New Pumper and how I found out I was a Type I

Hello,
My name is Chuck and I am a Type I, I don’t spell well so over look the major type-o’s (lol). I am 50 years old and back in 2005 which would put me at 45 I was working on a car in the driveway and begain to fell really funny ( light headed and a headache) so I sat down and leaned up against the tire. My Mom which was treating Type II with diet and pills said let me check you Blood Sugar. well she stuck my finger and then watched the meter it said 557. So with that she said go to the doctor, I did so the next day. I told the doc what was going on and the BS reading and he said let me take some blood and run a test or 2… in a few min. he came back in and said you have gotten a little sweet on us, your A1C is way to high 15.3, after a brief talk with him he said I was a type II and then the pill regement started. metformine, starlix and four or five others, he increased dosage and changed meds for about a year, then here came the shots Levimire… with all the changes he made he was still unable to get my BS under controll and down to normal… OH DID I TELL YOU I AM 6 FOOT TALL AND WEIGHT 134 LBS SOAK AND WET? Not you tipical TYPE II ! at the time I was paying for doctor visits out of my pocket since I had no insurance. he sujested I go to a ENDO. which was out of the question at the time do to the money issue. After having so many highs and lows I decided it was time to go to the ENDO, so I saved some money up and let a bill or 2 go and off to the ENDO I went.
Walking into the ENDO’S office and meeting the Doc. He took 1 look at me and said there is no way you are a TYPE II, I said really? the nurse came in took some of my blood and ran more test… the RESULTS …sir you are a TYPE I not TYPE II…and if your family doc had run the right test he would have found this too… Then here comes more shots, long acting insulin 2 times a day and short acting insulin at every meal. so there is atleast 5 shots a day. this carried on for about 2 years… I ate the amounts they told me to eat and watched my carb intake ( man was I starving ) I love to eat and can eat all day. Anyway i went for another follow up and they told me I had lost 13lb which i knew cause my pants where falling off me, I looked like the guys that let there pants sag to the bottom of the tail… not a pretty site (lol). at that time the doc told me to eat what I wanted just take enough insulin to cover it, because i did not need to lose anymore weight… in about 2 weeks I got my weight back.
That increased my insulin intake a lot and that meant more shots, so now i am taking long acting insulin 2 tames a day and fast acting at every meal and snacks. Man now that is 7 to 8 shats aday ( can you say pin chushin?). this carried on till about 2 weeks ago when i went to another ENDO, At this time I have insurance (yeah) the new endo said i was perfect person for a Pump. I said Pump? she told me about it and how it works. she said you can think of it as a electric pacreasus. it works like the one you have in your body to a point. So she sent off the paper work to the insurance company and in a week i got a call from Medtronics and they told me my Insulin is in the mail ! So 8 days ago it showed up… I opened the box and seen all the stuff in it a 90 day supply of strips, infusion sets, lancets, quicksets, pump, and a BG meter that transmits the BG to the pump.
After going to a class to learn to use the equipment and getting my first quick set infusion put on me by the educator ( put on the right side of my belly with no pain) she told me i was ready to get back to normal with her help on adjusting the settings for the basal and the times to check my BG to get it all up and running right. Keep in mind i am pretty skinny and after about 3 hours after leaving her office I got a no delievery. ( here came the nerves) I called medtronics and they said the cannula was bent or stopped up. so i removed the cannula and sure enough it was bent almost a 90 degree. It was uncomfortable in my belly about a hour after i left her office… figured it was normal and it would get better… So I was looking for a place to put it where that was some fatty tissue and after a quick search I found none (lol) … The only place I thought i could use was my backside… so here i went with my 1st infusion stick with no help and on a part of me that is hard to see… 1 2 3 stick yeah no pain and it stuck… after filling the cannula and doing a bolus for the meal i had ate, all worked good ( pating self on back). it work great there for 3 days with no problems, after talking with the educator 2 times in 3 days she said maybe we need smaller infusion sets I have the 9m and she sujested the 6m which CCS is sending me one of those and a silhoete to try and see which works best.
So far this pump has lowered my BG by 300 and its working like a charm, wish I had it a ling time ago. Now it is time to change my infusion set and refill the insulin ( hands shaking and a little nervus…I decided to try my belly again after i got everything filled and ready. after the inserction i knew right then it was a mistake it hurt and was very uncomfortable, tried to deal with it for about 15 min but was not going to happen. I removed it and went back to my backside just left of my back pocket. cool no pain and it worked just fine. sleeping with the pump is no problem and doing my normal stuff daily is not a isue either. I mowed the yard yesterday with a riding mower which i thought might be a issue but it went off with out a hitch. I just have to remember that i have a pump on my hip and to watch what i do so i dont hit it or get the hose caught on anything.
My only problem I am having is finding other spots to do the infusion besides my backside. My wife offered me some of her fat (lol) so i could have other places to use…I have had a few lows with the pump, but that is do to the fact that there is still some adjusting to do. I really like my pump so far and I think anyone that is a Type I or II should give this a try, I promise you will not be dissatisfied with the results you will get. Let me tell you it is a lot better than taking 8 shots aday.

Your story of misdiagnosis is really unfortunate but congrats on getting it all figured out and now pumping. I jab a minimum of 8 times day so I can relate to being a pin cushion and look forward to the day I pump.

make sure you rotate your sites, so you don’t go within a square inch of a site within a 30 day period. you can also get an inserter, which is a device with a giant spring in it to insert the cannula for you. I get my husband to use my inserter to put it in places on my back that I can’t reach.

good luck, and welcome to the community!