the information can probably be better grasped now that David has been pumping for the past two years. I recall my initial read through a somewhat overwhelming and David has yet to try the dual wave or square wave bolus features of his pump.
I will be getting my pump in September and bought ‘Pumping Insulin’ and think it is very informative. Mike, I was also thinking of buying ‘Think like a Pancreas’ and would love to hear from someone who has the book. Is it worth buying? I suppose the more information we gather the better we will be able to cope.
That book was worth every nickel. It is unusual to have a book combining the perspective of a patient and trained health care professional. One thing I really appreciated from that book is that he wants you to do well but understands that clinical perfection is not realistic. Instead he takes the approach to do your best, learn and understand what is happening to you and to balance a good quality of life with managing your disease.
Mike - I know for myself - even before starting to pump - John Walsh’s book was like a bible to me - that I still refer back to from time to time. I bought it 3 years prior to buying a pump - and it help me in the transition of learning how to pump - as I did not have a pump educator to show me the ropes for the two pumps I test drove prior to plunking down the big $$$'s.
I’ll have to check my local library to see if they’ve got the book you mention above. I know they already have my previous editon of “Pumping Insulin” - I donated it to them - when Animas sent me a more current edition.
I’ll also check out the list that Manny has - thanks Melissa for that!