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Tuesday, August 30, 2011

News

Well, still pumping away and things are going really well. The past week has been pretty good, there have been a few surprising numbers (as always) but I am really getting the hang of it! Jamie and I were planning on going to the waterslides last weekend so I tried sticking my infusion set in my butt cheek so it could be hidden by my bathing suit.... We ended up not going, but the infusion set worked pretty well over the weekend. On Monday it ended up getting caught on the inside of my work pants and almost pulled out, but it's not bad for bumming around at home! Didn't feel the needle at ALL, I guess a little extra padding helps!

What else is new...? Well, I had a consultation for laser eye surgery this morning and I am officially booked in to get it! It will be amazing to not have to wear contacts every day! I was a little bit worried because my prescription has changed SLIGHTLY over the past few years, but they said I'm a great candidate and that my eyes should be all done changing now. The only thing that sucks is that I have to wear glasses for 2 weeks prior to the surgery so that my eyes aren't misshapen at all. Small price to pay in the long run though! I'm nervous about being a 4 eyes though, I'm shy about wearing my glasses in public! I'm going to have to wear them to my management summit at the end of the month too, so fun. I'm half considering dropping an extra $80 and just buying a new pair of glasses that I actually like, I feel like mine are just so nerdy!

Of course, with the laser eye surgery comes a pushback on the baby making plans. Apparently you can't be pregnant during the surgery (something to do with the eye drops..?) so we're not going to have a May due date! We could potentially try in October, but I'll be fertile and likely possibly conceiving about 5 days before the surgery and because I'll be taking the drops for about 4 weeks, I don't think it's a great idea to risk it. That's okay though, we have all the time in the world to make a baby, and time will go by fast. I was not looking forward to never seeing my baby during all those middle of the night feedings too, because I'm not putting in contacts for that! :)

Other than that... Life is going great! I'm excited to keep seeing the improvements in my blood, and I'm going to stay on top of it as much as possible. I like writing down everything because it makes it so much easier to detect trends. Very exciting stuff!

Until next time...

Monday, August 22, 2011

EzManager Max... Not so easy!!!

I can't believe it's Monday again, and it's time for my Dr's appt at Royal Columbian tomorrow morning already. Jamie and I spent some time writing down the past month of test results for my appt tomorrow (on their old sheets that look like they're from the early 80's) and after that was completed, I thought it would be a good idea to download my pump data as I hadn't done that yet. So I followed the instructions to 'disconnect and suspend the pump, without letting it fall asleep' and plugged in the dongle to my laptop.

The first try it seemed to have a pretty good connection so I was checking other websites as it sat there and downloaded, no big deal. I checked it after a little while and it was stuck at 76% for a good 5 minutes until the connection dropped and try 1 was offically a failure. Little bit frustrated as this was after a little over 10 minutes, but I tried again and it SLOWLY got up to 30-35% before it again stopped and I got the wonderful 'lost link' message again. After try 3 (very similar to try 2) I was about ready to throw this stupid thing off a bridge and go back to my good old shots. I am due for my period this week, so I am either very emotional and PMS'y, or I am feeling the rage hormones of early pregnancy. Either way, I wasn't a happy camper at this point. I had been disconnected for close to 45 minutes now and overall it wasn't a great situation. On try 4, I plugged it in and left the room careful to not walk too close and accidently shake the table and break the connection. Took about 15 minutes, but the download completed, finally! Downloading the meter itself was easy enough, and I was ready to obsess over my reports and see if there are any other patterns I hadn't yet noticed.

First thing that seemed a little bit odd, is that when I tried to generate the 'bolus vs basal' report, there was nothing there. I looked at the full log and noticed that almost half of my blood results are duplicated (one showing up at 9:00 and one showing up at 9:01 for example) and for whatever reason, it chose to not download ANY of my basal information. I am so frustrated, both with the technology itself, and the results. I thought I was doing so great, but now all I can see are 2's & 3's and 9's & 10's. I am just really having an 'off' day. It was funny though, when I was using the good ol' dongle, Jamie and I were talking about how SMART technology is nowadays, however us diabetes are stuck using crap like 'dongles' to download all of our info. Our iPhones can pour tic tacs from one phone to another, (virtually of course) and tell where the other one is at all moments, and play music and set up PVR recordings for that night in case I forgot to record it ahead of time, but it takes almost an hour for a week of basal/ bolus/ glucose data to download and form a report?

