Pump ordered and shipped

So finally ABC got their act together and added me onto my 'husband''s plan. FINALLY. Animas got every settled and made the order for my pump!!!

SOOOO Tomorrow I will receive by Purolator Air: My brand spanking new Animas Ping (in Green). It comes with the Ping meter which communicates with the pump and can bolus wirelessly instead of having to pull out the pump to bolus everytime! Perfect for wearing dresses etc. YAY

I will also receive a box of cartridges and 3 boxes of sample inset II infusion sets (2 in each box) which will keep me going while I order more from the pharmacy! ALSO I will receive a THIGH-THING for freeeee from the nice Animas lady :)

I am BEYOND excited and the green will be perfect for me - according to my friend Alayna, I am artsy and green will be nice :)

I just hope everything goes well and my adjustment period to being on a pump isn't TOO long. Will post tomorrow with updates on how the pump looks! WOO

Pump SOON

Alright so I have an update!!

A couple weeks ago... well more than that.. I can't remember when exactly - I did a Animas 2020 saline pump trial. I LOVED it. I love Animas and I love its pump. I wore the pump for 1 week and while still on injections.. I enjoyed having the pump to try on, to wear like I was wearing one myself ... It was kinda dd though because I wasn't benifiting from the pumps functions with insulin involved.

Weird because it didn't come with a clip... so I had to stick it into pockets, AND I had to buy a cellphone case to stick it in....good thing with this was that it FITS in a cellphone case - which means its small enough to hide in a pocket and pretend like you don't have one on.

The pump I wore was silver and I didn't mind having it attached to me - although I would definitely have to get used to that. It was odd having to get dressed while having a tube attached to my side.. peeing and other things too.

When I get my pump - it will come with a clip -THANK GOD so I will be able to clip it to my pants, to my skirts and to my underwear as I need to.

So after the trial... I decided that I 100% wanted an Animas pump and wasn't taking no for an answer.. so I called them and got the paperwork started.

I sent the papers to them, they contacted Empire Life and got them to send me a quote for MY insurance.. What we needed to do now was to get me on Martin's HR plan and added to his Alberta Blue Cross (ABC) plan.

So we sent the paperwork to the HR dept. and waiting for them to get back to us with follow-up....it seems like all of this went smoothly but ALAS it never does.. ABC fucked around and took control of everything and made us feel like small fish in a sea of others.

Finally today we got a call back from HR that I was added - PHEW. Tomorrow I will have a conference call with Animas and ABC and they will ship me my BRAND NEW Animas Ping! in GREEN!

Side note - ANIMAS PING CAME OUT IN CANADA 4 weeks ago! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

SO excited.... it will make this SO much easier.

Anyway.. will come back and update soon!

Andree

Soon to be pumper!

It's been a while since I've written...mostly because I also keep a hand written journal.. so sometimes I feel redundant!

Lots of diabetes related things have happened in the 5 last months since my last post. I finally have found a team of diabetic nurses, educators and doctors who have explained to me the REAL way to manage diabetes. Why did it take so long???

I understand SO much better now. Wow.

Bottom line was:
I was over insulin-ing myself and it was causing some issues; hypoglycemia unawareness, uncontrolled highs and lows, ALL over the map BGs.

Of course diabetes is no where near close to a perfect science.. but understanding it helps alot. Now I can actually say that I know by how many mmol/L one unit of NovoRapid lowers my bloodsugar and also how much food hightens it.

It's truly fascinating understanding how the body works. OF COURSE, women have some outside sources coming in to stir the pot. Menstrual cycles throw evil things into the mix.. a week before my cycle I have high blood sugars and the DAY of, they drop ALOT. Hopefully one day I will be able to know exactly when it's coming and better control it.

SO FOR MY NEWS!!

I am prime candidate for the insulin pump.. and I am so happy about it.

