Hey Everyone! Yesterday I went to my doctors and got connected to the OneTouch Ping. Right now I have saline in it, but starting on Thursday I am on my own with insulin. Any advice from those that have the OneTouch Ping? Or any advice from anyone who has a pump. If it was my doctors choice I would have been on the pump over the summer but due to me not being sure about it they gave me a few months to decide. They promised me that I can go right back to needles if I do not like the pump. I'm not sure why I am so nervous about having a pump but I am. I'm afraid I won't like be attached to something 24-7 and I feel that I will be self-conscious when I am trying to hide it under my clothes. I am a 17 year old senior in high school so I don't want people to look at me differently if they see the pump on me or anything like that. I have no problem talking to people about my diabetes but I guess i'm just nervous about the pump Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
My best advice is buy some fruit that you can eat as snacks, and appreciate it! It's my favorite thing about the pump. I was nervous about it, and now I will NEVER go back.
Invest in a box of individual Alcohol Rubs and Skin Prep(or a box of IV Prep if you can find it). After about a month, my sites started to come out after a day and I went through a month supply of sites in about 2.5weeks.
If you wear flared pants, you could always get a Leg-Thing. I have one for when I'm at work so the pump isn't clipped to my waist and poking me. The tubing has to be longer in order to use it, so when I use that infusion set(I switch back and forth between the two legnths of tubing) I have to be a bit more careful when it's clipped to my waist..a lot more tubing to wrap around the clip..
I also have a Thigh-Thing, but I haven't tried it yet..but if you wear a lot of skirts, that'll probably be good to get to help hide it.
Wow, you only had to do a saline trial for 3 days. My son has been on saline for 6 days of a 7 day test and I am now just feeling comfortable with it. After 3 days I was really nervous. It was the Ping
batts--ill have to look into those...i didnt even think about using them
keith---jeeze...im only on saline until thursday. then i get to sit in my doctors office for a long 6 hours lol they want me to stay in the office when i first get one it to make sure my body reacts correctly...so every hour they will check on me...it will be a long day lol
I was told to get IV Prep or Skin Prep, and the alcohol swabs, when I got trained on the pump to help keep the sites in, but i wasn't having a problem at first so i never bothered. it's a good trick, and i highly suggest it. they probably will tell you about them when you get trained.
I was afraid of being attached to something all day before I got my pump as well. Now, I love feeling it on my hip, and thinking how cool it is that such advanced technology is "working" to keep me alive, and living the highest quality of life possible.
I think pumps are awesome.
(Also, when I dress up, for a concert/wedding, I love using my fancy pump cases that I splurged on.)
pumps are fairly easy to hide and keep hidden. they're only as obvious as you choose to make them. for me, i don't really care, so i choose to wear it where it's most convenient and easy to get to, however i have worn it in my bra a few times. i can't remember what fears i had when i first started. i remember being mostly excited.
my best advice: keep the tubing tucked away (i have an easier time of this if i wear a belt). it pretty much sucks to get the tubing caught on something (or anything).
I am so suprised on the length of training and wearing saline pumps. The Animas lady came to our house and trained us for an hour or so. We hooked it up to my son gave him lunch with her here and off she went. It was only 2 weeks after dx. Looking back I think --Holy cow what was I thinking!! I was so overwhelmed at the time my head was spinning and we just did it. I love love love his pump!! (ping)
Yes, we have a week on saline. Then send the info and the pump back to the hospital and they check it out. After that they contact the pump people. When the pump comes in we have a meeting with the Endo who will set the parameters and them he takes it home.
i think the process is different where you live/how old you are.
i had already put the paperwork in to get approved for the pump, without discussing it with my endo(but did send him the pages he needed to fill out), before i decided to ask and do a saline trial. i had the trial for two weeks when i finally got it, just to get used to it. the animas sales rep for the mainland/islands showed up, handed me the pump, showed me how to put a site in, gave me a few weeks worth of supplies, told me to play around, briefly went over the advantage of using the ping over other pumps, answered some questions my mom had and left.
once the pump got approved while i was on the trial, i took it off, gave it back. went to my endo for a quick meeting, he gave me a sheet with some suggestions for basal rates/carb ratios for the trainer, told me the trainer could change them as he saw fit. that was about it. trainer came over about two weeks later(a week after the pump showed up), sat with me for about an hour(since i had already played with the pump he barely had to go into detail about how to use it..i knew more than he did actually cuz he had only trained one other person on the island on the Ping and that guy had already gotten some training anyways). and then that was it. got his home number to call him later that day to see how it was going, and talked to him the next day and for the next few days...been pretty much on my own since with it.
Hi. I don't mean to change your subject, Jordan, but I was wondering; Does the Ping come with a clip or do I have to purchase it separately? Also, will the rubber skin fit on the pump with a clip on it?
That's the best part of the Ping - my 10 year old son can keep it in a pocket and not have to get it out to dose... can dose from the remote - which he does almost all the time now (been on the Ping for 6 months)... I know a teenager at my other son's highschool that really likes the Ping as well... once it's "set in one spot" for the day, it can stay there without having to get it out to dose... Good luck and God Bless! -dm- (father of Peter diagnosed 3-18-08 pumping since 5-30-08)
Jordan, how lucky you are! Every bit of advice and every suggestion is worth taking, but most of all, just keep an eye out for what works best for you. That will just take time.
I have had my "ping" since they were first introduced and I love it. I've been on the pump since 1996 with a MiniMed (now Medtronic) 504. I then went to a Disetronic and then to an Animas. I won't lie...Animas has been the best so far and I'll never leave them now.
I must admit that to me the best part is not having to take it out separately from my meter in order to bolus for meals and corrections. That is a great feature and one that is so helpful. I just recently started on the Dexcom continuous glucose monitor and it's another device to keep track of. So, not having to keep track of my pump all the time is really a big help for me.
The best advice I can give you is just to remember that every day is not going to be perfect and that that is the beauty of pumping and that you can "correct" with relative ease. The other thing that I discovered is that I've found a real necessity to keep the tools for managing low blood sugar levels nearby because my control improved significantly. That's not to say that we all don't keep those "tools" with us, but I find it even more important than ever to do so now.
I want to wish you tons of success. enjoy the holidays and don't be afraid to ask questions if you need to. The people at Animas are wonderful and they are always ready to help. That has been my experience and I can't imagine that not being the case for anyone else.
I'm a freshmen in high school, and i just got mine this summer, and at my school we have the whole uniform thing going on, and what i do is i wear the little volleyball shorts inside, they are tight and comfortable, you can wear the shorts if you ever have to wear a dress, etc.
i am also on the animas ping, and that is one of the reasons i like it so that i don't have to take it out and then put it back you can just do it with the meter!
I am on the One Touch Ping.. and I love it!.. well for the most part. I am also a 17 year old senior in high school.. and if i didnt tell my friends about it they wouldnt even notice it. Homecoming however was rough for me. I was diagnosed in June of this year and got my pump September of this year. It takes time getting used to it but after that its a breeze. when i sleep i put it in front of me and i rarely notice that it is there. you will probably get tangled in it but you'll get used to that too. i wear mine on my hip. where do u think your going to wear yours? i hope i was some help and feel free to contact me if you want to talk or have questions! Good luck :)
I don't disclose - except for when I was applying at the diabetes clinic... I think that helped me get the job. But that's because it was pertinent to the field :o)
Diabetes doesn't affect my ability to work, so I never bring it up.