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pump choice is very individual. Chose what suits you and work with your
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The process to get a pump under a government program The process to get a pump under a government program September 8, 2007: Well the good news this time around is Liam is already in love with his pump so I don't have to convince him he wants to have something attached to him 24/7. The bad news is that there are more pumps out there with some great features. We have Medtronic's new Real Time System. Who doesn't want to have a CGMS system but there are people who feel that while this is a great starting point, there will sooner be newer systems that will be more accurate. There is the Animas pump. It is cute, durable, easy to read, and has an incredible staff. The downside is that it has a 200 unit cartridge and puberty is coming soon. They do have very small basal rates but Liam is getting older. Do we really need that? I don't know if it can be personalized as much as our Cozmo. This brings us to my last choice (there is a fourth pump--the Accu-chek but it isn't for us) the Cozmo. In the US they have the 1800 model. In Canada we don't know when we will get that. Rumour has it that if we buy the 1700 we will have to pay $500 for the upgrade to the 1800. I doubt that the government will cover that part but I still have a lot of Cozmo cartridges. Does that matter if I am getting my supplies covered now from the government? I hate decisions! Okay so what does this government program mean? Well, I have had to inform our CDE nurse that we will be looking at a new pump for December. That is when our waranty is up. When I chose our new pump, she will work with the pump company, we will get a new pump and Bob's our uncle--pump, supplies, coming to my door from the company on a regular basis. Cool! Unheard of! September 20, 2007 : So I am not really any further on the great pump decision. I am leaning heavily towards the devil we know. I am waiting until I go to the NAGM for the Canadian Diabetes Association in Vancouver before I think much more. I want to see both pumps again. I want to talk to the Cozmo reps. I know the Animas people and they are awesome but we are comfortable with our Cozmo so....its a wait and see thing. I think I will let Liam play a larger role in the choice. I haven't decided if that is truly a good idea. We discussed pumps last night and he figured that they should come with a built in I-pod or video game. I reminded him that pumps are not just built for young children. He reminded me that adults use MP3 players! Touché!! September 25, 2007: No I haven't made any real decisions yet. Yes, I am still waiting for Vancouver before I decide. Yes, I am still going to let Liam have a say...scary isn't it! The one thing that is really surprising me is the number of people who get a pump based on their health care teams' choice. I agree that they are experts in their field but you are the expert in you or your child's needs. It is vital that you make the best decision for YOU. They will make the best decision for them. I know the Cozmo well but they have been so slow in bringing their advances to Canada. We waited two years for the Cozmonitor, how long will we wait for the 1800 model? I was told 3-6 months but that was from a US rep. My warranty is up in less than 4 months and I have heard nothing from my new rep. I live in a province that will guarantee her a sale, why are they not knocking on my door and ensuring that I like my product? The Medtronic people are great too but that just isn't the pump for Liam. I have heard some great evidence regarding it but again, its not for us. The new Accu-chek pump is also not for us. We have managed to lose the Cozmonitor and it was attached to the pump, what would we do with that palm pilot thing for the AccuCheck pump? This leaves me deciding on the Animas. I love the people there. I always have...but then again, I have a great relationship with most of the people working for the pump companies. The reservoir is smaller than the Cozmo. Downside. It is cool to look at...bonus for a 10 year old. It has a very small basal rate. Plus. It is very sturdy. Another plus. Is it easy to customize? Use? Does it have great alerts? We will see I guess! September 28, 2007 I have always been curious as to how people decide on what insulin pump to use. For me it was research, research, question, research, talk. I called reps. The ones that didn't talk to me or were short with me were scratched