So. Frustrated.I think it's bedtime!

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Sleeping in without guilt!

So life is pretty good! I have been hooked up to insulin for several days now and so far the transition isn't too bad. I've had a couple difficult moments, but with testing frequently, I am able to correct highs or lows before they really become issues.

I find I get kind of lazy with my diabetes during the weekend... During the week I am always 'on' and I am so careful with EVERYTHING and sometimes during the weekend I just don't feel like dealing with it quite as much as normal. I know it's not a great way to do things, but it happens. At least I can now sleep in without feeling guilty for missing my morning Lantus! I had a loose infusion set last night which wasn't too much fun. I put it in around 10PM and right before getting into bed at midnight I looked down and it just wasn't sticking right. Replaced it and the new one seems to be much better. It's funny how fast time goes by. You go on an insulin pump and it's great to 'not have to do shots' but I feel like my life will forever be managed in 3 day segments when I need to change my infusion site again.

Joys of diabetes...:) On a wonderful note, I had my bloodwork done on Thursday and my A1C is back down to 6.0!!!! Such awesome news. On a not so great note, my pump trainer kind of offended me when we were meeting last week. I was showing her my logbook and I had a 13.0 and a few lows in there and after I mentioned that I had a pretty good a1c, she said 'well those highs and lows you have contribute to a good 'average' number on your a1c'... I mean I do a really good job, but I have type one diabetes. It is impossible to be perfect. There will always be highs and lows. There isn't anything I can do to get rid of them completely, because my body will always do what it wants in the end. I can only play mind reader to my hormones so much.

Oh well, Dr's appt this week, we'll see how it goes! I'm expecting a pretty good one, I'm excited :)

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Training Done

Well, I did my pump training today! It went pretty well, it was really a lot of what I already knew. The basal rate my Dr. gave me is pretty much exactly what I was guesstimating, so that makes me happy!

My blood is still being difficult today, so I'm hoping I can start using an increased basal in the future to help me out. I hate bouncing numbers so much.

Jamie did a full infusion set change for me today, which was so sweet! He needed a fair bit of instruction (of course) but he did it perfectly! I'm lucky to have him.

Basal rate goes into effect tomorrow morning, fingers crossed for a good transition, I am sooo nervous!!!

I hate the second half of my cycle!

Every month, without fail, my blood gets difficult in the second half of my cycle. It's just... hard to control really. Today for example, I woke up in the 5's, perfect. I had my breakfast/ lunch (late) and checked 2 hours later and was a perfect 6.0, wonderful.... This was at 1:30 and when I checked again at 2:45 because I felt low, I had dropped to 1.7! I figured my meter was just screwing with me and checked again to get a good ol' 1.6, even better! I felt okay and a juicebox later I knew it would be on its way up, but I felt pretty crappy for the next few hours, just almost foggy.

So things stayed fairly stable after that, although I went to 8.1 after dinner, when I normally am about 6 after that kind of meal... Corrected that, and when I got home at 9:15 I was down to 2.4 (are we catching a trend here...?) I corrected that, ate some snacks, bolused accordingly and 2 hours later went up to 10... Corrected that (a whole .20 units, apparently I had iob) and now an hour later I'm at 11. I know it's not major fluctuations, but I just hate the lack of control. I am doing everything RIGHT, why is my body not listening to me? Every month it is so annoying until my period comes and then it acts like an angel for the next 2-2.5 weeks.

I guess the hormone fluctuations are good practice for pregnancy, I'm sure I will have a few frustrating days once I am at that point! And by a few, I mean a lot.

Bring it on!

PS - getting hooked up to my basal tomorrow, can't wait! I will officially be a true pumper again. I am in much less of a downer mood today, now my blood just needs to get along with me. Maybe I will be friends with an inflated temp basal soon :)

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Monday Monday...

Well, it's midnight and I'm having kind of a debbie downer Monday... Although I'm starting to feel better. I was at the gym tonight and my pump just didn't want to SIT properly on my body... It was just poking out and bouncing around and overall annoying me. I had a little 'pity me' moment in the car on the drive home where I just wished I didn't have to be connected, and maybe I should just go back on shots.

