Today is pod change day… I’ll be putting on my freshly painted purple pod.. on my arm… out in the open.. during the summer. Something I would not have done prior to this. Now? I’ve taken the effort to bling it, why cover it?

All dresses that I used to want to wear, just never did because A) My bottom half is that of a plus sized woman, where my upper half is still in the “average” size (and barely there in some departments), so most one-piece dresses do not fit properly for my shape and B) just having to clip the pump somewhere is irritating. Yeah, I can do everything from the Ping meter remote, so that’s not an issue, and tucking away the t:slim? Well, that ain’t happening, so I usually avoid dresses if I were to wear it.

BUT considering shorts are just not for me as apparently you have to have the sleek, slender shaped legs and not mind short bottoms that ride up into your hoo-ha to wear these days (or at least that’s how I feel about them.. most people other than me look fine in them.. plus sized or size 0), I have to look at other options or else endure the heat in long pants.

So I’m looking in to dresses again. And, since I’m on my tube-break and am using my Omnipod system again, it makes things a lot “free”er. I remembered a commenter once asking me if when I inserted the pods in my thighs, if I “pinched up”. I thought it was silly since I’m not in any way, shape, or form “tiny” in that area and wouldn’t have a chance of it hitting muscle, so I just never did. I didn’t think it was necessary. Well, lo and behold, I did pinch up this time just to see… and by golly, it worked. Don’t quite know why yet, but it did. My bg’s are just as good as if I had placed it on my stomach site.

So, if I can find a few more dresses to wear, I may just take a summer long tube-break. It’s nice to be a bit free.

(Oh, and speaking of podding, did you know you can paint yours? Yeah.. so, you can apparently paint them with fingernail polish to add a little “bling”. There’s even a Facebook group to share your photos in!)

But with this comes two problems. One, the ickiness. Just the plain ole look that you know it’s pretty nasty and grimy to have kept one sticker stuck there for however long. You can see it becoming dirty and nasty and lifting up all around the edges. I keep cutting away at the tape as it lifts and refuses to stay down with SkinTac and I replace the tape as much as it will let me…. even down to when there is barely any tape left aside from what’s underneath the transmitter bay.

Then comes the next problem… WHEN THE FREAK DID I INSERT THIS THING??? I can barely ever remember when I change out my sensors. You would think I would keep a diary of it somehow. I need to. Because, currently, I don’t know when this one was inserted, and for some reason, I’m thinking it was a week or so after DiabetesSisters, which has been over a month ago now. And Dexcom did include a handy dandy little feature under Settings > Device Info that shows when the sensor was last inserted… but that was when you TOLD the receiver that you inserted a new sensor… when actually you’re just re-starting it…

So going by this doesn’t work either.

And I don’t think to log everything into my phone either… but I’m thinking I may have to. I need to get back to logging them into my SiteSelector app. That used to work nicely.

If you’re an extender, how do you keep up with how long you’re worn your sensors? Do you wear them til they go kaput or do you change them out every 1 or two weeks just to be on the “safer” side? If you do extend, how do you keep up with how long you’ve worn it?

Soooo you know I’m all ears and full of curiosity when I read something about a pump feature or something cool someone is trying out with their pumps? Weeelllllll….

The curiosity bug bit me again. This time about pumping Symlin with the Omnipod. Yeah. Crazy, right? Well, I had been thinking about it and dismissing it and then revisiting it so much that I decided to try it. I had Symlin from a couple years ago still in my fridge (yeah… like, way expired….) so I thought I’d give it a go. I did some digging around to find out how to convert the dosages into units to be able to pump what I knew was a dose that didn’t give me side effects before and I plugged it in as a new basal rate and put on a new pod filled with Symlin. For a day and a half, I was double-pumping… insulin pumping, that is.

The first and second day were good. My sugars didn’t spike and dip like before, but more so just gradually shifted from one to the other. Things were going pretty good.

But I stopped the experiment out of fear. I was too chicken to keep going. I was scared I would have a low and not be able to come up as quickly due to the nature of Symlin. Plus, with all of the dinner + BG issues I’ve been having lately, it only added to the problem. My bg’s did okay.. I just didn’t feel safe finishing out the three-day experiment.