off my list instantly. I didn't just want to know the cost of their pump and have a nice day. I was taken by the reps that offered to come to me and show me their pumps. The ones who told me what to ask when looking for a pump. The people who seemed to care more about me than just getting a sale. Those people have remained friends today and I didn't buy their pump. I bought the one that was best for Liam. This time around there is still no pump that offers electroshock but I digress. I decided the best way to find out how pumps were chosen was to ask people so I did! About 60% of people said that they went out and made the choice on their own. They researched, contacted companies, watched instructional DVDs and then made the choice that was best for them. In some of these cases, information was provided in packages by their Diabetes Education Centers. Other people went to their centers and were given a variety of packages or better yet pumps to play with at the centers. They were able to hold the various pumps in their hands and "see" the features. In larger centers there was an appreciation for local reps. They liked to have someone near. They liked someone that they could call on any time. They liked someone who would come to them and show them what they were reading about. That still leaves 40% of people who go to their clinics and take whatever they are given or are told is the best. That is both good and a bit scary. Its fine if the clinic is making a choice based on the needs of the patient. It is scary if they are basing their choices on the rep or the company that they like best. I am not saying that that is what is happening. I have heard of people who's clinician did not like a certain pump company because their patients had traditionally had many problems with it. I think that is valid. People need to be empowered. They need to know that they can make decisions that are best for their needs. My needs are not the same as your's. I have a 10 year old. You may be an adult. I need alerts for Liam's caregivers to remember to test him. I need alerts to remember to change his site. When Liam was 2, a basal of .025 would have been ideal and many with young children would see this as a benefit over diluting insulin for their children. Others love the CGMS feature of the RealTime System. For others still its a cost that cannot be currently justified in their life. We are all unique and pumps must fit the person using it. For Liam that means he can chose the color!! I was curious to see how the lay of the land was in terms of pump "popularity" so I turned to www.childrenwithdiabetes.com Each February they run a poll and ask their readers which pump they are using. The results were interesting. From February 2004 to 2007 this is what their unscientific poll showed: Animas pumps were previously used by only 12% of respondents but now were being used by 22%. AccuChek was obviously impacted by their voluntary recall of the Disetronic pumps as they went from 4 to 2%. Cozmo users made up 11% of those polled in 2004 but 24% by 2007. I was most curious about the Medtronic stats. They have traditionally cornered the market on insulin pumps throughout the world. The showed a drop from 46% of the market to 32%. I am a little skeptical about this figure however. You see, the US only just got the RealTime system available in the US. Many Americans purchased Cozmo pumps waiting for the Navigator and many more are now seriously looking at the new CGMS package. November 5, 2007 Well the decision has been made. Stick to the Devil I know. Actually that wasn't quite the case. I went to Vancouver and planned to try to get the Cozmo and Animas pumps to play with for a bit. My trip was much more chaotic than expected and I wasn't afforded a lot of spare time. I did get a chance to run over to the Cozmo booth where I was told that they are taking orders for the 1800 model!!!! Oh yeah! Happy Dance!! I had previously been told that all of my beloved alarms were uniquely patented to the Cozmo and I wasn't looking to give them up easily. I came home and told Liam of my decision. He was happy enough with it and decided on the lime green. He wanted to be different and everyone he meets seems to have the blue (they aren't making ice blue anymore but he is taking no chances!). Next stop was to contact my educator. We have a new
pump program here in Newfoundland and I wanted Liam's pump to be
ordered, here for Christmas, and paid for by the government. I was told
that if we have insurance, then they have a special form to fill out.
