[Diabetes-talk] Now a question about insulin pumps

Fri Dec 16 22:45:57 UTC 2011

Thanks. I am aware of the email headers, but for some reason, it wasn't
displaying, not even mine.

Sincerely,
Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter
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 Mike Freeman
Sent: Friday, December 16, 2011 1:20 PM
To: 'Diabetes Talk for the Blind'
Subject: Re: [Diabetes-talk] Now a question about insulin pumps

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

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