[Diabetes-talk] Now a question about insulin pumps

[Mike Freeman]

Look at the Internet headers and you can glean Veronica's email from her
message.

Always a good idea to become familiar with one's email client.

Mike


-----Original Message-----
From: diabetes-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org
[mailto:diabetes-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Bridgit Pollpeter
Sent: Friday, December 16, 2011 8:07 AM
To: 'Diabetes Talk for the Blind'
Subject: Re: [Diabetes-talk] Now a question about insulin pumps

Veronica,

Can you send me your email? I have a question about the pumps I would like
to ask off-list, and your reply on diabetes talk isn't listing your email. I
would appreciate it, smile.

Sincerely,
Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter
bpollpeter at hotmail.com
Read my blog at:
http://blogs.livewellnebraska.com/author/bpollpeter/
 
"History is not what happened; history is what was written down."
The Expected One- Kathleen McGowan


-----Original Message-----
From: diabetes-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org
[mailto:diabetes-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Veronica Elsea
Sent: Thursday, December 15, 2011 9:26 PM
To: Diabetes Talk for the Blind
Subject: Re: [Diabetes-talk] Now a question about insulin pumps


Bridget, first, were you looking at the Animas Ping? And was it the
Medtronic Rebel?
I think what would serve you best is to suggest some questions you might put
to both reps and see how you feel at the end of it all. First, there is a
major difference in how the two pumps calculate and deliver basal insulin.
The Animas is the most identical to the Cozmo in that it divides your hourly
rate and delivers a portion every three minutes. The medtronic uses the
amount of the basal to sort out how much is delivered when. If you have a
really small hourly basal rate, you only get delivery a few times per hour.
Second, ask about insulin on board. Here's my biggest gripe with the
Medtronic. Let's say you've bolused for a meal and then you test two hours
later. If you've entered your bolus through the easy bolus wizard, the
amount you have left in your system after those two hours is not calculated
into the insulin on board. So if you give yourself a correction for a high
BG, I'd worry that you'd be back to the problem of stacking insulin, which
is one of the real benefits of being on a pump, in my opinion.
Third, take a good look at the infusion sets. With the Medtronic, you can
only use their infusion sets. The Animas does allow you to use the same ones
you're using now, if you like them. The down side of the Animas, in my mind,
is that you do have a few more button pushes to do things, when compared to
the Cozmo. And things like having to prime again just because you change the
battery. In my stint with the Medtronic, I found it harder to work the way I
like to, separating out the correction bolus from the meal bolus. All the
questions drove me nuts when I just wanted to say here, give me insulin to
match my food. <grin.> I do like the cartridge holder on the Medtronic
though. 
But it still bugs me that neither one has the option of key beeps. At least
the Animas menus don't wrap around. And at least it does have the audio
bolus button on the side.
And in the early days, it also matters which company has the trainer that
will work with you most easily. I actually know a sighted guy here who chose
his pump based on who had the slickest video. The funny thing is he's
probably had the fewest complaints about living with his pump than all of us
in our support group. <grin.> Down the road, the Animas will be working with
the Dexcom continuous glucose monitor, which is much less expensive than the
Medtronic version and I like it much better. Oh, the other thing about the
Animas is that with its software, you can set up custom sounds for some of
the alarms, although not necessarily the ones I'd like to customize. 
<grin.> I haven't actually had the chance to play with either company's
software, but not for lack of trying!
And my local Animas rep did just tell me that they're changing how things
work in the correction bolus screen, so that should actually become possible
for us to do again. If you want those details, feel free to write me off
list and I'll share them with you so you can pester your rep about it.
<grin.> If I had to choose now, I think I might go with the Animas because
the insulin calculations and delivery match what I've had with the Cozmo.
But either way, it's a bit of a come down from the Cozmo and trust me, in a
year and a half, I'll likely be whining here for sure.
Anyway, feel free to keep chatting here about this and I hope I've given
some things to think about for the moment. If anything else occurs to me in
the next day or so, I'll certainly give you a shout. 
Hang in there and please keep us posted on the process and what you decide
to do.

Veronica
We Woof You A Merry Christmas! Diabetes Melodious! And more! Music CDs that
will impact and entertain you forever!
http://www.laurelcreekmusic.com
		Veronica Elsea, Owner
Laurel Creek Music Designs
Santa Cruz, California
877-607-6407


_______________________________________________
Diabetes-talk mailing list
Diabetes-talk at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/diabetes-talk_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
Diabetes-talk:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/diabetes-talk_nfbnet.org/bpollpeter%40
hotmail.com


_______________________________________________
Diabetes-talk mailing list
Diabetes-talk at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/diabetes-talk_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
Diabetes-talk:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/diabetes-talk_nfbnet.org/k7uij%40panix.com