I'm Live!

I FINALLY have my new pump on & working! Woo-Hoo! This has been a long time in coming. I asked my provider last fall (October) about getting a new pump. I thought of just upgrading the current one I had. Instead she showed me a brand new type that was wireless!

This photo is similar to what I was wearing.

The blue thingie there is called an "inserter" & that is how I put the cannula in to me. There is a needle through the middle of it. The trick to this is you have to push two buttons - one on each side of it - at the same time to insert it properly. I could never, ever manage to do that. So I would push one button first, then just push the other to insert. Nine times out of ten this worked. However, when it didn't, it really HURT & I would have to take it off & do it all over again. The reason being - it hurt as it was in sideways. Youch!

You can see the tubing in the photo. That attached the pump to me. The small reservoir fits inside the pump & holds my insulin. Then there is a cannula (i.e. a very small IV) that inserts into my skin. I just push the buttons to tell it how much insulin I need when. There is also always a small amount going in to me as a background rate. This is really a false pancreas & the hope is that it will work in a similar fashion.

This is what it would look like when I was wearing it. This is a different pump, but the "button" on the skin is the same. Oh & this is NOT my belly - trust me - that is not going to be showing up on the blog any time soon. LOL

When I needed to do something such as showering, then I would just unhook the pump from me & the pump & tubing would sit off to the side & wait for me to finish. They were sometimes patient - sometimes not.

This is the pump that I have been working for since October 2006. I finally received approval about three weeks ago after two denials & two appeals! Praise the Lord!

The white "pod" is what I wear on my skin. It holds my insulin for me but I no longer have a separate reservoir I have to fill. This comes with a syringe & I fill that & then use it to inject the insulin in to the pod. It's been a while since I've had to handle a syringe! I felt a tad out of practice today. Notice one of my favorite features - no tubing!!!!

The pod isn't all that big but it is bigger than I am used to. I've had this on now for about five hours & I still know it's there & I am still making compensations for the tubing. It's sort of funny! I couldn't find a photo on the net that showed someone wearing a pod. I did find this cool photo that shows a size comparison.

It's not big, but it is bigger than the button I used to wear. I know I'll have to be careful where I place it. I sleep on my side & I may have placed it too far to the side for me to sleep comfortably tonight. I'll have to wait & see. I am a bit more free as to where I can place it. I can put it on the back of my arm, my backside, & my outer thighs. I could really only place on my stomach before. It will be nice to give it a bit of a break.

I'm very excited about this new pump & I just pray I get used to it quickly & use all the features to their advantage. Thanks to everyone who prayed for me about getting this.