Insulin Pump Journey | Part One

I've wanted to go back onto insulin pump therapy for a long long time now, I suffer from roller coaster blood sugar levels, and even after taking carb' counting really seriously last year, my blood sugar levels are still slightly unstable without a clear explanation. I have one hypo (low blood sugar) a day. Yes you heard, A DAY. And that's a minimum. I tried insulin pump therapy when I was about 15/16 years old and my blood sugar levels were perfect while I was on the pump, but I regretfully said I wanted to go back to injections because back then the insulin pump I had was like a brick and I felt too self conscious.

I got my doctor to refer me back to the diabetic clinic because I wasn't currently under any care, and I'm super happy the same doctor and specialist nurse was still apart of the team. I had my first appointment with my specialist nurse a few months ago and I mentioned the pump and she said it's definitely what I need, so we got the ball rolling! Then I had an appointment to see the specialist doctor to get his consent on moving forward with insulin pump therapy and he was so lovely and agreed 100% that I was doing really well controlling my blood sugar levels, but these unexplained hypos were becoming dangerous. So after these two appointments it meant I was officially under the care of the diabetic team again. It was lovely having them confirm that I was doing so well trying to control my blood sugar levels but the pump will just give me that extra help to cover all my bases.
Accu-Chek Aviva Insight is the insulin pump I'd chosen straight after my nurse showed me a sample in my first appointment with her, it's compatible with the meter using Bluetooth, which is touch screen (!), and you can give yourself a dose of insulin without having to touch the insulin pump.

I had another appointment with my specialist nurse on Thursday and we went through applying for the funding, which is done by the nurse on a computer, she just runs through what she's doing and just double checks my details, and now I'm waiting to hear back. I feel so nervous but the team are confident that I will definitely qualify for the funding of an insulin pump so now it's just a waiting game!

One of the main reasons I wanted to get my blood sugar levels tightly controlled is I'm hoping it'll help my pain levels. High blood sugars can give me more pain, makes my existing pain worse, or if my blood sugar levels are just up and down all day it just makes me feel horrible mentally and physically, and it just adds to my pain levels.

I want to document my journey on this if I get the funding, so once it's confirmed I will do a detailed post about the fitting appointment and my first impressions of the pump I picked!

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