You are probably right about that.
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I agree. I have a sensitivity to latex and my site would go bad a lot more often with my Animas pump & was related to the speed and amount of injection.
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I don’t think that’s necessarily the case with regard to stinging. Soft cannula sets weren’t available when I first started pumping. I had stinging even with the SS infusion sets. Can’t speak to leakage or trauma because I never had those issues with any of my infusion sets.
Why are u taking my earlier comment out of context? I never said, nor would I ever say, that the steel sets would prevent stinging!! Rather than having quoted my text, you could have just started a comment about a different issue, ie, stinging.
Yeah, I agree the pump literally walks you through each set. And I have once forgotten to hit the resume button but this pump is so user friendly, it alarms to tell you hey, you haven’t completed this function! So something that could have gone very wrong very quickly with no insulin pumping, didn’t because of this alarm!
And I am using an Omnipod pump for a trial and it also walks me through all the steps to set it up. Most pumps are pretty easy to learn and use. When I finally switched from MiniMed/Medtronic, things were a little different but nothing major and now it is my new normal. It’s what change can do for you. Try new things and learn new things. Who knows my next pump might be completely different from my current one!
Hands down, the MOST DIFFICULT product I’ve ever had to learn is a Marantz AV receiver. Convoluted software (actually, there are TWO apps, instead of one, and one of them is very flaky, to say the least), a poorly written, but HUGE owners guide, so-so tech support–all those things conspired to make learning most of the ins and out of it’s usage a several months long project. And I DID read and re-read the manual, BTW.
When I bought a nearly identical second unit for another room, the learning curve was a “flat-line”. LOL!!
Don’t think it’s out of context, unless you exclude “stinging” from pain. Maybe I should have included the full text from your message if it would make it clear.
As far as out of context, I mentioned stinging in my first post. My point is it isn’t just about the sets, as I’ve had the problem with both SS and soft cannula sets. I’m not making it up. It’s not SUPPOSITION.
The thrust of my earlier comment was about leakage. I’m done debating.
OK - my bad. I’ll drop it as well. I should have ignored the parts about “pain and trauma” in the same sentence a “leakage”.
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I thought of one other minor difference between the Animas and the T-slim that might be worth mentioning: temporary basals. On the Animas, you tell the pump by what percentage you want to increase or decrease your basal. On the T-slim if you want to increase your basal by 30% you punch in a temp basal of 130%, or, if you wanted to decrease it by 30% you set the basal at 70%. Not rocket science, but different from the Animas.
Medtronic pumps compute temp basals the same way you described the T-slim’s method: If you want 30% more, you choose 130%. I remember that some other pump that was on the market did it differently and from your post I see it was the Animas. 
For me, the Medtronic/Tandem method makes the most sense.
On a related note - does anyone think the T:slim training would be worthwhile for someone who’s been using the pump without difficulty for a few weeks?
I started using the T:slim and G6 about 3 weeks ago. Before that, I used the G4 for 7 years and various versions of the Medtronic/Minimed Paradigm for 17 years. My recollection is that the Minimed training I was required to do for my first pump seemed unnecessary.
I have a couple missed calls from the Tandem trainer in the last couple days and my inclination is to tell them I don’t need training. I want to make sure I’m not missing anything valuable, though. Would anyone recommend the training?
I suppose if you wind up with an awesome trainer, you might learn something. I wound up irritated that I wasted the day driving out of town for the training, because I learned nothing from it. Of course, I had read the manual cover to cover first, since it was my first pump. I don’t think there’s any hidden perks. It’s all pretty straight forward.
I was able to opt out of Tandem training. Then after a few months when I was having occlusion alarms, the Tandem trainer met with me to confirm that I was doing everything correctly (I was). But I certainly didn’t need training in the early days of using the pump.
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That’s kind of what I suspected, but it’s good to confirm. I also review the manuals for my pumps, and I have the impression that training tends to be designed for people who don’t do this.
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Did the trainer offer any pointers on how to make a cartridge last longer? I’m actually not getting occlusions, but I do notice that I start to get unexplained and/or stubborn highs on day 5+ of a cartridge.
I actually read through a lot of your threads on this topic before deciding to go with the T: slim - they were really helpful! I’m trying to keep the pump cool and avoid charging for extended periods while there is insulin in it. It is still getting warm in the pocket of my jeans, though.
I don’t think I’d ever completely stop wearing the pump in my pocket, but I do wish Tandem would design a low-profile clip that didn’t need to be glued to the pump… and didn’t have a metal bit that gouges into your hip!
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I have been with the T-slim for 15 months now and it has been a life changer for me after 30 years pumping! I have to credit the G6 CGM also… T1D for 50 years now and I am happy to have survived long enough to use this incredible technology!
I am looking forward to the Control IQ release this month also just to make life a bit easier though my A1C is 6.1 which I am OK with.
I found early on that it works much better if i change the cartridge every 3 days when I change infusion sets. I think insulin loses some efficacy if I use it longer than that due to body heat etc? Now I never get occlusion alarms nor unexplainable highs.
I started keeping the pump in a small waist belt 24/7 because it is pesky digging around in pockets for it and I was getting out of Range CGM alarms at night caused by turning over etc and the pump is under your back and loses signal.
It is called a UBelt and I keep several as I wash them every few days. They cost about $10 on Amazon. It contains NO metal.
It also keeps the pump stable so the tubing doesn’t get tangled in the bedding and pull the infusion set loose.
Hope this helps a bit.
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Honestly, the only thing to really LEARN about it, are the tricks, hacks, etc.
The pump operation is very straight forward.
And the trainer will only be showing you what the basic stuff is anyways.
Youtube will teach you far more than the trainer, even a good one.
If you haven’t ever touched a pump before, then a trainer is not a bad way to go. They can watch you, and show you, first hand. Nothing wrong with this approach at all.
I never had a pump of any kind, and I read the manual, watched a couple youtube videos, and started pumping on my own without issues.
Like @smaken, I use a belt (I use spibelt, costs a little more, but is even less intrusive for me.)
I wear this belt 24/7. It keeps the pump close to the G6 transmitter, keeps it in place when using the restroom, and is very easy to sleep with. I stuff all the extra tubing in the pouch with the pump, so I have very little exposed tubing.
And if I wear a button down dress shirt that is tucked in, I can usually reach through the front and bolus from there without too much of an issue.
Although normally I let it ride at my belt line. It is pretty much like not wearing a pump in the sense that it can move around to not get in the way, but stay put where you want it to.
I also love the T:slim, though I’ve only been using it for 3-4 weeks! The smaller size of the pump and integration of the CGM are awesome.
I think keeping the pump in a waist belt would likely keep the pump at a similar temperature to keeping it in a pocket… It sounds like you and I finding the insulin loses potency in similar amounts of time.
It’s not a huge deal - just kind of silly that my new pump holds twice as much insulin as my old one, but I actually have to change the reservoir twice as often!