Then I remembered how my average is 5.8 for the past week, and how I don't have to worry about out of range numbers as much, and I know how easy it is to correct out of range numbers... and it really brought it back into perspective.

So, I still love my pump. Just had a little bump in the road today about it. I'm excited to see how getting on a basal rate goes, although I'm kinda nervous... Things are going so well using Lantus... It's going to be a lot of trial and error to get on a basal rate!

It'll all work itself out... (with me putting in a lot of work!!!)

Friday, August 12, 2011

Another one!

Okay, I'll stop after this, promise! ... Maybe! A lot of these will probably be the same as my last post, sorry. :(

What type of diabetes do you have: Type 1 Insulin Dependent, or Juvenile Diabetes

When were you diagnosed: Somewhere between August 25th-28th 2000. I can't remember the exact date though!

What's your current blood sugar: I tested about 5 mins ago and I was 3.5. Methinks I need a snackie before bed!

What kind of meter do you use: I have JUST switched to a Onetouch meter that works with my insulin pump. I like the technology, but HATE the strips. Seriously, I need like a gallon of blood for every strip. I was on freestyle before that, which I loved. It had this handy little light on it which was great for testing at night. I also used a contour USB meter occasionally which isn't bad! I still have close to 100 of those strips. I'm going to use those up to clear them up and then switch primarily over to onetouch, with freestyle as a backup when I don't want to carry the massive ping meter!

How many times a day do you test your blood sugar: 5 as a minimum, and that's on a lazy weekend day where I don't wake up until noon. I would say 8-15 on average though. Going to be in the higher range now that my pump can remind me to test!

What's a "high" number for you: I consider a high over 8, but I don't get too concerned about it usually until I'm over 10. I never used to correct anything below 10 on shots because it was such a hassle. Now I'm going to correct pretty much anything over 7-8 down to 6.

What's do you consider "low": I would say 3.8, but I start to consider myself going 'low' at around 4.0

What's your favorite low blood sugar reaction treater: I like juice because it's quick and easy and I know exactly what I'm consuming carb wise. But sometimes at work I'll buy a thing of sour candies to keep in my desk if I'm low and that works pretty well too!

Describe your dream endo: I am REALLY happy with my current endo! I am probably the most annoying patient because I am always e-mailing between visits with questions and concerns, but oh well. She's pretty great.

What's your biggest diabetes achievement: My mountain trips. People seem pretty impressed by it, and I must say altitude mixed with blood sugars is NOT fun to handle! I also am soo happy that my A1C is staying stable, and hopefully with my pump I can get it below 6.0!

What's your biggest diabetes-related fear: Maybe I should be more scared, but I'm not. Occasionally I worry that I'm going to die younger than I should, but I feel like I'm too young to worry about that. All I can do is my best right now, and deal with whatever happens when it happens.

Who's on your support team: Jamie knows my diabetes really well and always helps me with my math because I suck at doing it in my head (I'm loving the calculator built into the pump!!) and my Mom is not quite as knowledgeable on my diabetes as she used to be (for obvious reasons) but she still listens to me talk about it all the time, which I appreciate! I have a great clinic at the hospital that I'm attending to help me with preparation for pregnancy, and I know so many other T1D's that know exactly what I'm going though, which is also great. There is always someone to help out.

Do you think there will be a cure in your lifetime: Well, when I got diagnosed I always heard '10 years'... We're now at 11 and it doesn't look like it's working. I am doubtful because diabetes is a big money maker. How many people would be out of jobs if there were no longer $1 each test strips, $7000 insulin pumps etc etc. But who knows, maybe one day!

What is a "cure" to you: My pancreas working. I don't want to be hooked up to an 'automatic' insulin pump, that doesn't mean anything to me. I'm not cured if I am not living like exactly like a non-diabetic.

The most annoying thing people say to you about your diabetes is: There are many, but when people assume they know what I should be doing nutritionally it's pretty bad. I was talking about how energy drinks are bad for you and a guy I know said 'yeah, and it really hurts you more because you're diabetic'... Uhhh no. A sugarfree beverage doesn't effect my diabetes, thanks for coming out. I had someone ask me if I was going to leave the room to take an injection recently as well. Believe it or not, I'm not going to hide in the bathroom to stick a tiny 6mm needle in my tummy.

