I would be in overwhelm too …you have given yourself a lot of " having to stay focussed stuff " to do ; my tip .would be …one thing at the time …can you postpone your pump session to a day , where you don’t have anything else as important on your mind …(such as your sociology test ) ? …you know , what stress does to blood sugars …I think , both your test and pump session are equally important ,
I had the pump attached to me with saline( 3 days, I recall ) with the help of my pump Nurse , so yes my pump was in " working order " and I got to " play " with it .I am still learning , so either I did not read it all , or it had not sank in …doing works better for me, than reading , however I have received a lot of info here at TU …real life experiences .
The only way to lose weight is to eat less carbs so that you’re taking less insulin. You’ve got to burn more calories than you’re taking in. Whether on the pump or MDIs, the theory is the same of insulin covering carbs. You’re able to fine-tune doses more carefully when pumping, but still based on insulin:carb ratios.
How much weight do you want to lose?
Congrats on your new toy!
My experience prior to pump( 2001 ) I weight in at 145 ,now steady at 137 for the longest time( and more muscle ) obviously over ate on my favourite " arrowroot biscuits ", when a LO ,have not touched them for several reasons : cost is one and if I eat a cookie today ,it better has some fiber …I am with Gerri…what goes in has to come out …EXERCISE …now when a LO , I take glucose DEX pill ( s ) … I have learned and continue to do so .
Pump doing well for you ??
Woo-hoo!!! Study for the Sociology test; you have a busy day Monday.
Woo-hoo!!! i hope you studied for the Sociology test. I am so glad that you have a pump now.
I just got on my pump September 30th. I received my pump about 5 days before meeting with my CDE. I put the batteries in it and synced my Ultralink to the Paradigm 522. I also hooked up the carelink usb and played with that. I read the first couple of chapters of the manual and did the cd-rom and website. Quite honestly, the most overwhelming thing for me was the first time I had to change the insertion site and reservoir by myself. If I recall correctly, there is a little checklist of things to do before you see your pump trainer. Unfortunately, I did see it until after I got my training. Fortunately, I did pretty much everything on the checklist and fortunately remembered not to take my lantis that day. The only thing I wish I did was take a video of the training of the insertion site.
For my most recent pump, I just installed the batteries and messed around with the thing. But for my first 2, I had to go through “training”, which was aggravating the 2nd time, as I knew more about it than the trainer. And my doc’s office wanted to charge me $500 for the training! I was so angry. I told them they could keep the stupid thing, I was telling their PA what to do! They relented thankfully, but I also no longer go to that doc.
Being hands on, I prefer to learn it on my own, although I would consult the manual for things to make sure I went through everything.
good luck!!
I’m the same as you Cara - self taught on pumps - tho’ a diabetic educator or even a doctor who understands pumping would be nice from time to time even now. I found for me using Pumping Insulin by John Walsh and Ruth Roberts is something that Kristen might want to pick up, if it wasn’t supplied with her pump (I already had the book when I switched from the Minimed Paradigm 522 to my current pump - Animas 2020 - but was given a more up to date version of the book).
Also, I did what you did Kristen - took on the learning curve of BOTH the pump and CGMS. I think that was a mistake for me. I should have maybe used the CGMS first, to get to know how my insulin worked, then gone onto the pump abit later. It was all to overwhelming for me, so much so, that I stopped using the CGMS after a few months. Don’t let this put you off of using it tho’, you maybe able to handle the two better then I did (I’m not the brightest of students when it techno gadgets).
Welcome to the world of pumping Kristen - after the intial learning curve - you will be so glad you went this route in your control of your diabetes! I know I originally only tried pumping because of other diabetic friends saying I was old fashioned with MDI (multiple doseage injections) - and I thought them potty to have a machine controlling their lives. Far from it, I quickly realised the freedom a pump gives to me, and have so far, never taken a pump vacation (have been pumping 2 years now). Life is just too easy with Antonio Banderas (the name of my pump - he’s close to me all the time - might as well name it after a sexy dude ).
Anna from Montreal aka FatCatAnna at The Trials and Tribuations of a Diabetic