WHAT, WHY, HOW of pump

Have been sharing plenty about my insulin pump since December 2014 in my Instagram @sugarsanity. And I finally bought my very own pump in February 2015 *recalling the moment I hold it in my hand :))

Find out what is an insulin pump and how it works: here!

A few things that I had been considering very much before my family and I decided to buy it.

1) Cost

It is not an one-off cost. It is a long term cost. Other than my family and I have to bear the 2 years instalment for purchasing the pump, I have to bear the monthly consumables for my pump. 

Consumables are infusion sets and reservoirs. They are not reusable. I have to change these every 3 to 4 days, meaning I only have to inject every 3 to 4 days, rather than injecting 4 times a day.

Reservoir keeps the fast acting insulin (Novorapid).

Infusion set is like a tube that delivers the insulin from reservoir to my body with the help of insulin pump (the device). And there are many types of infusion sets, I am using the Sure-T.

2) Frequent finger pricking

Willingness to do more finger blood glucose checking, means more test strips. Last time because of the cost, I only test my blood glucose level twice a day, ie. fasting and pre-bed. Or I check it when I feel really unwell only. 

Now I have to check it more often, at least 4 times a day ie. pre-breakfast, pre-lunch, pre-dinner and pre-bed. Why? Because basal insulin is being delivered in small amounts every hour, as a fully insulin dependent person, a short period of time with no basal insuin can bring me to DKA (to the hospital).

Alright, usually I check it more often during my infusion-set-change-day, just in case the consumable is not working (which I always hope this will not happen).

3) More control

I am not a control freak haha. But I wish to have more flexibility. I wish to know how my sugar goes about in 24 hours, with the help of a Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) and how many active insulin still available in my body in order to avoid insulin stacking, with the help of Bolus Wizard in a pump.

I was using the CGM while on a family trip to Taiwan. Love it! However, I do not use CGM everyday because of the cost.

4) I have hypo unawareness

I hardly remember the latest severe hypoglycemic event after using a pump. I certainly do not worry as much as those days when I drive, when I sleep, when I do presentation :)

One of the embarrassed moment due to hypo-unawareness, previous post.

To understand more about hypo-unawareness, here.