What is the most common misconception about diabetes: That type 1 and type 2 are the same thing.

If you could say one thing to your pancreas, what would it be: If you're not going to work anyways, can I just get rid of you? A pancreas has to weigh what, 5 lbs? That's an easy weight loss technique!!!

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Something I found..

I found this on someone else's blog, and I just had to do it myself. I love surveys and talking about myself!

30 Things About My Invisible Illness You May Not Know:

1. The illness I live with is: Type 1 Diabetes, AKA T1D or as I call it, 'the beets'.

2. I was diagnosed with it in the year: 2000. Summer before entering grade 7.

3. But I had symptoms since: I had symptoms starting in July I would say, and I was diagnosed around August 27th-28th (can't remember the exact date)... I suspected I had diabetes because my cousin has diabetes as well, and I noticed that I was peeing every 5 minutes and that my thirst was unquenchable. My Mom took me for a blood test because I almost blacked out one day, and because I peed 2 times in a 20 minute mall trip, which was not like me at all!

4. The biggest adjustment I’ve had to make is: Honestly, I can't really say that I've 'adjusted' because diabetes is all I know now. I've been diabetic since I was 12, I didn't really have anything going on in my life of too much importance before then other than just being a normal kid. I barely even remember life without it actually.

5. Most people assume: Ahh, there are a lot of assumptions. I would say the most common things people assume are: That I can't eat sugar, That I used to be fat, and that if I just 'change my diet, it will grow away'. I just love the fact all these stupid commercials about type 2 diabetes make people assume that they are one and the same. Not the case!

6. The hardest part about mornings are: I don't have too much of a problem with mornings actually. I used to be on Levemir and had a period where I would be severely low in the morning fairly often. I have the occasional low or high now, but overall it's pretty straightforward.

7. My favorite medical TV show is: I don't think I really watch many 'medical' TV shows. I used to like House though, if that counts!

8. A gadget I couldn’t live without is: Diabetes wise, a blood checker. Other than that, probably my phone. It does everything!!

9. The hardest part about nights are: Nothing really. Occasionally Jamie wakes me up because I'm low and clammy, but overall it's pretty good. I mostly just kinda get debbie downer if I wake up above 8 or 9, because then I wonder what was really going on all night long. Times like that I like the idea of a CGM!

10. Each day I take __ pills and vitamins.: Related to my diabetes... Nothing. I take good ol' insulin!

11. Regarding alternative treatments I: haven't thought twice about them, because that doesn't apply to me at all. No magical herb will make it go away, and I'm fine with that.

12. If I had to choose between an invisible illness or visible I would choose: Well, I'm looking at this a different way, but I have to say invisible, because if I had to choose a disease I would want diabetes. No one knows I have it unless I tell them, or if they see my insulin pump/ see me giving a shot/ see me testing my blood. I think everyone I know is aware of the fact that I have the beets though, because I do NOT try to hide it at all.

13. Regarding working and career: I am lucky to have a job where I am able to control my diabetes well at work. I always have all of my stuff spread out on my desk, and it's pretty nice to have. My only problem is that I'm sometimes late for lunch, that's about it!

14. People would be surprised to know: That nothing makes me prouder than when my diabetes control is great... I just LOVE throwing my logbook at Jamie and yelling at him to 'LOOK AT THE NUMBERS!! THEY'RE PERFECT!!!'

15. The hardest thing to accept about my new reality has been: Looking at starting a pregnancy has made me have some days where I WISH I didn't have diabetes. As much as I try to never let diabetes get me down, I am secretly (well not anymore) terrified of making it through a pregnancy without having to be induced early, or having a 15lb kid, or any other weird things. I am also scared of passing along my diabetes to my child.

16. Something I never thought I could do with my illness that I did was: I want to go cliche and say that I never thought I could climb Mount Kilimanjaro, hike to Everest Base Camp, or trek to Machu Picchu, but as soon as I heard about the trips, I was never worried about 'not being able to do it'. I can't really think of much that I thought I would never be able to do. Maybe drive, I was stupid when I was 16 and I wasn't testing my blood often so I lied about all my numbers and submitted those to my Dr. Luckily she believed me and gave the okay for me to get my DL, but I was worried for a little while!