BUT…. one thing I did like was not feeling “attached”. Yeeess, I’ve been down this road before and said I’d only use the pod system for breaks….so… I guess I’m on break. With the kidlet wanting to play with my pump and press the buttons and getting mad when I remove it from him… yeah.. I decided it was time for a pod or two to break away from the tubes and buttons. (Read: I’m the crazy pump lady… it’s been confirmed.)

This is a feature I have never had to use before. I’ve never worried about accidental button presses or anything else. Actually, apart from doing it in my training over 3 years ago, I don’t think I’ve ever used it….

Until last night.

And, honestly, the only reason why I remembered how to do it was because I was recently on hold trying to call about my meter and they had one of those automated message things come on to tell you how it’s activated. Anyway, back to the story.

So, last night, the kidlet and I were sitting in the big recliner rocking and watching the premier to one of my favorite shows ( Switched At Birth – I watch it because of the sign language. I learned it in high school, and it’s fun to actually know what they’re saying!…well, most of the time anyway) and I looked down and there it was… in the bolus menu with the kidlet just breezing through.

HOLY MOLY! I sorta freaked for a couple seconds.

If I hadn’t looked down, he could have bolused me and I wouldn’t have known it until it had started to deliver.

Of course, I also have to think that he probably wouldn’t have been terribly successful, but still… wow. Just. Whoa. I immediately put the pump into (LOCKED) mode. Thank GOODNESS I just so happened to hear that little prompt a week or so ago. Granted, I could have just moved it out of his sight, but I was thankful that I had remembered the simple step.

So, If you have an Animas Ping and maybe don’t remember how to lock it, all you do is press and hold the up and down arrow buttons together until it shows (LOCKED), and again to unlock it. Easy-peasy.

Now, I need to figure out how to have a (LOCKED) function on the TV remote…

It makes my craziness go into overdrive.

Don’t see it?

Here…..

….

..

Yes, It’s 21 units.

Yes, this will last me through the day more than likely.

BUT IT DRIVES ME BONKERS!

I want to change out my set like, NOW!, because I have this irrational fear that I’m going to run out at and not have access to my stuff to change it out.

I know it’s a waste of insulin, and that’s why I’m refraining.

So, until I do change it out… I’m going to be a little nuts over here.

As much as I want to really like and even love the t:slim, I just can’t right now. They have a lot of things to work on and improve first. That doesn’t mean I want to abandon it – because I don’t – but I’m tired of running up against something else every week or so that I don’t like. So, for pros and cons sake ( I guess this was a long time coming), here’s my list view for the t:slim (remember, I’m not comparing it to any other pump – I’m looking at it for what it’s features are):

Pros:

• Touch screen – super easy for fast operation of the pump
• Small – It’s so much easier to hide when it’s “naked” and not in a case than any other tubed pump I’ve used.
• Customizabe – You can have it be as simple or as complicated as you need to be, with personal profiles that can just be duplicated to start a new one and make small changes without having to start from scratch.
• Chargeable – No battery needed. Just plug it in.
• Future – It was the pump used for the Artificial Pancreas trial, so that makes me hopeful. I’ve also seen a screenshot of what it would look like with Dexcom integration, and that is SUPER cool.
• Software – When t:connect worked right for me, it was awesome. It was sleek, cool, and very VERY informative.
• Reservoir Size – while I wouldn’t use 300u in a 3-day span, I know others who do, so it’s good to have that option out there. Besides, I’ve been able to get a good 6 days out of one cartridge fill that way.
• The screen has an instant view of most everything I need. IOB, Insulin remaining, Date/time, and battery charge.

