Hi, My 8 year old daughter's been using the animas ping for 4 years and the warranty's expired, so were looking at alternatives, like the accu-chek combo system. We really like having the Ping meter/remote and had to go without it when she was in a clinical trial that used the Medtronic 530g with Enlite CGM. We dislike the 530g/enlite setup for several reasons, big ones being the lack of the meter/remote and the enlite didn't match the accuracy we get with our Dex G4.
The closest ping alternative is the Accu-chek system and it looks like an improvement over the Animas Ping. The advanced features and analysis functions on the Aviva meter/remote look great and you don't need to access the pump to do basal changes etc.
Does anyone have experience using the Accu-Chek pump and remote, especially for your child? If so, what's your opinion? It doesn't have an established track record like the Animas or Medtronic pumps so any advice would be great!
I am not a parent, so i cannot give you the first hand experience you are looking for, but i can start with a few notes. I have never used an animas pump, so i cannot really compare this pump, but having guided some dcamps with various kids on an akku check, i have dealt with this pump.
I always call this pump the most child friendly pump i know, don't know why, but the design and so just seems to be kinda made for kids. it has 4 buttons and is really easy to use. to me the meter remote always seemed bulky, but maybe it is smaller than the one touch ping, not sure.
I just wanna point out to you that in camp, we have had some occlusion problems, more than with kids on medtronic. (again, living in switzerland we do not have the animas, so i cannot compare). not sure if that was just bad luck or what, but i hope that some actual akku check users can give some insight on this.
overall a great pump, definitely worth trying it. can you try it out for a week or so?
switching pump is always a risk, you give up something familiar to you, trying something new, not sure what is gonna be best after all.
wishing you good luck and hope you make the right decision for you and your family.
SC
Hi swiss, Thank you. You're spot on about changing devices! While it's a blessing that we have access to these devices, it can be tough to decide what's best, given all the challenges that diabetes throws at us. And there's always something new on the horizon that we don't want to miss out on ;)
The animas ping remote is pretty archaic-looking and the Aviva meter remote seems much better, especially for our daughter, since she does many of the D tasks now. Accu-chek's remote is a bit smaller and a better shape than the animas.
I don't foresee occlusion problems since we'll probably keep using the Animas inset, which is very similar to the Medtronic mio set and compatible with the Accu-chek cartridge.
Hi Aaron, I have the Combo and have used Accu-chek pumps for 25 years. I really like it, and I have never had anything but excellent customer care from their team. The trainer I had this time (got my new combo in April) came out to my house twice, and she checks up on me by email occasionally. We have a nice group here for Spirit/Combo users, please join it, even if yo decide later not to get one.
Cool, Thanks! Since you guys keep up with Accu-chek, what's the ETA on the Insight? It looks really nice but since it's still not in Europe it could be years before it gets by FDA. Maybe like the animas vibe, that is 3 years behind EU release.
