Insulin Pump approval

Im looking for some advice from all of you insulin pumpers! I know speed and services can vary between hospitals but i wanted to gauge your experiences of waiting times.

I completed DAFNE at University Hospital of South Manchester in September and following on from a meeting with my Consultant on Tuesday i have been informed that she agrees that i should be on an insulin pump and will put the wheels in motion to request the necessary funding from my PCT which is in the Macclesfield District.I have read that as long as a consultant diabetiologist says you require a pump then your PCT cannot refuse to fund it.

Can anyone give me any advice about how long this whole process will take from beginning to end? I have been informed i will be invited to a pump meeting at the hospital at some point and once the funding is approed they will look to order the pump i want.

Am i looking at pre or post christmas?

Thank you in advance :-)

see response in other post.....

I went to an IPAG event recently after Doctor suggested a pump would help sort dawn phenomenon. Was sold, now I'm on the list but at current funding rate in West Lothian it's 3 years.....

Hi, I was recently added to the Lothian waiting list and was told to expect to wait "up to four years" as a worst case scenario, although they are hoping that funding will be increased and so I won't have to wait that long. I'm counting the days already as I too am affected by dawn phenomenon and am hating getting up for a 4am injection every day.

Leigh,

Can I ask what kind of numbers you get in the morning......?

I also suffer from this however its not bad enough to get me up out of bed at that time....!!

I assume your on a split dose of BI and your PM one is as late as possible......[before bed]...

I'm on Levemir so am taking the evening dose immediately before I go to bed. If I get up at 4 and test my BG it comes out at around 6-8 most days. If I don't inject 6 units of Novorapid then by 6am when I get up for work it'll be up to around 13-14 and if I let myself have a lie in until say 8, it'll be closer to 19, and needless to say I'll be feeling pretty rubbish! 6 units holds me level though so I'd rather wake up at 4 and suffer the interrupted sleep, but I'm hoping a pump will put an end to that, even if it is a long way off yet.

What time is bed?

Do you eat and take insulin when you get up?

Bed is somewhere between 10 and 11 so I can get a decent stretch of uninterrupted sleep. No food at 4, just the insulin. I eat and take more insulin when I get up at 6, but obviously without any more corrective QA if my BG is still above target.

It sounds exactly like me to be honest, although recently I have managed to get single figures when I get up at 6:40am.

Have you tried a slowly absorbed snack before bed like cheese or toast and peanut butter. Some say that having these foods digesting in our stomachs right until the morning actually helps hold the liver response back a bit.....

I haven't noticed it making a real difference though......

You have real discipline though getting up at 4am all the time to give insulin, I am quite happy to wake on 10-12, at least on injections anyway.....

When was the last time you collected overnight background test results?

I've never heard that about snacking before bed, it sounds an interesting idea. I think I would find it odd to have a snack of more than 1CP without taking insulin though, I'd probably end up injecting out of habit!

I last did background checks through the night (3 and 6) when I did the DAFNE course in August. It was those that highlighted the problem in the first place.