17. The commercials about my illness: There are very few commercials about MY illness. But tons of them about T2D. And those anger me.

18. Something I really miss doing since I was diagnosed is: Haha, well this is completely unrelated to my diabetes but I miss being a kid at times! I never really went on sugar binges or anything before though.

19. It was really hard to have to give up: having a life without needles and testing. But you gotta do what you gotta do!

20. A new hobby I have taken up since my diagnosis is: haha pretty much every hobby I have. I was just a kid.

21. If I could have one day of feeling normal again I would: This is my 'normal'.

22. My illness has taught me: everything there is to know about diabetes!

23. Want to know a secret? I am obsessed with old episodes of full house right now. I love them!

24. I love it when people: Ask me questions about diabetes and actually LISTEN to my answers!! Or just take interest in what I'm doing. I love talking about all of my stuff!

25. My favorite motto, scripture, quote that gets me through tough times is: Don't have one.. Maybe I need one!

26. When someone is diagnosed I’d like to tell them: You will live a PERFECTLY FULL LIFE!!! And you will not just waste away because of diabetes. You'll be fine. :)

27. Something that has surprised me about living with an illness is: How much of a community the diabetes world is. Between camp, the trips I've gone on, and online I know sooo many diabetics and I love that. I was not expecting that at all when I got diagnosed. I kind of always thought I'd be the odd one out.

28. The nicest thing someone did for me when I wasn’t feeling well was: I am sure there have been many of them! Jamie takes good care of me when I'm low most of the time though, I know he hates running to the kitchen at 3AM to get me a juice box!

29. I’m involved with Invisible Illness Week because: Ahhh, this doesn't really apply to my post!

30. The fact that you read this list makes me feel: Like you must be very patient! WELL DONE!

Transition period

I'm still super excited about being on my pump, and I love the tight control I will be able to obtain and more importantly maintain. There is this one small part of me that is still just scared about it though. I went off the pump for a reason (mainly because I was lazy with my control)and it's just really scaring leaving the world of MDI (multiple daily injections) and going back to pumping. I've been trying to break down what I'm scared of, and I think it's mostly with placement of the pump. I work an office job, and so I wear a lot of dress pants and 'longer' shirts. I have a few shirts where I can hide it in my bra, but with my lack of boobs I'm pretty much confined to clipping it to my waistband, which sometimes creates an odd 'bulge' under my clothes. I know I can't worry about vanity when it's something that is saving my life, but it's something I still think about.

How am I going to wear it while I'm wearing a dress? I think sticking it on my bra is the best bet, but that creates a stupid bulge in 90% of the dresses I have.... Other option would be to attach it to my underwear, but then I'm stuck again with a bulge, as well as my underwear falling down. I have a 'thigh thing' and I guess we'll see how that goes. I think it's still going to create a bulge, but it's worth a try.

What else am I nervous about? I changed my infusion site today and it was a little daunting thinking that I need to do this every single 2-3 days... forever. I know I've been on shots 5-10 times a day and that was forever, but this just seems different. It feels so permanent.

Overall though, I'm really excited. I will find ways to make it work with all aspects of my life, and it will be FANTASTIC!

I got in touch with my trainer today and she and I should be meeting early next week to set up a basal rate. She's just got to get in touch with one of my Dr's and we're good to go!

Anyways, exciting stuff still, and I'm feeling really good about things! I think I'm just a little bit anxious on my own, and I tend to overthink things!

PS, I am SO happy it's Friday tomorrow, finally almost weekend time!!!

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Still love it :)

So I'm still not up and running on basal, but I am LOVING this thing for bolusing. My blood has been amazing! I love that it reminds me to test, and I love that if I need more than 6U and less than 7U, I can go ahead and give myself 6.35U, so much better than whole units! My blood has just been fantastic, I am so happy with it every time I check now! I can't wait to be hooked up to basal though, although things are working well with Lantus. I could probably be a part time pumper and work just fine that way, haha. Okay, maybe not.

