The medtronic pump is good but their sensors blow. You needed 2 calibrations each day and the amount of taping required to apply it to the skin is crazy. Their sensors only lasted 5 days. I didn’t like them so I switched back to my dexcom. I lost the ability for my pump to suspend when I go below a certain threshold. I was previously using dexcom with my animas vibe but when animas went under I got switched to medtron for the remainder of my warranty. I receive a $2500.00 grant from a program in Ontario called Assisted Devices Program. They make you wait the extra year before you can get a new pump. So instead of 4 years it’s 5. It helps pay for most of the amount. What did you mean by Tski? Are you on a tandem? That is what I think I want to go with. I will miss the beltclip on the medtron. It is nice. The top part is on a spring and all you have to do is push the top part and then the bottom part opens. But I think I can live without it. Yes I take an injection based on what amount my pump tells me. I sometimes will go a little less because of how quickly I fall after injecting. Once I am a normal bloodsugar I go by how much insulin is left over by the time it drops and I will bolus and eat a small amount of carbs and then just watch it. If it rises significantly I start to suspect the site. I like your mantra. Medtron sent me ten silhoutte infusionsets to try. I wasted about 4 of them before I got one to work. It’s a learning process! In the future I am going to call medtronic when my site fails. If I insert it like I did last time I shouldn’t have a problem. I hope this helps.
I had to change my infusionset today. It did not go well. In church I realized it wasn’t working. I tried until after lunchtime to get it to work. By that time we had visiting to do. It looked like it was okay. Then I saw blood in the cannula. So I changed it again. I had supper because I didn’t get lunch. It went up to 16.0mmold. So I changed it again took a shot and went for a shower. The shot made it drop fast. I am 7.0 right now. I sure hope it works. I don’t know what I am going to do. Maybe I should take a pump break. Ugh.!!
Terry, do you think if I got the silserter that it would make it better for me? When I manually insert it I put the needle just a bit below the skin and then pull it out to see if there is blood. Maybe I shouldn’t do that. I don’t recall having this much trouble.
I don’t know if the Silserter could help you or not. When things are not going well, I find that making some changes can often suggest a better solution. For me the Silserter is a way to consistently apply the Silhouette infusion set for optimal results. Your challenge with bleeding at the site is something I rarely see.
I would not pull out a newly inserted set out to check for bleeding unless it really felt painful. When I feel sharp pain, it usually means I’ve hit a blood vessel.
Perhaps taking a break from the pump can help you. I think all pumps users could benefit from a break once in a while, even if it’s just to refresh their back-up plan. Some people even find that they prefer MDI better.
I wish I had some other insights or suggestions for you! You are the ultimate expert on what diabetes treatment tactics work best for you. All I know is that trying something new can often lead to a better solution. Good luck! Maybe someone else here has some ideas for you.
Thankyou for your opinion. You are probably right. That I shouldn’t take out the insertion needle after inserting it unless there is pain. I really don’t want to take a break from the pump. It has been so good to me over the years. My husband keeps telling me that I should go to injections but I don’t want to. If the silserter can provide a constant angle and depthness of insertion maybe it’s worth a try. I see my diabetes educator on the 18th of January. I am going to see if I can get in earlier. Who knows by then everything will get sorted out.
FWIW, I completely concur with keeping the set in unless it’s painful, and not pulling it out to check for bleeding. I applaud you for continuing to work and find what will work for you.
While not my experience, I think getting some blood after inserting the needle is not an uncommon event.
RE: Pain - I do find that some sites especially my upper abdomen near my ribs can be more painful. I will frequently “probe” with the needle, and if I feel pain, move at least 1" away to find another, less painful site.
My most recent infusion set in that area followed that pattern. I probed 3 different potential sites, and finally settled on an area just off to the side. While it wasn’t painful when I inserted the needle, it did become so after the first few hours if I jostled the site AT ALL. I did live with it for three days and had no site-related issues with my BG levels, but I was really happy to move it.
I’m giving a lot of consideration to expanding to my breasts as a new area for infusion sets. I just saw a video of an Olympic athlete, Kris Freeman, who puts his Omni-Pod there.
