I'm starting on a pump soon,your 2 cents?

[Asma]

after two yrs. of painful waiting,an average a1c that goes up to 10.I’m finally approved.

my endos never agreed,they refused countless times before,there’s always something off,too many lows\highs,hypo unawareness,and my favourite : you don’t need one.
last week my favourite doc was there,I couldn’t sleep the night before,the first word he said was:you’re scared,and I pretty much was,he took a glance at my file and said in a matter-of-fact way that I’m not a candidate,he’s well-known for being super strict on med students,super kind to patients.so when he came closer smiling I instantly thought"that’s it,he’s gonna apologize and tell me that I’m never pumping,It took me a great effort not to cry \ :*/

But he started to joke around,commenting on my backpack-I came straight from school- ,he told me that he hated it,and pointing out to weird stuff:what’s that,what does it mean,then he suddenly asked me why I want a pump,that was the moment of truth,and you’d never imagine how nervous I was!.

I’ve prepared for that,how to convince endos to approve for a pump :-),I had an awesome clever speech that went POOF and all I said-blabbered- was that it’s easier and more comfortable.

then he nodded to the other doctor and said that he thinks it’s fine,then my father-he’s a food scientist so he’s pretty serious about the stuff-started to say how much of a sweet-tooth I am and went on for quite a time,but luckily,the doctor sided with me .

he then said that he didn’t hate my bag but that he was testing my personality(?).that’s pretty much it.they told they’s call me when the admission papers are ready>>>
-any info about that would be appreciated-.

so,you have anything you think I should know?,last minute tips?,experiences?,and oh oh!,the steps you went through like :first education,then hospitalization,then …etc.or whatever that comes up tp your mind.
thank you

[Zoe]

I’m totally mind boggled by your post! I checked to see you live in Saudi Arabia so I will just have to put it down to both cultural differences and differences in medical procedures and medical coverage, which I certainly admit I know nothing about in your country. I have certainly heard people having a much more difficult time than I did, so I know even in my country (the U.S.) it varies, but I called Animas, they contacted my doctor, he signed a form and three weeks later I had my pump. The pump trainer came to my house for two 2 hour sessions; I was on saline for 5 days and then on insulin. That’s it!

Though I’ve heard people having MUCH more trouble getting their pump approved and having to attend mandatory classes, I’ve NEVER heard of anyone being hospitalized! What for?? I sure have no idea what he meant by “testing your personality” and it sounds a bit patronizing to me. I do realize you are a minor, and perhaps rules there are different.

Oh well, interesting. I am sorry it took so long for whatever reasons, but now you are approved!

Ok, now that I’ve made it all sound easy, I’ll say, pumps take awhile to learn and get comfortable with.I don’t know how good you were at managing your diabetes before, and perhaps the concerns your doctors had was that you will think you don’t have to pay much attention to your blood sugar, counting carbs, etc., when you have a pump. That’s not the case. You do! I’m assuming you now how to carb count, how and when to test/what your targets should be, etc. If not, then you will need to learn those things and that’s important whether you get a pump or stay on MDIs. You know you need to get your A1C down and the good news is that a pump will help you do that, but that is the key word, “help”. It won’t do it for you. If you need to learn the basics I recommend a book like Using Insulin or Think Like a Pancreas. If you already know those things, or when you learn them, then get Pumping Insulin by John Walsh and start to learn about this wonderful tool you are about to get! Once you do get your pump then come on here too because there are lots of experienced pumpers who can help you. Which pump are you getting? I’ve had my Ping for almost 2 months and get lots of great support and info here. Congratulations!

[acidrock23]

I’m glad you got your your doctor to agree with you and so you can get for a pump. I found it like night and day and noticed the improvement almost immediately. If you have time before you “go live” I would recommend to read either “Pumping Insulin” or “Think Like a Pancreas” which are both like owner’s manuals for insulin pumps and managing things? It sounds like you are pretty active, studying Tae Kwon Do? I did that for several years a few years ago but stopped when we moved in 2009. At the time, I was enrolled in very strenuous instructor’s program at our dojang on top of working a full-time job and normal activities and the pump almost instantly made a huge difference in being able to control things rather than react to them, if that makes sense? I have subsequently acquired a CGM too and that has also been very useful but the more predictable delivery of an insulin pump has worked very nicely for me. You should have your dad hang out here too so we can explain that your sweet tooth isn’t necessarily the problem although a pump and accurate carb counting can illustrate the problems caused by candy, etc. pretty vividly too?

