I was just wondering if any Canadians are using Tandem’s tslim pump. I want to get one when my warranty expires in 2021.
Dee - I want one to replace my Animas Vibe which is on it’s last legs (screen brightness is shot)
While approved by Health Canada, now we need to wait for individual provinces to see whether or not they’ll adopt the Tandem as an available pump option.
No word yet from Alberta.
My Ping is nearly four years out of warranty and I need a new pump ASAP. I’m planning on going through my insurance rather than waiting on Pharmacare coverage (which may take forever). Tandem is going to send me the insurance forms (Pacific Blue Cross) as soon as they’re available.
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Are you in Canada Jen?
I’ll certainly be curious how you get along with the Tandem after 4 yrs with Animas
Yep! Vancouver. 
I’ve already seen the t:slim (met with the rep last week), so I’m fairly sure I’ll like it. The main thing I’ll miss is the inability to adjust ratios and target BG on the fly while doing a bolus.
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Jen - I’m excited for you
The year 2021 can’t come soon enough. I am really excited about the tslim pump. Right now I am on a medtronic 630, but I disliked their sensors. I am using a dexcom g6 cgm with it. I kind of lose out on the feature that my pump will suspend if I go below a certain threshold. The dexcom sensors are more affordable and the reports on dexcom clarity are nice and easy to interpret Jen, you are lucky to start using the tslim pump. Keep us updated.
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I guess I have to wait until February 2021 now. In Ontario you have a grant of $2,400 a year for pump supplies. But they will only let you get a new one in five years, not 4 like it used to be. Who knows, by that time Tandem will have their automated insulin pump.
Did PBC cover the t-slim? I just submitted the Statement of Medical Necessity and curious if anyone has had any luck with them covering it? This will be my first pump after 36 years of being Type 1.
Hi @Dave4
I ended up going with the YpsoPump through their Switch program, which allowed me to get the pump for free without having to get PBC involved.
Since my old pump was long out of warranty, the warranty on the YpsoPump is only for one year. So when that year is up, I’ll probably be looking to switch to a pump with a current warranty. But I also have accessibility concerns about the t:slim after seeing it in person (I’m legally blind), and there are a ton of things changing in pumps over the next couple years…so I may hold off on making a more permanent decision until I see what’s coming next from other companies. (On the other hand, this strategy of waiting is exactly why I ended up on my Ping for eight years…)
I’d be interested to know if you have any issues with getting coverage. Good luck!
Do you guys have anything like the FDA’s new ACE (alrenate controller enabled) designation? It’s what is allowing device interoperability. And WILL allow pumps to be controlled by cell phone.
I was just thinking how nice it would be for you to have visual enhancements on you phone while using your next pump, but don’t know how new stuff like that is handled there.
I’m not sure about a specific type of designation. But a big reason I went with the YpsoPump is that it displays pump information on an iPhone app (last BG, last bolus, insulin on board, current basal rates, bolus calculator, ability to log things like exercise or site changes). It does not allow adjustments of pump settings through the app, but this will be in the next version of the YpsoPump (no word on when that may come out). For me, it’s very nice being able to see how much insulin on board I have, calculate my bolus, or review a pump alarm on my phone where I can use accessibility features, even if I still need to go to the pump to deliver a bolus or change settings. The YpsoPump does have a touchscreen, but it’s an OLED display and is very bright, has symbol-based menus (so no reading to navigate menus), and fonts that are large enough I can just barely make them out (most of the time) with my nose to the screen and very high-powered reading glasses.
Excellent. I’m glad you have access to something that works for you. We don’t have the Ypso, so I know pretty much nothing about it.
As for Tandem, part of the recent update we had included a Bluetooth setting to connect to other devices, but there’s nothing out there yet to make use of that feature. Supposedly a phone app is on the way, though, and the second iteration of it will allow bolusing and whatnot from the phone.
Just like I’d love our features to hurry up to you, I’d like some of the technologies you Canadians are hiding from us to mosey on down here.
Off to Google Ypso…
The read only phone app was supposed to launch alongside control-iq. This was stated twice by their design and marketing team members a week before the launch. Not a word about it from Tandem since then.
Can you show me where you found this information? Everything I’ve found says ETA is “first half of the year”. There’s nothing in the first three pages of Google at least that says otherwise.
Are you confusing this with them adding Control-IQ to the existing T:simulator app, which did happen just before the release so people could sorta see it in action?
It was stated by the lead designer of the algorithm in a podcast with Stacey Simms which was broadcast one week before the original CIQ release date of January 13th, that the app would launch with CIQ. They also talked about it launching with CIQ during that horrendous Tandem live stream one week before the 2nd release date of January 23rd. This was the last time anyone from Tandem spoke a word about it.
Sorry, but there is no mention of an app in the Livestream at all. It’s true though, that it is in the podcast you mentioned.
Unfortunately, she is not a marketing person, she’s the “director of clinical outcome”. It sounds like she misspoke about her inside knowledge, because every press release from Tandem says “first half of the year”. She seems to be the only one to have stated otherwise. I’m sorry if you feel mislead by that. Unfortunately, details get confused often, that’s why marketing department exist to control the release of “sanctioned” information.
They edited that video and removed pieces of it before posting it to Facebook and YouTube. The live stream was 12 minutes longer than the video which is viewable now. It was being discussed as the stream started to go haywire and just ended abruptly. For the record, I’m not confused and don’t need to be talked down to about how things work. I watched the damn thing live and know exactly what was said. Obviously, they didn’t get fda clearance or the stupid app wasn’t finished in time. One of their representatives was speaking publicly about a certain product being released and they need to address it. The whole CIQ launch was a clusterf@ck that kept getting worse by the day, and people are still waiting for their prescriptions to be processed now a month after their doctor submitted it. I’m not terribly surprised things didn’t make the release date.
Thanks Jen, I Googled the Ypso and seems very interesting. I also thought of waiting as the technology curve of the pumps are really steep right now but thought I would jump in now so will see what PBC says hopefully next week. I can’t wait to be done with MDI.
No issues getting covered by PBC, just got the letter today. They covered the pimp but not the charger, usb cable or case.
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