Pump death?

Hi,

I am wondering if anyone has experienced a "pump death". My health fund (I'm in Australia) has denied a replacement pump as my current pump is "fully functional" even though it is 12 months out of warranty. I am wondering whether pumps have a slow and painful demise or they just stop being fully functional! The pump is working but I can not use the clip as after years of wearing it on my right hip I have somewhat distorted the area where the clip slide in. As a consequence I am carrying it in my pocket (not clipped in) and it does have a tendency to bungee jump especially when exiting the car. I have tried various systems without the clip and have resorted to pinning a child's sock to pyjamas etc but it is far from convenient. Helen

what pump are you on?

is the clip removable?

i ask because my medtronic veo has a belt clip but it comes off, and it breaks at least once every 6 - 9 months.....they happily send a new one, but you could buy one too......

is our situation different...?

Hi Novorapidboi,

I am on an Animas pump and the clip is removable. In fact you have to remove the clip to download the data. Over the past nearly 4 years the clip has broken about a half dozen times. I can buy replacement clips but over the past couple of downloading data episodes I noticed the clip was getting harder to take off and replace. The last time I was unable to replace it. I think that as i used to wear it on my R hip (as I found that the most comfortable and easy to access point) I have gradually distorted the slide in point for the clip. I am reluctant to tackle it with a screwdriver (seems the most obvious tool) and prise it open a tad as I think I will further damage the slide in point, or open it too much!. Still bungee jumping but has not made it to the toilet yet! It is summer here and the "belt" I purchased with a special pocket that is made of a stretchy (non breathable) fabric can become very sweaty over a day and ends up looking like a piece of rope tied around my waist.. It is also less convenient when out to dive under clothing to retrieve the pump for boluses etc. Sitting at the back was great but is no longer an option.
I plan to change brands to Medtronic, when I do upgrade. I have been told that I can realistically expect the pump to last 5 years without problems or I can purchase a new one myself ($(AUD) 10 000) if my health fund will not come to the party. I also plan to go to CGM (Minimed 640G system) so I would be up for significant costs. Helen

So do you get funding then...?.....here in the UK younger an upgrade every 4 year I think...is it similar over there?.....

Hopefully it won't beong till you get a new one....the 640g is my next move I think...need to wait a year though...no cgm though...

Here we have two systems of health care. If you can afford it you are expected to pay for private health care. If you can not afford it, or choose not to on philosophical grounds, you use the public system. I have private health cover and the fund was happy to purchase the first pump at my private endocrinologist's request. My health fund has refused to replace it as it is "fully functioning". It will be 4 years old 8/3/16.
If you do not have private cover you have to negotiate the public system. I believe they do supply pumps to children.. I believe that adults join a health fund, wait the determined amount of time and then request a pump. It costs me just about $AUD 2 400 a year for private health care.

We will see. Helen

sorry to come late to this party, but I now proudly possess a medtronic 640G ( god bless the UK NHS) and am in love with it. Like NovarapidBoi I am unlikely to get the CGM function since it is expensive and the NHS won't pay :-(
Sadly it has the same clip problems, mine has come apart once already after a week and the guy on the pump course with me actually broke the casing on his pump. The bit that the clip slides into ! They are sending him a new pump as they say its a design fault.
I can't comment on the download yet as the NHS has still to register us all with medtronic, however we all got a bayer meter that links to the pump via bluetooth and sends your BG's to it for the bolus calculator to set the right dose. This works really well and having the pump has made a huge difference to my insulin requirements. I would love the CGM as well but as I said until the cost is more manageable I'm unlikely to use it. Currently the sensors are £28 ($52 ) for 6 days, without any health insurance this is a lot of money. But with the Abbott Libre on the market and rumours of other similar systems to be launched we can all hope the prices tumble and we can all afford to use them.
I'm not sure how long I would have to wait for an upgrade will shall see over the coming years....

Marke,

Congratulations!!!!!

I am assuming this is your first pump as the TDD has reduced. I am not sure what system I would prefer to live under. We do have a new Prime Minister (Conservative) and they seem to be intent on making the user pay so we will see what happens after our next budget (3/5/16). The govt is putting pressure on the health funds not to increase charges to clients and the health funds are playing silly buggers with what they will pay and I suspect this pump deal is part of that. Interestingly when you check the site they tell you that they will pay unto $(AUD)550 for a blood glucose monitor so I am assuming they are talking about something like the (not yet released) Freestyle Libre!!! not a little Freestyle Optium Neo which are often given away free! The prices are govt controlled for political reasons so may not be indicative of the real cost.

Have fun and enjoy the new relationship! Warning...you can not hide from the download...it is all there!
Helen

Update on the pump death...I went to my endocrinologist today and mentioned my upcoming cataract operations and cited the difficulty I was having reading the pump. He had a look and then showed me on a pump he has what mine ought to look like. The difference was amazing! I could easily read his but in the light of his rooms mine was difficult to read...even for him! So he has, on my behalf, requested a new pump based on the lack of screen contrast. If the health fund accepts that this is not "fit for purpose" then I will get a replacement within the month.

It appears that one of the more common faults that develop is a fading screen but because it fades gradually you tend not to notice until you see what one ought to look like or your medico sees the screen.

We will see. Helen

a brand new pump would definitely be great news, any updates?

Yep, I have a new pump. I received it on 10/6/16. It is a Minimed 640G. The pump transition has been relatively easy! I have found that I am experiencing far fewer problems with the tubing, cartridge etc than I did with the Animas pump. The new pump is fairly intuitive and only rarely do I make an error. Gave myself two boluses with a meal (inadvertently!!!).

I opted to pay for the Medtronic Carelink system (Continuous Glucose Monitoring). It is expensive. To wear the sensors continuously costs about $6000 a year. They had a special deal and I have purchased/signed up for 12 months supply at $300 per month. They deduct the $300 from your bank account and you get a new box. To set me up with the "serter', the charger for the sensor etc cost me an initial $700 (I did receiver two boxes (2 x 5) of sensors included in that cost). They are very addictive. To be able to press a button on your pump and have it tell you what you BG is, is very reassuring...however it is not always accurate! Post meals is the worst. The greatest difference I have found is 3.7mmol/L which is quite a bit if your target is set at 5.0-6.0. You also have to calibrate it 4 times a day. Recommended times, pre breakfast, lunch, dinner and before going to bed. Our sensors last 6 days (to the hour). The reservoirs last three days but I have not been able to co-ordinate the changes!!! So I am inserting a new sensor every Monday morning and changing the cartridges etc whenever. This means I am without the sensor for at least one day over the weekend. My health fund pays for none of this but they did fund the pump.

Downloading is much simpler with the 640G. Keeping everything charged is also a consideration!!!

The turning off when it thinks it is going low is also a long way from perfect. My experience is that it turns itself off at about 5mmol/L. At that level I do not get hypo symptoms so unless you are expecting it to turn of at a particular time it turns itself off and then turns itself on an hour or so later and for the next hour or so your BG rises to beyond target!!! This needs fine tuning. Still working on the basal settings but very difficult to get more than about 60% within target when target is so tight.

Would I recommend it...not sure. It is certainly time consuming and the alarms can drive you to drink.

Ask me in another month!

Helen