I am not sure about “admission papers”? I told my GP (who I was seeing at the time…) that I wanted a pump, he said, you need to see an endo. I was in Champaign, IL at the time and there were two at the clinic, I picked the younger Indian doc reasoning that the older T2 population would gravitate towards the old white guy and I could get in faster. I had to keep a log for a month, got the rx approved by my insurance company and ordered it and was pumping I think a shade less than 2 months after starting the process? I used that time to read those books and start hanging around message boards hearing from people who had them already.

Pilseung!!!

[Asma]

there isn’t that much difference,believe me.it’s exactly the same,in fact,lots of our doctors get there boards and certificates from US,my brother among them,from sinai mountains I think
as for medical coverage,we have a very generous government,medical treatment is free for everyone,the clinic I go to gives pumps for free.and so does my insurance,so I pretty much have that covered up.
you see,I’m a troublesome patient,I’ve had cataracts before I was into my second year of diabetes,my A1C was 10 most of the time,I ditch appointments-not that I have a bad attitude,it’s just that I have my mind on something else,studying for instance-,so he pretty much has to worry about my character.
as for testing me,I believe that what he meant was to see if I could handle myself,am I responsible,can I handle troublesome situations?,from what I understand,you need to be responsible over your actions with a pump,not that we shouldn’t with an MDI ,it wasn’t like I was being interrogated or anything,he was only joking you see.
as for hospitalization,I’ve heard about people doing that,he doesn’t do it with all the patients,just troublesome ones,and the goal of it is that some people may ditch education apps so they’re like:stay over-night,do all the tests we need and get it over with.
I do know how to count carbs,I’m on MDI right now,better than the 30\70 mix but too much work and snacks and fixed regimens.BG testing and all I know too.
about getting my A1C down, funny thing is my clinic has a strict rule about that,you have your a1c higher than 9 for a certain time with no certain reason and you’re out,no pump for you.
and I compliment you on your choice of words,specially the part with the keyword ,I’m familiar with the concept,but I can never quiet put it in words.
I’ve read both books,loved them both .
I always rooted for Animas,unfortunately they don’t supply it in Middle East,even though they have lots of consumers around here ,so I’m getting the only possible choice,which I’ve come to like,Minimed that is,either that or that Dana pump or acu-chek of which both I’ve never liked
thank you for your reply,it really helped :" ,and sorry for the long reply,I’m sure you’re regretting replying right now

[Asma]

thank you,as a matter of fact since I got into my last year of highschool all hell broke loose,I never found time to go to practice,I pretty much sit all the time,I got promoted to prange belt-skipped yellow -in summer vacation and now with he second semester started I enrolled again,starting next monday.so I was pretty much inactive compared to you,awesome profile you’ve got ,as for my dad,he’s a very busy man,he’s always out there shaking some food companies or fretting over calorie intake .but I send him information to his email sometimes.I’m and I’ll always be a sweet tooth to my father anyway.that’s the downside of being a daughter to food microbiology proffesor :-0 .
I see that you got it quite easy,I was always nervous before my apps,the sole reason being “pump approval”.
I’ve talked to other patients in the smae clinic and here’s how I think it goes"
-you tell them you want a pump
-they send your request to the head doctor or something
-then they install a CGMS
-they see if you need a pump,or if your readings were too erratic to have one(happened to me)
-they see if you’re responsible and can handle a pump
-they either give you education classes over a week or hospitalize you and “get it over with in a shorter period of time”
-then follow ups
I think that’s how it goes here,thank you for your reply,it was a great help,specially since you were a TKD player,did that go well with a pump?

[acidrock23]

That seems sort of superstructurally “heavy” with that many appointments to get a pump! They must have a fabulous health care system in Saudi Arabia?

The pump really helped me at TKD. I was kind of on the cusp of getting a black belt when I got it, in the last 6-12 months before testing for that. I had enrolled in an instructor program that was very demanding. I used to weigh myself after the Friday night classes and generally lost 4-5 lbs in an hour and a half. Whew. It made it much easier to avoid both going low during class and running up afterwards and just generally maintaining the level of focus I needed to to keep working and succeed at it. It also fit nicely behind my belt, with the tube running in through the dobok and I didn’t have any problems with it at all.

I have read about some people running into the problems with doctors demanding they improve. I think that it is sort of important to be able to articulate goals and get oriented to what you have to do to achieve them, sort of like martial arts. I spent much of the time in the “pump class”, which was all of two hours, thinking about whether to have 2 or 3 tacos at lunch to test it out (I had 3, 2hrs later was at 85, I was quite pleased!!). I am not sure exactly where your results are coming from but I think that its a good idea even without a pump to make sure you have some kind of plan because even if you don’t push yourself to improve, diabetes is a ton of work but that it can be sort of an interesting hobby to try to get the hang of too? That probably sounds nuts but it is “Fantasy Baseball” season and there may be some similarities in cooking numbers over time? I suck at fantasy baseball though…

[Zoe]

Oh no, I don’t regret replying at all, especially if it helps. Now that you’ve responded in more detail, you sound like you have a good head on your shoulders and a positive attitude and that will serve you very well…with your pump, and many other things.