My replacement pump came today and the screen looks much better. "Annie" (creative name, I know) arrived bright and early this morning and it didn't take too long to get everything reprogrammed and set to my liking. The new pump came with an envelope to put the old one in to send back via Canada post. Easy peasy! As far as the training goes... Well Animas originally said I wouldn't be able to get training until my rep (Anthony) is back from vacation (August 28th I think)which really doesn't work too well for me. I e-mailed my Dr to see if she could give me a starting basal rate and she said that it's best to wait until August 28th, as she is also on vacation until that time.. Aaahhhhh. Animas called today too and said that they have a trainer who wants to meet by the end of the week, so I'm hoping I can get this show on the road. I doubt the trainer can go anything without direction from my Dr. though, this is frustrating! I think I'm going to just try my 1U/hour and see how it goes. Checking my blood nonstop will help keep everything under control, I hope! Fingers crossed at least.

And lets end this with a picture of the pump and meter in their matching black skins. Cause what's wrong with switching up the colour every once in a while?




Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Day 2

So, I ran in the 2's-3's all night and woke up a few times with that terrible clammy, too hot, sweaty, shaky, low-middle-of-the-night feeling. I tested at 3AM and 6AM and downed a bunch of dex tabs both times... Woke up at 10 AM still low, and decided I'd had enough of doing my own basal rates. I was a genius of course and didn't think that overnight I would STILL HAVE my previous days Lantus in my body helping everything out, so of course I ran low. Seriously, I am too smart. Either way, to avoid worrying the Animas rep who called today to tell me she's sending me a new pump, I decided to cut out the basal rate to 0.00 and continue using Lantus as my long acting and just use the pump to bolus until I'm gone through training. I had nightmares all night long that I... Inserted something wrong in the pump (or something, it was kind of like a memory card) and I voided my warranty and this all could have been avoided had I just gone through training first! I also dreamt that I found a pregnancy test in my closet so I peed on it and it was like double lines instantly. Of course that made me assume (in my dream) that I was further along than I thought I was, and that my last period wasn't really a period and that because I'd been drinking since getting my last period my baby would be born with FAS because I'm terrible. Gotta love dreaming when you're low, makes for an interesting morning!

Anyways, I should get ready for work, and I'm looking forward to getting my new pump tomorrow morning! Those Animas people are quick at getting things out, I'm really impressed!!!

Monday, August 8, 2011

It's HERE!!!!



It's here it's here it's here! My pump (and boxes of supplies) arrived at my office around 10:30 AM, which was amazingly fast! I was hoping for it to come today but didn't have my fingers crossed at all. But here it came, bright and early this morning!

All of the supplies are great, I have way more stuff than I will ever use. I still haven't heard from my trainer, so I have taken it upon myself to learn how to figure out my basal rates on my own. I called and left a message for both of my Dr's but hadn't heard back and I figure I don't need to wait for the formal training... I know the basics, I know HOW it works and what to do, I really only want the training to see if there are any special features of the pump I am not aware of.

Anthony had told me to take my normal 'basal' rate of Lantus and cut it to 80% and spread that out over my day... That worked out to 24U a day, so a simple 1U/hour.... I decided to cut that down slightly overnight (at least for tonight) so that I don't end up low all night long. I am ready to test every 2 hours overnight though, I'm not expecting too much sleep! So I am on 1U/hour from 8AM-10:30PM and .90U/hour from 10:30PM-8AM... We'll see how it goes and adjust from there. I'm sure my Dr will call tomorrow with an idea of where to start, but I think I have a good jumping off point here.

Frustrations of the day...

First, I noticed that the pump screen seems to be 'off' a little bit... Almost like it was placed too far to the left.



So I put that aside (for then) and focused on just learning about the meter remote. I'm still not crazy about 1 touch strips (and having to get enough blood the first try, every try) but I am getting used to them! I actually really like the poker they gave me, I barely feel it at all, I can even test on my pointer fingers, which I usually HATE testing on! I don't like the case they give you for the meter remote, because it's all plasticy feeling, there isn't a good spot to put my log book, and it doesn't fit the meter when it's wearing a skin. After dinner I went to Walmart and found a little pink and brown makeup case to put everything in, and that is working wonderfully so far, I am pretty happy with it!