Cons:

• Logging – If you enter a carb entry into the BG section by accident in the pump, even when you press “back”, it’s saved as a BG. There have been many times I’ve done this, so my report thinks my lowsest BG is 16, when it should have been 16g of carb. And there’s no way to delete it.
• Software – It’s on the fritz for a lot of us. For some, it works fine, for others, it doesn’t. I was one who it worked great for.. and then it went screwy after I put the pump into sleep mode. Now, all of my bg readings are entered as-is, but all bolus and carb information is recorded in quadruplicate. (Is that a word? It just looks so weird!)
• The clips – Oh the clips. I still cannot figure out why it seems the clip is in the middle of the case. One of the things Tandem spoke about as to why the connector is not on the side of the pump but rather in the “pig tail” is because people complained that they hated the “stump” connectors on their pumps…. well, now, with the t:clip, the whole end of the pump stands just as far above the belt as the other pump “stumps”, so it seems a bit redundant…. and irritating. And good luck getting them to clip firmly to anything but a belt too. My pump has fallen off or on the verge of it so many times because of the way the clip is designed.
• No prefillable cartridge – Let me explain this one. Yes, the pump has a cartridge, but it’s a bag that’s inside of a plastic piece that’s snapped onto the pump that you inject the insulin into. I have no way to check for air bubbles other than making sure there aren’t any in the fill syringe…. and this just throws my OCD all out of whack. I like to see that before I place a cartridge into a pump that there are no air bubbles. Granted, the system is supposed to have some mechanism that pushes air out, but still… like I said… OCD-brain. I mean, who all of you have gone and filled a cartridge, and emptied it back into the insulin bottle just to get rid of a bubble hanging around the plunger and not seen all of the micro-bubbles that come back into the mix???
• (Currently) No reverse-correction for lows – this is not news if you’ve been reading my blog, so I won’t go over it again.

And these are just me, but I’m freaked out by the screen. I feel like I have to baby it. I’m scared the pump will drop and it will shatter (as I’ve seen other’s do). Also, did you know that you are not supposed to have the screen pointed towards you when you clip it in or place it in your pocket (or wherever)? Yeah. So, I’ve almost always put my pump inside of my pocket and clipped it there, screen facing my leg… and it bugs the ever-living crap out of me that I can’t with the t:slim. (Well, I’m sure you can, but the book says youre  not supposed to so… I guess if you accidentally bolus yourself it’s your fault for having the pump clipped towards you and not away.)

All of these won’t fit everyone. Some people may see my cons and not think they really are cons for them. And that’s cool. While I think the t:Slim is awesome and the iPhone of insulin pumps, I also feel like I have to baby it somewhat. I’m sure I don’t and it’s just my paranoia, but I’m constantly in preparation for the OHSHIP moment when this pump could go on the fritz or I get clumsy and I do something that renders it useless. Yep, total paranoia that I know probably isn’t warranted, but even still… I’m just freaked out by it and not comfortable. As cool as it is, it’s not an iPhone that if I drop mine and destroy it, I can order another one on eBay to replace it for a couple hundred bucks.

Where am I going with this? I don’t know… by now it’s a complete ramble. So I’m ending this post…as I’m sure it’s not helping anyone at all.

My journey with the app began in late 2011 / early 2012 when I saw a post on a fellow d-friend from Australia’s wall on Facebook. I looked at the website, but there wasn’t much to being able to see how the app worked, so I emailed the nice people over at mySugr to see if I could have a way to see the app in action. When Fredrik Debong emailed me with an invite to Skype about the app, I was excited.

We spoke for about an hour at length about the app and what all had gone into development. We spoke stories of our childhood and our diabetes and compared how things were for me here in the US verses for him in Sweden and Australia. At the core of the discussion was how tedious and mundane diabetes management is and how the least bit of encouragement and fun that can be placed into taking care of ourselves can improve our outlook on our diabetes and ourself. And that is where Fredrik said the idea of mySugr was born.

I left that conversation with an excitement for the app even more than I had before. I was given the ability to be an alpha tester for the app to help see how I liked the app and to see what I thought needed improving or not. I remember when the little monster was just a square composed of 9 little blocks that would move around and make sounds when you entered information. Even in it’s beginning stages, the app was cool.

Now, over the past year or so, they’ve worked and improved things tremendously, added lots of cool features, and it even now has a cute buggy-eyed monster that you can name. (Mine’s name is Suga, by the way.) Each entry adds points towards your daily point goal, of which can help unlock premium features. There are also challenges that you can sign up for as well, one involving their partnership with JDRF where you “can do 30 minutes of sports within 2 days and collect points for the community. The points are collected, the more money is donated.” And doing this? Earns you 3 days of Pro features. How cool is that? So, if you don’t want to pay for pro features, at least there is a way to earn it… and I must say, it’s quite fun to do so.

