Old Tech vs New Tech – afterthoughts

Each time I head to a diabetes event, there are usually booths from major pumps companies and I hover around them but never really pay much attention. For me, getting the pump seemed to be an elusive goal that would never happen due to circumstances around my diagnosis. But things have changed since then! I have found myself a magnificent endocrinologist and am waiting to see an equally fabulous educator. The only thing missing from this equation is an equally good GP to complete my team. It is said that you can’t achieve great things by yourself. To be successful, you need to have a team with you and to do that, you need to build your dream team. The more I reflected on this, the more I realised that this wasn’t just applicable for businesses – it can be applicable for anything and everything! So with the help of some great friends, I finally got the courage to rebuilt my diabetes healthcare team.

It’s one thing to have great mentors around me, but it’s also important for me to do my research so I have time to think of things to discuss with my team. ‘Ask better questions’ is a new motto I am starting to adapt. To ask better questions, I need to know my stuff. This is where Gary’s talk on insulin pumps and CMGs have really played a part. Hanging around many friends with type 1 diabetes with a pump, I thought I was pretty well informed about it. However, when Gary went back to basics and discussed the benefits and various things associated with the pump, I realised that I was nowhere near ready in progressing to a pump. It would certainly be beneficial – yes. But am I ready for it? Most definitely not!

Firstly I need to get my carb counting skills up! There’s no point having all this great technology around to help manage your sugars when you lack the very skill that is cruicial to helping that technology work. It really doesn’t help that I just missed out on DAFNE in June and have to wait till November before I can do it, but in the mean time I’m determined to get the ball rolling. I’ve downloaded several fun apps to help me with the basics (yes they are for kids, but they’re so much fun and informative!).

As I listened intently to Gary speaking of various problems we see when using MDI, I found myself nodding along in agreement. I love how this man speaks from both personal and professional experience! It’s a gift to have knowledgable speaker who has personal insights. After he finished his presentation, I decided to go have a more in depth conversation with the reps who were at the Medtronic booth. For the first time, the reality of the potential of getting a pump seemed really close and achievable (funny as that sounds, you know what I mean…right?).

Even over the next few days, I was thinking about how different life with a pump would be. I wouldn’t have to stay up to do my nightly Lantus injection for nights I wanna sleep at nana-o’clock. I wouldn’t have to inject everytime I ate – just bolus for it. I don’t have to stick to three main meals with carbs, I can snack throughout the day, space out my carbs and bolus for them accordingly. It was on my mind so much that I even had a dream (or a nightmare) that I lost my pump overnight and woke up panicking because there was no cord attached to me and I thought that I had lost my pump for real! (in preparation for when I actually lose my pump one day overnight, I’m sure!)

I would really like to thank Medtronic for sponsoring this event and flying Gary in for such an insightful seminar. It has certainly swayed me to be a pump user!