[Asma]

as I said before,I’m a special case,I know people who got it in a month within the first time they said "I DO "wanna pump ,and I think Generous fits our system more,we have great staff but bad managing skills,money doesn’t go to the right places, you wait too long to get a appointment, when you do,it’s a bit messy,I was once shocked to see that there wasn’t any soap in the WC! ,pretty ironic in a D clinic .
That is so cool!,black belt,and there I was gloating about my orange belt :* ,and wow,way to go on the scale ,right before I was diagnosed,I enrolled for the first time in a TKD course,and it was pure hell,and the timing couldn’t have been better,I smelled like an apple because of DKA,I couldn’t raise my legs above my waist to do a stretch kick!.
I certainly am excited about getting a pump TKD wise
I see,so you wear it when practicing,never had any traumas?,someone hitting you at an infusion site?.
I didn’t quiet understand the last lines but I like what you said-if it is what I think it is-,and the idea of diabetes being a hobby is familiar,though not completely a hobby,but as an interest, something I like to read about

[Asma]

:* ,I’m flattered,and again,thank you :-).

[acidrock23]

Maybe too they are perceiving some “attitude” problems on your part? Your dad is a prof and you sound very smart and speak English very well. I had some linguistics classes and know that it’s not that easy of a language, particularly when dealing with people on a message board but you are doing very well at that.

Re TKD, we wore safety equipment to spar and the pump would just be on my belt, behind the pads. I had a couple of big wipeouts being thrown (we did some hapkido self-defense moves, more like judo but we didn’t wear pads for that, because it was more “street” oriented?) and doing some of the hairier spinning/ jumping kicks but the pump kept on ticking.

If you like to read about it, I would recommend trying to cut back on the reading and start doing the stuff in the books, get a scale and weigh your food and figure out your correct doses and ratios yourself? It is tedious the first few times but I usually eat similar things with some diversity thrown in and it makes it much easier to “beat up” your blood sugar when you practice it mindfully, again, like in martial arts? That’s probably what the doctors and, very likely your parents (I have a 12 year old daughter, so I’m not totally unfamiliar with the processes of parenting…) are wanting you to do? You have already improved your A1C so just keep beating diabetes one step at a time so you can get to the next level?

[Donna_H]

Congratulations on finally getting to this point.! Pumping has made my life a lot more manageable. You’ll ultimately love it. Like anything new, it takes a little getting used to – not so much the pumping itself but using the infusion set and stuff like that. “Think Like a Pancreas” is a useful book. I’m not sure which kind of pump you are getting . But once you know, check out the groups on this site. You’ll find groups for different types of pumps. The members of the group for your pump will be a good resource for you.

[Dennis5]

Well , since this has been approved, right? All that is history and now you can focus on how to use the Pump…

Minmed has a Online course for it’s Revel and it might not be a bad idea to learn as much ahead of time , so you will be more familar with it …

Over hear, a Pump cost about $7,000 Dollars…& about $200 /mo for the Supplies, Thus one big reason for the reluctance to hand them out, if the patient is not conforming to following a MDI /Syringe System… the Pump is another form of a Delivery system an it won’t improve things for the user, unless it is used correctly, like any tool has to be…

Best of luck…and hope you take advantage of it and you do well with it… There are a vast majority who cann’t afford or get one w/o Insurance, etc…

[Asma]

I guess they just need to make sure that it wasn’t a whim or something.I used to be the kind who didn’t take her insulin for 2 days because she simply “forgot”.
and thank you for the compliments,I have two sisters in the linguistics department too.
safety equipments,the helmet and the tummy thing,but your hands and thighs are showing,pads don’t cover love-handles or thighs,a girl kicked my thighs once vey hard that people stood still as if waiting for me to bleed or something.
sometimes there’s too many information that I think would add trouble to being D,my carb-counting is a little bit off,even though I’m a picky eater and tend to eat the same thing over and over.
yup,my whole family thinks that I should apply what I read to my actions.
thank you,again,hopefully I’m gonna be a better diabetic with a pump

[Asma]

thank you for the references,I totally forgot to check the groups,and I’m getting a Minimed.

[Asma]

I’ve dueled on that with them countless times,I told them that if it was a money problem I could cover it with my insurance,but looking back,I don’t think it was the case,they have enough fundings,no one is paying out their pockets,I know that I’m lucky to have that problem scratched off my blacklist since I’ve seen lots of people around here struggling with there insurance companies,didn’t know about that.
thank you for your support,it was all history the moment they agreed .