I called Animas earlier in the day about the screen issue and had a callback within a couple hours, not bad at all. The lady was great and said she'd forward my complaint on to Animas Canada and they would arrange to ship a new pump to me. I hate feeling like I'm 'complaining' but I mean I JUST got the thing, and I can't stop staring at the fact that the screen is off kilter. Although now I'm staring at the screen and can't see it at all, of course. Speaking of the screen, luckily they send out the pump with a screen protecter, because somehow I've already put a huge dent in the screen protector, no idea how! I also had one hell of a time getting in an infusion set, it did take me 3 tries... The first one wouldn't go in, no matter what I pressed on the inset thingy, so I said that it must be defective and threw it out... The second one I tried and tried and tried and eventuallly thought that something must be wrong with the box. I loaded up a third from another box and started dialing Animas... I tried with the 3rd and realized that I was pressing the wrong spot on the inserter, OOOPS. I'm pretty sure I tried both on the first infusion set, but who knows. I felt kinda dumb, I had been texting Jamie expressing my FRUSTRATIONS at how STUPID it was being for not working, when I was just being an idiot. Oh well! :)

Overall, I'm pretty excited. I'm looking forward to talking to my Dr or at least a trainer to make sure I'm doing things right, and getting through reading all this stuff that they sent me. I have my 'pump drawers' all organized and full so that's great, I HATE being unorganized!

I'll update again soon, once I am more into the swing of things, but I am so excited! I can't wait until I am a master of this thing, and that will come shortly. It's still so new to me though, but I'm figuring it out.


Sunday, August 7, 2011

It's coming soon!!!

I can't help but post my excitement about my pump being here either tomorrow or the day after tomorrow! I really hope it comes tomorrow, because I'm working 1-9 on Tuesday so I won't be able to play with it until way too late! I'm reallllyyyy hoping it comes tomorrow! But not crossing my fingers yet, I'm just going to wait until it's here!

YAY!

Thursday, August 4, 2011

An update, finally!

Well, yesterday I emailed the Animas rep to see if there was any way that I could speed up the process, and today I got in touch with her over the phone. She said that I could go ahead and just pay up front (as my insurance company does it on a reimbursement basis anyways) and order right away. I was a little bit worried, because what if there was some chance that they didn't cover it? I was hoping they'd cover the majority of the pump, and figured I'd be paying approx $1500 out of pocket for it, and I was hoping the supplies would be covered 80%. The lady at Animas said that she didn't see any reason why it wouldn't be covered, but of course they can't guarantee anything.

So, she called Standard life and we got a rep on the phone who confirmed that YES my pump is covered (approved yesterday) and that they are covering it 100%!!!! I am totally blown away by this, and I am so excited. I have it ordered along with a ton of supplies, although I need to change that order a little bit. I have things like a tamper resistant case coming, when I don't need that one, I'd rather have a bra band or something. I'm going to try any get in touch with her tomorrow and go over everything while I'm on the website and make sure that I have the things I actually want/ need.

Exciting stuff, it should arrive Monday or Tuesday! YAYY!!!!!!

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Still impatient!

So it's Wednesday and I'm still not pumping! I'm trying hard to be patient, but it's tough... I'm getting towards the end of my novo-rapid, and I hope I don't have to stock up again before my pump comes. I was really looking forward to being hooked up before my triathalon this weekend, but I don't think that's going to happen :( Oh well, I'll have a long time with it soon, I can wait a couple more days.

Standard life apparently takes their sweet time to approve the insurance stuff, so I'm thinking we'll just buy the pump now (because it's on a reimbursment basis anyways) and deal with the insurance stuff as it comes. I can't see any reason why they wouldn't cover it, I have the letter of medical neccesity and all that fun stuff. Only thing I can see holding me back is that I already have a decent a1c. If they deny me based off of that, I will LOSE IT!!!

I've tried to stop doing shots in my stomach, because it will be getting a beating until they fix my pancreas. Which means it'll be a long time. I'm nervous, but hope it all goes well. I'm even getting mildly excited for the one touch meter. I can still use my old freestyle when I don't want to carry the big one, but I think I'll primarily use the one touch.

Anyways, enough for now. Hopefully I'll get the new pump (and all my free supplies) ordered tomorrow and off to me EARLY next week!!! Fingers crossed!!