There is a policy but it doesn't cover pumps or supplies. Nonetheless, I
sent her the information. Liam's doctor also need to fill out the
prescription for the pump and then hopefully we are set to go! I haven't
heard back from Autocontrol yet but will give them a bit of time before
I get on them as well. I don't want any hassles. I just want a new funky
green pump!!! November 16, 2007 We went to our clinic and the paperwork is all filled out. We have requested that Liam be given a pump under the new program. The nurse asked who would be training us. I said, what training?? Its the same pump just some minor software changes. I can handle that. The new pump program requires that you spend so much time with an educator. While I highly recommend this to new pumpers, we are far from new and I don't see any benefit when I will know more about the product than they will. I have also contacted our pump rep to give her a heads up. I let her know that we want the Tropical Green pump and the paperwork is "in the mail! Now we wait.... November 27, 2007 I heard from our pump rep via email. She was having them send me out a package on the new Cozmo. Some people don't pay a lot of attention. First I was put on the list for information when I was in Vancouver at a conference. I was given the package then. Second I am telling her that I WANT this pump. I am not looking for more information. Granted she doesn't know me but I have already been hearing about this pump for the one year + that its been available in the US. I have also seen it in Orlando this summer. Please just send me the pump when it arrives in Canada. Well, we are on that list anyway. Our Diabetes Education team also was trying to contact the rep yesterday. I am assuming that is to say that we have been approved and send away! I have also got the infusion set issue straightened out. I am ordering those through Animas and have an account for Liam set up. I call, they send to me and they bill the provincial body in charge of the program. I like simplicity! Because I am using a Cozmo pump though, I will still have to get back in touch with our rep to find out how to order Liam's cartridges. Those I can't buy through a third party...bummer :-) December 20, 2007 The moral of the story....don't be the first. For the past two weeks I have been sending emails back and forth between myself, AutoControl, and our pump rep. We have been sent forms to fill out (again). We have been told that they didn't know how to bill. What was this about there being insurance?--Liam has coverage for his strips and insulin through his father's plan. Last weekend I filed out their forms--again. I sent everything in. I emailed and told them it was coming and provided them with all of the details ahead of time. I waited. While I waited, my mailbox was jammed by a huge email. I have a dial-up connection so this was a REAL problem. Finally I went into a web based mail program checked out other messages that were backing up behind the problem. I found something awesome!!! There was an email that said "your pump has left the warehouse". Oh yeah!! What a Christmas present!!! Liam's pump is ON ITS WAY!!! Now the downside, obviously if I still have dial-up I live in the middle of nowhere so I sit in my little home and wait for the arrival of his new "lean green pumping machine!" We were the first family in this province to order a pump through AutoControl under Newfoundland's new pump program for children. The downside to being the first is that we were the ones to iron the kinks and pave the way for the rest. That's okay...we are getting an 1800 for Christmas and Mommy and Liam aren't mad!!! December 22, 2007 Our pump is here and waiting to be used and abused! Well hopefully he won't abuse it too much but he is a kid. I love the new features. Bolusing by time of day is definitely a must in our world. There are also some neat disconnect features for those people who take hour long showers...not that I know anyone using a pump in my house who does that. I did have to chuckle at little when I began to unpack the box that we received. First there is the super cool new "lean green" pump. It has a new leather pump case. Liam liked the clear clip he got in Florida but this one has a clip but is soft and shouldn't dig into his side when he sleeps--the only problem he had with the other pump clip. There were two insulin cartridges, prep stuff, and delutant which was great but there were no infusion set samples. Interesting. I have infusion sets but I found that kind of odd. We got a new IR port thingie so that is great. We got a new Cozmonitor and some strips. Here comes the neat thing that can only occur in Canada where Cozmo is distributed by a company that is not the manufacturer--there is a free i-Test meter in the box. It comes with strips and seems pretty neat but Cozmo uses Freestyle strips in its Cozmonitor. One might think they would give you a Freestlye meter. Small things that amuse my small mind. Here are a couple of pictures of the new pump and the new case...
January 8, 2008 Today we had our session with the Cozmo CDE. I was very impressed. She was thorough but was quickly able to judge exactly what we already knew and went over features that we would most likely use and offered suggestions on how to further enhance some of the features that we were already using. She was even open to hearing what I liked and didn't like about the pump and the company. It was great! I was very impressed with the entire process. As for the pump itself? We are still getting used to things but so far so good. I was even told that the new pump case will actually fit his Cozmonitor. I am waiting for Liam to check it out. Obviously I have always believed
that one should have the choice to pump. My son, given that choice, was
always of the mind that shots were preferable. I don't think he is too
keen on having something attached to him and fears the needle from the
pump. For him, having an extra needle and then being able to go on his
way is fine by him. There have been many times however when I felt that
the flexibility of the pump and its ability to use finite amounts of
insulin would be better for him.