On a pump, I'll be able to fine-tune my insulin needs and really keep my BGs at a steady level. The whole process of transferring to a pump is scary and complicated but I trust the team will be able to help me through the ups and downs of it all.

Pros to pumping:
Not having to eat if I don't feel like it
Better control
Fine tuning when doing physical activities
24hr/7ds insulin delivery controlled by ME
Less possibilities of complications relating to poor control

Cons to pumping:
DKA - from problems with pump or forgetting to attach pump
Diabetes being public to the world.

Overall.. the pros override the cons.. which is why I want one..I will be a much happier and controlled diabetic and I won't have to worry so much when i do things! I won't have to worry after I eat something what my BG will be.. will it be high? did I mis-calculate my bolus?? Do i have insulin on board?

The pump has the ability to let you know these things, AMAZING. Of course i will still have to test and probably more than I do with MDI but it's worth it... I already test 6-8 times daily.

I am just so excited and can't wait until it happens.

Wish me luck!
Andrée

First post

Life as a diabetic can be really difficult but can be enjoyable too.. to some extent.

Waking up soaked after a night of uncontrolled sweats and lows..
Shivering from cold sweats AFTER a low...
not being able to tell the difference between scoldering hot or cold on my feet and ankles...
people thinking i'm drunk...
being limited in my intake of sweets...
having bruised fingertips...
scar tissue where i administer my injections...

FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE!!

On the flip side.. there are some good things about it.

I stay active to maintain a good lifestyle and body weight...
eat right...
knowledgable about health issues.. most of the time..
and many more that I can't think of right now of course, cause they're SO positive.

OK so bottom line, diabetes sucks.. but I'm not the only one with it, and I love myself, I really do...With age I've come to have more respect for myself and others.. i've realised that making GOOD friends is better than making LOTS of friends..I've realised that feeling good in my own skin is better than feeling good in an imaginary person's skin. Because even though those rack skinny type people are ... skinny, they might be more unhappy than I am. Yeah, I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in what could only be described as the worst possible time of my life, but I have come from a very intelligent and value oriented family, and they have taught me to know what's most important in life... health 1st!

Honestly.. for the first 3 years of my diabetes, I was in COMPLETE diabetic denial. I must have believed I wasn't really diabetic.. cause I didn't take ANY insulin at all, didn't test and just went along with my life. Even though it wasn't a life at all... it was a non-life if I can even put it so lightly. I was always tired, had no energy, no shine in my eyes, or rose in my cheeks... all the life that had previously lived in my life and body was gone. Ok, I was extremely thin, but I wasn't healthy AT ALL... I lied to everyone I loved and pretended to know what I was doing with my diabetes. I had... dia-bolemia as described by Dr. Phil. So as a raging teenager.. I wanted to look thin, and I was looking thin, I wanted to be adored (which I was) but mostly for how I looked, which at that time didn't matter to me... I struggled for what seemed like forever with this, in and out of hospitals with DKA emergencies where I couldn't stay awake, couldn't breathe even.. it was scary. I even missed out on amazing opportunities I would have had if I had just stuck with my diabetes education. I wasn't confident and didn't believe I needed to take insulin to survive.. I thought I was invincible.. like most teenagers. I carried on like this for quite some time until I came to realise that I actually did want to live, grow, love, experience life and all it's wonder.... and that I wanted to share all those things with my little ones one day too.

Life is hard.. but you learn to deal with it. I'm ok about checking my blood sugar levels before meals, snacks and every time I feel weak or off now. I'm ok about taking injections. and I'm even ok when it comes to talking about my condition with people. I love that I can share with people what I have to deal with on a daily basis. I am not the only one living with Diabetes and i cannot feel bad for myself every day ofmy life. I need to move on, life strong and keep going day by day and hope that one day, someone will find a cure for diabetes. or... a way of living with it easily.

To all who have supported me and continue to support me in my struggle and new found appreciation for healthy life,

Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I love you all very much.

Andrée