I have been so very anxious and excited for this app to finally come to the US, and it has now (well, as of yesterday…. but who’s counting?). If you’re a manual logger for any reason, I highly suggest this app above all of the others (and trust me, I’ve tried and paid for a LOT of them, and this tops them all in my opinion). I have to admit though, I don’t use it very often now, but before t:connect came out for the Tandem t:slim, this was my go-to logging app. The interface, ease of use, and awesome reports all work together in a nice little package that somehow makes you want to keep logging. It’s cool, fun and functional. It’s easy to use and engages you so that it’s not boring old logging, but fun logging. And really, can you resist not seeing that cute little monster above?? (And seriously, it’s sound is even cuter…. you’ve been warned.)

Here’s a little video to give you a better idea of the app:

And, here’s another little video the guys have put together to show you how it is used throughout the day.

Living with the mySugr Companion from mySugr on Vimeo.
Right now, you can get the app for free from the AppStore, and you can upgrade to Pro (in-app purchase) for half-price during the next two weeks. So go on! Give it a try!

Disclaimer: I was not paid to write about this app nor to endorse it. As stated above, I had been working with Fredrik for well over a year and believed in him and his story so much, and knew the backstory about the app from him and I know that this is a project from his and his co-founder’s hearts. I was in love with this app at first sight and still am.. which is a lot to say coming from me who regularly downloads and deletes these types of apps. I do full-heartedly recommend this app.

Today, I’ve been having issues with highs. Like, spikey ones and ones that make me sick to my stomach. I haven’t had this in a while, and I’m worried about if the heat cooked my insulin? I know others can’t use Apidra in the t:slim because of how much heat the little pump gives off anyway, and now I’m wondering if out in exposed settings, it can overheat even Novolog (which has the highest temperature tolerance of the three RA insulins). Which would be bad, because with summer comes heat and we go to the beach every year for vacation and spend a lot of time outside playing there.

I only had switched back to the t:slim to be able to study my reports (because I can’t stand Diasend), but I’m thinking maybe if it can’t handle heat too, then what’s the point? I certainly don’t want to be switching out every two days either. And my reports? Well, they’re all screwed up to heck and back.. and what’s worse is I think it is because I put the pump to “sleep” back in March when I went on break from it and it messed up the pump memory (Tandem is looking into this).

I’m just baffled by this. I never had this issue with my Animas pump (which I’m strongly thinking of going back to and not looking back at all ever again).  I have plenty of stocked up supplies for my Ping, so I may as well switch back. I just hate how picky this t:slim pump is seeming to be for me. It’s really cool and I think they have  a great product, but it’s just not working out for me the more and more I use it. (Oh, and did you know the smallest basal rate you can set on it is 0.1? Not great for those who need tiny basals like 0.025u/hr.)

Have any of you other Tandem t:slim users had this problem??

Right away I see a big problem. My basal/bolus is no where near “in line” with each other as they used to be, and my food bolus amount is almost 9u higher than my daily basal. That’s just ridiculous (for me)! Not to mention, my daily dose average is about 10u above what I usually average! So, that right there is a big part of my problem.

I need to get my eating back under control.Going lax for one day is fine, but not as long as I have been. Which is why I’ve picked back up on Weight Watchers. No, it’s not the best plan out there, but something about it just makes it easier for me to follow. I’m also going to try the CalorieKing Control My Weight app that tracks calories (plus, it shows you carbs per meal which makes counting them up SO easy!!)

So, do any of you use any apps to track your food intake? To help you get back in-line diet wise when you’ve gotten off-track?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Okay, so apparently there’s something waaaay off here with that report up there. I’ve emailed Tandem about it and hope to hear back, but those percentages and u/day do NOT add up…. in another area, the “Activity Report”, the report there gives a MUCH better idea of what’s going on….

Now, I don’t exactly know what to think. My carbs (that I have entered into my pump, at least) are staying between my 100-120 goal, so the only think I can think is that my lows are causing a problem.  I think I probably need to get more than just 3 days of info to go on before making ANY decisions.