Rosie, I just wanted to let you know that no one from Animas bothered to call me back. It was Tues that I called them and the supervisor told me someone from management would call the next day and she would call on Friday (today is Friday). I am going to call on Monday but then I will get my insurance company involved if I don’t get anywhere. They only give you 14 days to return the pump so my first week will be up soon.
Oh it’s not new anymore. I’ve been on it for years. It’s just a little bit faster than the humalog and novo.
Sometimes I will just change out the reservoir and use the same set/tube, often times I just change out the set…
I generally put enough insulin in for 4 days. And I re-use the cartridges. You can even re-use the tubing…Animas has been good to deal with. so far…
Well let me just say. I have been on the MM Pumps for about 13 years now. My warranty has already expired. I was just going to go and order the MM again, but the Diabetic Clinic that I go to had said to me there are others out ther you should take a look. Well needless to say 1 month later and countless hours of asking questions trying to decide between the MM, Ping, and Omnipod, totally confusing myself I made my decision today…and am proud (but nervous) to say I have ordered the PING.
Did they end up giving you a “new” pump?
Yeah!!! I think you will be happy. Let us know how it goes. What color did you order? I currently have a pink one but I’m thinking about getting a little more serious and going black for the next one. 
I got a new one the other day - I called them several times over 2 weeks and someone from management finally called me back. I am not sure at this point I am going back to pumping - I have had 2 break in 8 months & if it happens again, I will be in the same boat I was 3 weeks ago with getting a refurbished one. My insurance company paid $6k for that pump and they replaced it with something they sell for $900.
I’m glad they got back to you and you got the new one you were lookijng for. Maybe there is something else going on you did not mention but if you did get a new one and decide not to go back to pumping I don’t understand how having a new pump sitting on your shelf will be any better than having a refurbished one sitting on your shelf if you do go back to pumping and the new one happens to break? Is your insurance company going to get reimbursed if you decide not to use the new one?
Part of why I agreed to accept the new one from Animas (I would not have hesitated in the beginning) was my insurance company won’t do anything. I could not even get a street address to send it back - they told me they don’t accept DME products back. The Post Office only insures stuff up for $5k (I wanted $6k) and they wanted wanted $51.70 for insurance on the small flate rate box. I can’t afford that and was actually going to send it to them without insurance and just take my chances when Animas called.
I really don’t want to go back to pumping - my BS is better on MDI. If you have any ideas what I can do with the pump, I am open to ideas because I think it is a total waste for it to sit on a shelf in my closet. My insurance company doesn’t seem to care they wasted $6k.
Well Animas did right by you. Good luck to you.
The company that shipped it to you ought to be able to send a prepaid label to take it back and then credit your insurance account. Or, the local rep may be able to make arrangements for you. I know people who have totally changed their minds, and given them back no problem.
Then again, you may want to hang on to it in case you change your mind…
Kelly, you can donate it to someone that would kill to get a pump but doesn’t have any insurance at all. I have made it a tradition over the years to always do that with my pumps and only to people without insurance. You will change a life and it would be TONS better than sitting on a shelf. You seem very upset about the entire ordeal and you have every right to be. It just doesn’t work for everyone and you do have to have a lot of trust to hand it over to a little machine. That is why pumpers check their sugars so often and adjust and tweak till it’s right and then after a week it all changes again. If MDI is working out well for you then I wouldn’t change it.
The supply company sent it last summer though and the original one broke in Jan - Animas has that one. They won’t accept returns after 30 days.
I know it is always possible I might change my mind, but I feel like I am wasting my insurance companies money sitting on it!
Although I agree it is good to donate stuff, part of me feels like it is insurance fraud if I do that because I only used the pump for 8 months.
I was testing 18 times a day and using the Dexcom pre-pumping, so testing, changing & monitoring really was not new for me! I did basal testing, counting carbs, had a carb ratio & correction rate all on MDI long before ever getting a pump. My problem with the pump was not the ratios - my problem was sites failing before 48 hours and getting a ton of scar tissue even though I was rotating sites.
It’s not insurance fraud to “donate” it. However to sell it would be.
I love my Ping. It is great. I have had it for 2.5 years. I have had a Dexcom for 1.5 years. When my endo tried me on a MM CGM, 5 of 5 sensors failed on startup. NO Dexcom sensors have failed on startup. A few failed in less than 7 days and they were replaced by Dexcom gratis.
You may want to check the web for indications about Animas VIBE before you make the jump. It is out in the EU and may be approved by FDA by fall 2011.
Stay away from OmniPOD. If you have any heath testing (MRI, CAT, etc.), you have lost the pod as I understand it.
That would be the sweetest deal of all if Animas and the Dexcom got aproved here. It hinki I’d even go out of pocket to get that. Time has sure come a LOOOOOOONG way since I have been diagnosed. :o)
vibe is that the new combo for dex/animas? or is that just a new pump?
From Diatribe:
"Another highlight of the meeting was our first look at the Animas/Dexcom combined pump and CGM system, called the Animas Vibe. Displayed at the Animas exhibit hall booth, the pump itself will be very similar to the one used in the Animas Ping (though ever so slightly longer to incorporate a CGM receiver). The Vibe will use Dexcom’s fourth-generation sensor, which (as we wrote in NewNowNext in diaTribe #29) will be significantly smaller and more accurate than the SEVEN PLUS. "