Glad to see you will be pumping soon, but in the meantime use your time wisely! You will need current basal testing for the full 24 time frame done with your current MDI schedule - usually done in three time sections. As well as current I:C ratios for bkfast, lunch and dinner- all calculated for the specific time frames, and then your C.F. with variations for time of day if necessary.
Having all this data on hand will make the program set up portion of your pump go live so much easier.
My team would not get on board with out that info.
One thing I would do is to start testing more than usual and logging your readings. That will help you and your doctor create the settings for your pump (e.g. what your basal insulin should be over night, or does your insulin to carb ratio need to change for time of day, or your insulin sensitivity factor - for corrections). That may sound somewhat complex, but that is the beauty of pumping, it really can be tailored to your body and to your lifestyle.
Hi Hobbit,
I'm a new soon-to-be pumper too, my pump will arrive on Tuesday, and have a doctor appointment to finalize the settings on Wednesday. Can you provide some clarification/detail on this 24 hour Basal testing? It might help things If I was better prepared.
Thanks,
Brian
I recommend getting John Walsh's Pumping Insulin book. While it is available on Amazon, I recommend you get it from is website www.diabetesnet.com (aka Diabetes Mall). On the website you should also find info on basal testing. Basically it is an eight hour (or so) span of time where you do not correct, nor eat and meal bolus. You test a ton during this time, and track your results.
Another reply. I checked out Walsh's website (I should have done it before the reply above) Once you are on the website, click on presentations. There are many by him and Gary Scheiner about pumping. You can also enter "basal test " in the search box. I believe the first entry that you'll see there will have instructions on basal testing.
Thanks for the link!
John is one of the few things I miss about San Diego (moved away 2 1/2 years ago finally). Along with John, Bill Polonsky, Steve Edelman, TCOYD are all located there. I also was a member of an awesome pumpers group where we got to test drive new devices like CGM and the Tandem pump. Walsh's website provides a wealth of info and I prefer to buy from his site over Amazon to support the work he does for our community.
In addition to the Walsh book pumping insulin, there is also information on basal testing in think like a pancreas by Gary Scheiner.
Both have detailed instructions.
As artwomen mentions check out the websites for both authors, they have a lot of good info posted there as well. Personally I have both on my kindle and use them as needed.
Finally started training and am currently hooked up to my pump. I will be using saline solution until Friday when I will begin using insulin in the pump. I cant believe how comfortable it is I don't even realize that i am wearing it at sometimes. Trainer caution to keep the tubing tucked in. She told me "You will get used to it being there and then next thing you know your hung up on a door handle". Hopefully once I start with the insulin I can get better and more tighter control on my BG's and A1C's.