hi all, i was wondering how to change insulin pumps. animas pump seemed right at the time but now, 4 years later, i regret not choosing accu-chek combo. they say i can only change if i have a medical reason but i really want to change!! for practicality reasons, the accu-chek system really would work better for me. i chose animas at the time because i done alot of swimming but no longer do. its getting me down and i really regret not choosing the accu-chek system. its so much more discreet which suits me better because i want to hide my diabetes more now than i did when i was 10
SO BASICALLY IM ASKING YOU TO TELL ME SOME "MEDICAL REASONS" I CAN USE TO GET MY PUMP CHANGED! MATTER OF URGENCY
I see no one has responded. I can't help either but just wanted to make a couple of points. 1. I wear a Medtronic pump and no one ever asks me what it is, even when the tubing is visible. I wear it clipped to my waist band. But then, I am older and never wear skirts or dresses such as you may want to wear. But, my pump is rarely visible as I usually have a blouse or t shirt or overshirt that covers it.
2. I am not sure why you want to hide your diabetes but that seems to lead down a difficult path. Unless you are in perfect BG control at all times, there may come a time when you want those around you to know you have db so they can get help for you. 3. I don't know where you live but there must be a reason why the Medtronic and Animus pumps have most of the market in the U.S. I don't know much about the Accuchek but ... I would try to get a loaner before committing.
4. Many who use the pumps with a separate control note that they sometimes forget the control and have to return home for it or that they lose it and spend time searching for it. I spend lots of time searching for my cell phone so I know I don't want to add another separate gadget to search for! I like controlling my pump right on the pump itself.
I can't think of a medical reason to change but it is weird that you have to give such a reason. Can your endo or whoever helps manage your diabetes not help with some legitimate reasons for the change? Have you discussed it with that person?
I live in Ireland and the accu-chek is quote popular recently I’m not hiding it from everyone because the people who need to know do but I do not feel the need to show it to the world
I understand. It is just that I don't think people notice the pump and if they do, they usually think it is a cell phone or other similar gadget. I don't wear mine openly but don't hide it if it peeps out of my clothing. But I can sympathize with where you are with your situation.
Have you had problems with people making note of your Animus pump? I guess you must have or it would not be of concern. I am sorry if that is the case.
Sometimes in this country, individuals challenge the ruling of their insurance company and occasionally the company changes its ruling. Perhaps you could jot down the advantages you can think of for switching to the Accu-Chek (focusing on better management you could achieve) and also the problems you have with the Animus. Your doctor or diabetes nurse may be willing to help with your rationale.
You would need a support letter from your medical person to add to your letter asking for the change. This assumes that your health care system allows a challenge to their policy. I can't imagine that it would not but I can't know for sure.
I hope that someone else on this forum may offer you better information on how to approach the challenge you face. I am sorry that I can't be more help.
I agree with Nell, but since you are asking for it, I have heard that if you are allergic to the sets, you might be able to change to another pump.
Also, after 4 years, you usually get an upgrade pump and can then decide all over again which pump you wanna pick.
Akku Check is a great pump, but I am not sure if it is worth going through too many inconveniences to change.
Doesn't the Animas pump have a remote meter as well?
Good luck
SC
Hi, Accu-Chek Combo user here ...
Are you locked into the Animas for the rest of your life, just until the warranty period expires, or is there any other time frame that allows you to make the change according to the "rules" in Ireland?
While I think my Accu-Chek Combo is a very good pump (every bit as waterproof as the Animas, BTW), I think the whole "discreet" thing is mainly a marketing thing targeted (mainly) to women.
DISCREET???
In short, I don't think using the meter for various pump functions equals discreetness. Now you need to have the meter with you at all times. Granted, you may hide in your purse/handbag, but ...
Think about the following scenarios. You are out with your pump hidden away and your meter tucked into a purse. Suddenly a pump alarm goes off and you are faced with digging into the purse, pulling out the meter, turning it on, scrolling down to the "PUMP" setting and silencing the alarm, figuring out what the alarm was for and taking corrective action, if needed.
Alternatively, you can stick your hand into wherever the pump is hidden and pressing the "check" key twice to silence the alarm, then you can excuse yourself and go to a private place and check on the meter to see what the alarm was for and take the appropriate action. Again, is that really discreet? Won't those who are around you going to ask, "What was that all about?"
How about in the situation where you need to bolus for a meal/snack, or set a temporary basal rate, etc, etc? Even if you are always excusing yourself to go to the restroom for testing and bolusing won't that raise questions amongst the curious in the crowd?
