Hello! I am a type 2, who also has Cancer, and was approved for the Animas Ping. It will be shipped to me today and I'll get it Monday or Tuesday. I'm excited to get started, but quite nervous as well. Is pumping hard to get used to? Is it hard to tweak to meet individual needs? I heard it takes a lot of patience. Of course I'm thrilled to have been approved, and am ready to get this going. But I'm having beginners anxiety - lol!
Yippee....:-)
It’s not hard, just takes a little patience. You have to be comfortable making your own adjustmens though. Small adjustments a couple days apart. But sometimes you have to go big: Just this morning I had to set a temp basal @ 150%! I think I’m coming down with an ear infection.
I’ve been on the pump for about nine weeks now and it has turned out to be the best health related decision I’ve made.
Congratulations on your new Ping. I love mine, but yes, there was a significant learning curve. I encourage you to spend some time reading the Manual and looking at all the different functions. Once you get a starting point for your settings continue to keep careful records so you can ascertain what needs tweaking. Don't hesitate to make small adjustments and then sit with them a couple days before making another. I found it was mostly the basal that needed tweaking and dividing into different "time zones."
I was put on saline for a week which I liked because it allowed me to fuss with all the settings without feeling the pressure of relying on it. For me, the hardest part was the infusion sets and that's what I asked my trainer to focus on. I strongly encourage you to ask for samples of the different kinds and see what suits you. Yes, it will take awhile till you get everything going smoothly, so just expect some highs for awhile. But you will love it!
That is great! I don't use a pump, but I'm sure you will get used to it. I would recommend using saline at first too until you feel comfortable and you feel able to manage it properly.
Do your homework, read the pump manual a few times, and get a copy of either Think like a Pancreas or Pumping Insulin. They are full of good info on how to get the most from your pump experience. Learning to fine tune your settings is an important part of pumping.
Thanks, everyone :)