It can be hard for your husband to understand the positives and negatives of pumping vs. injections. I’m sure he’s just trying to “fix” things, but of course, that can’t really be done with our chronic condition.
My breasts are small and I don’t have alot of fat in that area. I am kind of scared to use my breasts. I have only seemed to an issue since I have been inserting and removing it. I am messing up my skin too. I will not do that anymore and only remove it after insertion of the cannula if there is blood in the cannula, pain, or unusually high bloodsugar.
My site change this morning was a success! This is the first time I put it in my arm. I didn’t go too deep. When I put it in I didn’t pull it back out like I was doing before. If there is no pain or blood in the cannula I leave it alone.
The silhouette infusionsets seem to be working better for me. I still get the cannula in veins but not as much. I also find that if my infusionset is in blood that I can insert the needle back into the infusionset and try and reinsert back into my skin. I have to be careful with this method because sometimes the needle can puncture the cannula and then it’s a throwaway.
I am doing a little better with my site changes. I kinda know how deep I can go. I insert it at about a 20 degree angle and not very deep. I still get it in veins but the times are less. I am wondering if I insert with a silserter if it would be better? Those things are like 36$ cad. A bit pricey.
Until this thread, I never even knew about the Sil-serter, and I’ve been using the silhouette style infusion sets for over 20 years, so I’m giving you a biased opinion.
I just watched a Medtronic video on how to use it. Wow! It looks like a mildly complicated routine to me. It strikes me as adding steps that aren’t really required, so on that basis I would stick with manual insertion.
OTOH, if you figure the cost of the device as spread over the time you’re going to need infusion sets … it’s pretty inexpensive, right?
Yeah, I guess you’re right. Today was one of those days where the site change didn’t work. I have watched that video over and over again and I spoke to someone else on this site that said he can get in areas that are hard to reach and the angle and depthness are kept pretty consistent with this device.
I admire your ability to tolerate Silhouettes! All of the angled sets hurt a ton, left lots of damaged skin and the inserter itself was scary as hell. 
I couldn’t wear any of them for 3 days. I cringe just recalling the problems I had with them.
Just one more example of YDMV.
I tried exactly ONE of the Sure-Ts, and I was like, “Oh hell, no!”
HAHA!
why can’t i get this to work? too short of a response…ignore this line
I used the sure Ts for a while but I found that by the 2nd day I was changing them most of the time. I sometimes would get 3 days. It was very frustrating not knowing when they would fail and I would end up with a high bloodsugar. I just switched to the plastic silhouette infusion sets which will go the 3 days but when I move in certain ways I can feel the plastic cannula under the skin.
I thought the Silhouettes and all soft cannula sets were teflon …
I thought that they were plastic.
These site changes are becoming very stressful. On site change day I spend about 3-4 hours with elevated bloodsugar
levels. Usually on the third try I start getting insulin. I am using the 13mml silhouettes 20 degree manual insertion. With the 90 degree mios I have never had so many failed sites as I have with the angled ones. The places I have tried are in my abdomen, my leg and my arm. All with little success. I find that I can feel the plastic cannula under my skin also. It’s not very comfortable. I move it when it’s not comfortable. I think I might try the mios again for my next site change. I think I gave up on them too quickly. I don’t think I am doing anything incorrectly. I see my Diabetes Educator on Thursday. The day of my next site change. Wish me luck that I can resolve this issue. When I am eligible for the closed loop pump it won’t work properly if I’m not getting insulin. I really hope I can find a solution. Any suggestions would be helpful.
There is a lot of confusion over the usage of the terms “plastic” and “Teflon” with regards to the description of any cannula set. There is little consistency over the terms used to describe them and a Google search will reveal that “Plastic” and “Teflon” are both used to describe the same sets, but “Plastic” seems to be used the most.
I’ve tended to use “Teflon” myself but regardless of the precise terminology, for me they are a PITA as they kink too often and are uncomfortable. I nearly gave up pumping many years ago because of the frequent kinking. Sure-T’s saved me, as I don’t do well on MDI.