August 20, 2003
Diabetes has been in our lives for over 5 years now and we have more than one year of pumping under our belt. I still feel that an insulin pump should be available to anyone who wants one regardless of cost. It is giving Liam as much freedom has it has me. He is now able to correct when he is out of range. He can bolus a meal so that I can attend a meeting in another town. His A1c continues to stay below 7% without the same rollercoaster of bg levels we once saw on MDI. I have a back-up prescription of Lantus "just in case" but hope to never use it. Liam still calls his pump "his life" and thanks to the pump, its a pretty good life at that! May 2005 Thanks to the pump, Liam enjoyed his first long weekend at Grammie's! On May the 7th I was able to attend the Insulin Pumpers Canada Expo in Halifax where I listened to John Walsh speak on insulin pumping. Liam on the other hand spent his weekend going to Crystal Palace, riding bike, eating Wendy's, and having ice-cream cake. Numbers were everywhere of course but they were manageable. His grandparents learnt quickly and they relied on the expertise of both boys to survive until my return on Sunday afternoon. Here is what I learnt from Mr. John Walsh--a person everyone should listen to speak if given the opportunity! He is an incredibly bright man who has lived with diabetes for over 50 years and has written some very informative books on diabetes.
And that is what I learnt! Please, remember to consult your diabetes team before making any changes or trying anything new. February 6, 2006 Wow! We have been pumping for over two years now!! I can't believe it and I would never go back! The pump has allowed me to go to listen to John Walsh speak and leave Liam with his grandparents without any worry. The pump has allowed Liam to bolus his own lunch and have recess like everyone else at the same time as everyone else without Mom always there! The pump has allowed us to keep our A1c under 7% even when we were sure it wasn't happening! The pump let us enjoy a summer beach party without worries about times to eat or peaking insulin! The pump allowed me to go to Edmonton this year and give site insertion instructions over the phone at 4am but he was okay!!! We both have freedom. We both can live. We can control diabetes to the best of our abilities. We no longer feel controlled by it--okay somedays but I love making small adjustments and knowing that there is no other insulin working in the background just waiting for me to make a correction so it can kick in!!
February 24, 2006 I was feeling lazy today so I decided to use the "Meal Maker" program on Liam's pump. I couldn't figure out how to get into it. He quickly grabbed the pump, got me into it and explained that he had used the feature at school just today!! I couldn't believe that he remembered how to use it and that was he able to navigate his pump so well!! I love pumping. The independence it gives our children is incredible. March 11, 2006 It finally happened--Liam's pump is going to be replaced. The display screen has lines going through it. It seems to be working but the lines are also working their way across the screen. I called this afternoon and I will have one by tomorrow afternoon. I was very impressed! It will be flown to me from Toronto. It actually arrives at midnight but by the time it gets here, it would be about 4am. We decided that tomorrow afternoon would be just fine! I am very impressed by the service though. Its nice to know that if there had been mechanical failure, we would still have a pump within 24 hours. The biggest thing is the fact that we live in the middle of nowhere! We get nothing that fast! I am still waiting for the meter replacement parts that were shipped to me over a week ago by courier. Cozmo may still have us waiting for our Cozmonitors but they do replace their pumps quickly no matter where you live. September 26, 2006: We finally have it! The CoZmonitor is here!! Liam loves it. I love its size and convenience. He thought it was really cool when it reminded him to retest after being low. I liked looking in one spot for everything--bolus, basal and readings! I don't like using it for night testing or AST. I find it bulky and awkward. Time will tell. It is definitely a "useable" whistle!
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April
2005