Finally, I couldn't agree more with Nell. I rarely have people pay the slightest attention to my pump/meter or almost any of my D-related activities. If they do and they have a problem, I figure that is their problem, not mine. I can't run my life around what other people think.
Cheers!
Swiss & Mike, exactly the comments I was unable to articulate. Especially Mike's on discreetness. I carry a cgm also, therefore, there is no way to avoid others hearing my high/low beeps. And yet, I have been in many volunteer group meetings and no one has ever done anything other than look to see if I had a weird cell phone ring. I pull the pump out under the table or in my lap and give a bolus or if I am low, I eat a pack of sugar. No one asks about what I am doing. Though some of my fellow volunteers now know I have diabetes but even they don't bother to say anything. Oddly, just yesterday I was in Best Buy and had to eat two packs of sugar in front of a clerk. Neither of us exchanged a word about it!! Kind of funny, really. But it allowed me to get alert enough to make a purchase!
Again, I have many more years on me than Sara but I can vaguely recall my self consciousness in my young adult years. In retrospect, it was all for naught. But you have to live through it to get to that point, I think.
I don't know if you can try ignoring any "looks" or comments you get. I am not sure what experiences you are having that are troubling you. Perhaps if you could be more specific we could help more. There are many strategies that people can use to defuse anyone's nosiness or whatever is happening. Diabetes is a part of you. It is not the whole of you. We all have "parts" that help make up the whole person and none of us wants to only be known as one of those parts. I could list half a dozen other chronic illnesses that I also have. All my ailments affect my life but none of them are the essence of me. The essence of me is something beyond my physicality. My best to you.
PS. Just one more comment and I promise to quit. It is true that your business is your business and no one else's. But your reaction to your diabetes can affect others by making it seem a very big deal versus not such a big deal. If you want to keep it a secret, it will become a bigger part of your life than if you treat it just as a fact of life that you manage just like any other facet of your life. You make food choices in front of others, you make exercise decisions, school and work decisions, friendship choices, etc. None of these things can be entirely private. It is how you feel about them and your own behaviors that highlight or put into the background those decisions and behaviors.
Your concern is legitimate, however. I am not belittling it. there are many discussions here and there on how much to share with others about a particular chronic condition. Each person must do what works best for them. Some "let it all hang out" and some share the bare minimum when necessary and all approaches in between those two extremes. There is no one correct way. Only your way that is right for you.
However, it is not the pump itself that will determine how private you can be about your diabetes. You may not agree with this and I can actually see how that can be the case for you. Just my opinion.
I also wonder if you know any other T1 diabetics. Sometimes it helps to just have a friend or someone in your wider circle of acquaintances to talk with occasionally about daily db stuff while being more private with others. OK, I am "shutting up" now.
I like the Animas pump so much that after four years I wanted to "upgrade" to the same model. Same pump but newer.
My insurance company wanted a reason why I wanted an new pump. I conveyed this reason actually through a pump company customer service person.
I noted that the pixels of the display over the previous four years had dimmed from a bright white to a shade of brown, a condition easily observed. I said that It made the display hard to read, a subjective judgment on my part. Since my pump was no longer under warranty, my insurance company agreed that I needed a new pump.
I agree with sentiment of many expressed here about managing the social context. People will take their cue from you about how to think of your diabetes. Make it out that while it's necessary, it doesn't control your life and mostly you want to do your work and move on with life. You don't need to trivialize it but neither do you need to grant it dominant stature. It pales in comparison to the whole you.
im an, almost, 15 year old girl. its not that i want to hide it its that i dont feel the need to share my business with the world. i particularly would like an accu-chek pump witht the remote because every single lunch in school i do my sugars and forget to bolus! but if i could simply do my blood sugars and then bolus from the controller all at the same time then id be more likely to remember.. im glad that y'all take the time to read through my blogs and taking time out of your precious days to help me. i thank you from the bottom of my heart! <3
Sara_Louise, thanks for replying and letting us know more specifics. I thought the Animas had a meter with remote, but I have never used it.
The Accu-Chek meter is not exactly automatic, however. I have forgotten to press the 'Deliver' button on more than one occasion, and gotten annoyed with the several steps needed to bolus, even though it is only a few steps. Mostly, I find if I get distracted, I may forget to follow all the steps. Is that part of the problem for you?
Could you do something to help remember to bolus, like ask a friend to remind you, or place a note in your meter case that says something like, "Hold this paper in the same hand you tested until you have bolused, then throw it away!" Or put a rubber band around your wrist when you test and take it off when you bolus? That way when you start to eat lunch and you see the rubber band, you will know you forgot.
Do you buy your lunch at the school, or do you bring it with you?