When you first get diagnosed, the way you have to inject your insulin is through a syringe. so think of what they use to give you a vaccine or the flu shot and that’s it. You get boxes of those at a time at the pharmacy and you use minimally 4 a day, for 3 meals and 1 long-lasting insulin shot. These are the hardest to draw the insulin with. They are not as precise and because they’re smaller, it’s just more difficult to handle. For insurance purposes, I had to use syringes for 3 months. We would put the syringes in old Perrier water bottles and then my parents would dispose of them as hazardous waste or whatever the city called it.
After my 3 months of syringes, I got bumped up to what’s called a pen. Each pen comes with the insulin already in it, so instead of getting syringes and insulin, you just get pens. You would get a pen for your short-lasting insulin and one pen for your long-lasting insulin. The pen has a dial on the end that increases by 0.5 units which makes it more precise than the syringes. You can also just replace the tip of the pen which has the needle instead of having to throw away an entire syringe. I used pens for 7 months for insurance purposes as well.
After 10 months, I was able to justify to my insurance company that I could use an insulin pump. When I was choosing a pump, the omnipod was just coming out for the first time. Because I was so involved with soccer, I chose against the omnipod. I didn’t want to worry about sliding and the pump coming off and also wanted it to be more individualized whenever I needed it to be for soccer. I also felt like I could hide a normal pump more so than a block sticking off of me.
I ended up choosing the Animas OneTouch Ping. I liked the OneTouch Ping because I could wirelessly tell my pump to give me insulin without having to pull my pump out completely. So I could be more discrete when I was at a dance or on a date or just out in public with my friends. With a pump, you only have to have one insulin. This is because the short-lasting insulin can be given once an hour so it is given at a constant rate rather than all at one time. I could also just count my exact carbs, enter in that amount, and my pump did the calculations for me. I just had to make sure the ratios and sensitivity were right within my pump and had to count my carbs. With a pump, the pricking is about the same, but the injections are significantly less. There’s one injection of an infusion set about every 3 days. At that time a needle is injected with using surrounding it and then the needle is removed, leaving the tubing in the body to deliver insulin. I kept my pump for four years until my insurance was up to help pay for a new one.
As my time with the OneTouch Ping came to a close, the FDA was just approving the first artificial pancreas. So, that’s what I got!!! The first closed-loop system. I had tried a couple of CGMs (Continuous Glucose Monitors) but never fell in love with any. I even did a trial for my doctor on one where you just had to scan it instead of prick your finger but it didn’t come out in time to make it worth it.
What makes my pump now so special is that the CGM is connected to my pump via bluetooth. My CGM takes my interstitial tissue glucose level every 5 minutes and tells my pump. My pump then accounts for how much insulin I have on board, my normal activity time, how much activity I’ve had that day, and a few other things to calculate how much insulin to give me. This means my basal rate is more precise than even my first pump. My pump is automatically designed to try to keep my blood sugar at 120, so I rarely leave the 100-140 range. I still count my carbs and my pump still calculates it for me. With this specific pump, the pricking is less as well. I have to calibrate twice a day and then as soon as I inject my sensor after it has charged. My CGM lasts for 7 days and I still change my pump site about every 3 days.
The idea is that the new version of my current pump will need less calibration and then paired with he insulin I’m on (Fiasp), because it’s so fast acting, that I could just eat, not have to count my carbs, and because the CGM monitors my blood sugar every 5 minutes, it would account and give me insulin as it saw my blood sugar rise from food… like a real pancreas, just external. So super cool and I can’t wait for it to come out!!
I’ve had my current pump for a little over 2 years now, so hopefully the newer version will come along before my next two years is up!!
Thanks technology for my robotic pancreas. It’s dope.
HP