Choosing a new pump

At my clinic your pump gets upgraded every 4 years, this basically means you get to choose a new pump. This can be a really hard decision to make though. after you have made the decisions you are stuck with the same pump for 4 years! that is a long time if you don't like the pump you decide. There are so many pump to choose from pumps with no wires, pumps with a wire pumps with cgm's , pumps that can connect to your meter... So I thought it would be a good idea to write this post all about the different pumps that are out there to make it a little bit easier for you when it comes to choosing a new pump.

I have been on a pump for nearly 8 years now and I have had the same pump, Medtronic MiniMed. Now that it is coming up for my pump upgrade in August I really want to try out a different pump, however there are so many the hospital gave me to choose from. There is the Medtronic 640G pump, the Animas Vibe pump, the Roche Insight pump and the Omnipod. So what is the difference between all these pumps?

Medtronic 640G pump
The Medtronic 640G is a waterproof pump which comes in Blue, purple, pink,black and silver. It has a blood glucose meter which can automatically send you levels across to the pump which saves you having to manually enter all of the levels into the pump. Also with this pump you can have a sensors with it. The sensor based on your levels can predict when you are  approaching low levels 30 minutes in advance and automatically stop insulin delivery and after your levels are back to normal the pump will automatically resume insulin delivery.
Here is a link to the Medtronic 640G pump website for more information:
https://www.medtronic-diabetes.co.uk/minimed-system/minimed-640g-insulin-pump 

 

 

Animas Vibe pump

The Animas Vibe is a waterproof pump which comes in silver, black, blue, green and pink. The pump tracks the insulin which is still active in your body to help prevent you taking extra insulin which is unnecessary which reduces the chance of going low. This pump can also connect to a sensor if you have one. The Animas Vibe pump is very similar to the Medtronic MiniMed pump.

Here is a link to the Animas Vibe pump website for more information:

http://animascorp.co.uk/animasvibe 

Roche Insight pump
The Roche Insight pump is a waterproof pump which comes with a separate handset. This means you can put your levels and carbs into your handset without having to take the pump out. This makes giving your insulin a lot more discreet to other people. However the connection time between the handset and the pump can be a bit slow compared to other pumps.  The pumps shape is designed to be more comfortable to wear and there is a choice of small, flat cannulas.
Here is a link to the Roche Insight pump website for more information:
https://www.accu-chek.co.uk/gb/products/insulinpumps/insight.html 

 

Omnipod

The Omnupod has no wire as the 'pod' and handset aren't connected. This means all the insulin is stored in the pod which is attached to you, however this does make the cannula (pod) bigger then the other pumps. It also means you cant disconnect the pod from you, it has to stay in you for 3day until you next change it. The idea of having no wire to your pump is very appealing to people as his is the only pump with no wire at the moment. The only down side to the omnipod is when you bolus or use basal rates the amount of insulin the pod gives you can vary up to 30%.

Here is a link to the Omnipod website for more information:

https://www.myomnipod.com/about-omnipod/system-overview/ 

As you can see there are so many different pumps out there and they all have their own advantages and disadvantages. However there is not a better or worse pump, everyone prefers different pumps because everyone is different. Some people may decide that they really like the Omnipod becase it has no wire whereas some people may not like it because they are sensitive to insulin and that 30% vary in insulin could really effect them.

Out of all of these different pumps I have decided to get  Medtronic 640G pump as I think it will be the pump that will suit me best. The reason I have chosen this pump is because I am not very good at changing my cannulas, it normally takes me about 30mins to change it. It takes me this long because I have a needle phobia. The great thing about the  Medtronic 640G pump is that it has the same cannulas as the pump I already have (Medtronic MiniMed) which will make changing my cannula every 3 days a lot easier because I am used to those cannulas.

Anyway hopefully this post has helped you see the different pump that are out  at the moments and the advantages and disadvantages of them. Hopefully I will be getting my new pump in August! I can then write a post all about it :)

Tips for exams

Its been a really long time since I last posted I know but now that my GCSE's are basically over (I only have one more exam left which is on Friday) I am finally able to start writing on here again :) So much has happened since I last wrote on here, I have loads to tell you and lots of tips and advice I have learnt along the way which will hopefully help you all.

So where should I start?  I think GCSE's would be the best place. As you probably already know GCSE's can be very stressful but with diabetes on top of it, it can be a lot harder for us then it is for other people. There is so much revision that needs to be done, so many things to remember, so little time to do it all in. On top of this we have our levels that need to be kept under control so we can do the best that we can in the exams.

Everybody gets stressed out about exams. The only difference is when I get stressed out it can cause my levels to go high and this makes it really hard for me to concentrate. I remember sitting there trying to revise and wondering why it wasn't going into my head properly, when I checked my levels they were high and this was the reason why it wasn't going in. I would get really annoyed because it wasn't my fault this was happening but I was really worried it would mess up my exam results. I found the best way for me to revise was revising for half an hour and then having a break five minutes and then going back to revise for another half an hour. If I found my levels were running high I would give a correction or put a temp basal on to keep my levels lower so that I could actually concentrate.

If you are starting any exams or anything like that where you have got to do a lot of revision I would advice making a revision time table. On the time table it should tell you what you are going to revise everyday so that you don't get behind with revision. Making a revision time table really helped me because it meant I knew exactly what I had to do everyday and it meant I had revised everything I needed to in time for the exam. I would also recommend not leaving all your revision till the day before the exam. If you do it will just stress you out more because you wont be able to learn everything before the exam and this will mean you wont do as well as you can. I kinda left my revision for my mock exams to the last minute and I didn't do very well so for my GCSE's I made sure I revised months before the exam so that I knew all of the information and I wasn't stressing out the day before the exam.

When it came to my first exam I was so worried and stressed about it on the day, even though I had revised loads for the exam I felt like I didn't know the information properly. I remember sitting in the exam panicking as they read out the exam rules on the front of the test. I sat there and closed my eyes and focused on my breathing, this really helped me calm down. When I opened the paper and looked at the questions I realised I actually knew all the information and I was able to answer all of the questions. After the exam I felt so happy and impressed with myself because I couldn't believe that I got through the exam without panicking loads and giving up. The exam was no where near as bad as I thought it was going to be so this made me feel a little bit less stressed about the rest of my exams. Surprisingly throughout all of my exams in the first 2 weeks my levels were really good which meant I was able to concentrate properly and do the best I could.

When you do any exams remember to tell the exam people at school that you have diabetes so that they are aware as they can set up things like sitting you near the door so that you can go out and check your levels at anytime. Also the time that you are out sorting out your levels should then be added back on to the time you have in the exam so that you don't loose any time. This can be really helpful as it means you don't loose anytime if your levels are low so you have exactly the same amount of time that's everyone else has.

So here are a few things you need to remember when it comes to revision and exams.

1. Make sure you don't leave revision until the last moment
2. Make a revision time table
3. Take regular breaks when revising and keep checking your levels so you can correct them if they are high
4. Make sure the school have put things in place for your diabetes
5. If you start panicking in the exam concentrate on your breathing
6. Test your levels before and after exam so you can correct them if they are high or eat something if they are running a bit low
7. Try not to panic, (easier said then done I know)  you will be fine

Hopefully these points will help you through exams and revising. I know exams can be scary and you probably feel like your diabetes will get in the way and stop you achieving your best, but trust me that isn't true as long as you look after yourself as well as revising. I thought my levels would be really high in the exams which would have made it hard to concentrate and affected my grade but actually my levels were fine.

Good Luck to anyone who has been taking exams recently :)