19th February 2007

Alissa & Patrick - the first weeks with her new Medtronics insulin pump 

So, what's the latest on Patrick, Alissa's new Medtronics pump?

We finally got the right supplies & accessories, apparently there's been some problem with funding, which has now been sorted out.

It's interesting to reflect that Alissa felt that she wasn't really given sufficient information when she was first diagnosed with type i diabetes.  I wonder what she'll think about how easy (or not) it was to change over from one pump to another?

Whilst the hospital staff are very supportive, the general feeling is that now she's over 18, she's old enough to handle things herself.  This includes sending her off with a brand new insulin pump, together with handbook and letting her sort it out.

Anyone who's sat with a new insulin pump, infusion sets and bottles of insulin will know that this is not something which is designed to reduce anyones blood pressure !  I certainly don't recommend doing it late at night when you're tired, as the frustration can be even worse!

Well, with the hurdle of getting the first infusion set in and working over, it was time to review basal rates and see how they were affecting her sugar levels.  With a log of her food, meals and bolus levels written down over the past few weeks (oh, and fasting several meals to see how that affected blood sugar levels too), these are now in the post to the medical staff to see what they suggest for changing her basal rates.

We're hopeful that this will result in improved control - since she hasn't made any major changes to her basal rates for a long time (apart from the emergency changes over Christmas - see the January entries in this blog).

The good news is that Patrick has now been formally introduced to most of Alissa's friends, who love being on first name terms with him!

With the new bolus wizard, Alissa has had far fewer high levels and certainly seems to be feeling much healthier - best of all, she's not having to spend so much time worrying about getting her levels better, they already are good!

So, although Patrick was funded by the NHS (National Health Service) so that we didn't have to pay for him ourselves, we already think he's well worth it, whatever his price !

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