Hoping to get approval for T Slim for daughter

Diabetes Technology Insulin Pumps
#1

Just joined the group, as we are having to change from the Omnipod for my daughter and the TSlim is the only pump that makes sense for her. The more that I have learned about it the better I like it. Was thinking of the Vibe, but after really researching each, the TSlim wins hands down and of course the Vibe is not available here yet. I wish that she could stay on the Omnipod, but there is no chance that she can get it covered once she leaves our home and has to rely on just Medicaid. Hoping to actually see one in person next week and get the ball rolling to get it covered.

It seems that most people really like it, except for the bubbles issue for some and the recent recall on some cartridges.

#2

Hi Mary! My DS is 10 and has been on the t:slim since November. Although I wasn’t happy with the cartridge recalls, Tandem handled the situation well and we received our replacements very quickly. The t:slim is very user friendly. My son can do everything by himself (except the changes I feel more comfortable doing :wink: I think other than switching from tubeless to tubed your daughter will be happy with it. I don’t have any complaints. It doses down to the 1000th of a unit and has many extra helpful features. The only thing it doesn’t do is a square wave bolus that I’ve heard other pumps offer. Other than that it’s been great.

#3

Isn't the "extended bolus" feature on the T:slim the same as the square bolus?

#4

Hi Mary! My son went on the tslim in July. We have been very happy with it. We have some cartridges that were affected in the recall but as Jennifer said, they handled it well and resolved it quickly. It did take me a little bit to catch on with the bubble issue in the Luer Lock but I worked something out. I really like that it is SO user friendly. We are happy with our decision. Hope things go well with her switch!

#5

I think it's similar but not exactly the same. I'm only slightly familiar with how the square wave works. I thought with the square wave you could do your bolus in "waves" or more than 2 doses. I could be completely wrong but the t:slim is strictly X% now and the remainder later (however many hours you choose).

#6

Hi Jennifer, Melissa has used several tubed pumps over the years, so it will not be a huge adjustment for her. One of them was a Cozmo, which we loved, and she also had a Minimed. After the screaming pod that I had to deal with before I even got my coffee poured, I am more than ready to be done with the pods. We never used the square wave bolus on other pumps, but we do use extended boluses very often. Not sure from what you said if you understand that an extended bolus is a % up front, and then the remainder is spread equally over how ever long you choose. It is essential for her to be able to eat pizza, pasta, or anything with a lot of fat it in.

#7

Hi Shannon, I knew about the recall and it's good to know it was handled well. Every pump that we have ever had, and also infusion sets have been recalled at one time or another. Except the Omipod that is, but it has had lots of issues over the years. I'm excited to get the paperwork turned in, working on that now. Because she is going to have staff once she moves out this summer, I really think that the Tslim is going to be easiest for them to learn, since they all have smartphones.

#8

I'm hoping it is easy to learn as I just got mine approved to switch from my Ping!!!!

#9

Hi Marc, from what I have seen, it will be far easier than the menus on the ping! Have you watched the Utube video that was made by a CDE for Tandum? I think it is about an hour long and very informative. I got the paperwork yesterday and faxed it in to them and ran the endo's portion over to her to fill out and fax.
Why are you changing pumps, warranty up on the Ping or another reason?

#10

Hi! I was on the Omnipod and lo ed it BUT was lied to by Edgepark that my insurance covered pods and PDM. I am on Medicare and gave them all info, they quoted and billed for 2 month per Medicare fees and dropped me: month later they are billing me for FULL payments. I had to find another pump and the T-slim met my needs and has been a great solution.

#11

Edgepark is a train wreck for a lot of people. That is horrible that you are getting billed for their mistake. I'm hearing some really good things about the Tslim, joined a FB group and looking forward to getting it approved and her started on it, hoping soon.

#12

I’m changing for a couple of reasons. My insulin needs have been changing and using about 140u a day now. Going from a 200u reservoir to a 300u will be a huge improvement. Also I had a pump failure which resulted in my a1c skyrocketing…with all my changes recently I thought the problem was me, not the pump. That combined with a nightmare getting supplies recently(animas didn’t bother to inform me that they didn’t accept my insurance any longer. I called two weeks later to see where my stuff was to be told that they can’t help me.) made me see if my new insurance would swap early. My Endo was totally behind this for the 300u, so I think her assistance really made it happen. Training this Thursday.

#13

Marc -

Just an FYI It really isn't a true 300cc reservoir....you will be luck to get about 275u...I have to change my cassette every other day and I use about 120u/day. But it will give you one extra day :)

#14

True, but it will still give me two full days instead of 1 1/2. Working in law enforcement it’s hard to stop and take off the duty belt and body armor to refill mid shift…lol…

#15

There are things that you can do that will help make it last too, like filling the tubing manually instead of using what is in the reservoir. Someone on the FB group does it that way.