My co-worker called me this morning not long after I came upstairs after working the reception desk. "Can I see you in my office for a minute? About something personal?"
"Sure thing." It's nothing new for the two of us to sit around and talk. We have a pretty friendly office. I plopped down in one of the chairs in front of his desk. "So in three minutes or less, tell me everything you can about your insulin pump."
My co-worker and I have talked diabetes before, but now his doctor is insisting that he get an insulin pump for tighter control. I believe there is also some suspicion that he does not actually have Type 2, but may be more of a Type 1.5 or a case of LADA. Either way, he is trying to prepare himself mentally for the task of possible pumping. I gave him a short overview of what I like about it; I tried to address some of the usual questions quickly, like "Do you take it off to sleep? What about when you shower?"
From what he's described to me, I think a pump is going to work wonders for him as long as there's not a steep learning curve in terms of programming.
Are there any Type 2's with insulin pumps out there? Are there any sites or resources I can share with my co-worker? Let me know!
I know type 2s who pump. But often insurance wants to see a diagnosis of type 1 diabetes before paying for one.
ReplyDeleteTwo other issues with type 2s and pumping that I have heard about are: needing a large amount of insulin and the reservoirs being small, and that if you need U-500 insulin, the pumps generally won't acknowledge that that's what you're using.
Here's are people on tudiabetes with type 2 on pumps: http://www.tudiabetes.org/profile/Dan277
http://www.tudiabetes.org/profile/AScottNagel
http://www.tudiabetes.org/profile/Peter
http://www.tudiabetes.org/profile/PaulBowles
http://www.tudiabetes.org/profile/AnthonyMMartin
http://www.tudiabetes.org/profile/RichardPCosgrove
And a forum topic: http://www.tudiabetes.org/forum/topics/any-t2s-out-there-on-a-pump?commentId=583967%3AComment%3A1016469
http://www.tudiabetes.org/group/minimedparadigmusers/forum/topics/type-2-and-pumping
My new endo and I are just starting a process to get me on a pump. They feel pretty certain that I'll be able to get one, but the basis is pre-conception.
ReplyDeleteAlso, as Jonah mentioned, type 2's tend to need more insulin due to the resistance, and the reservoirs are small. I would be going with the Paradigm Revel based on the 300 unit reservoir for that reason.
Even with the pre-conception bonus that I get, my endo says that they try to get their T2's on a pump as often as insurance will allow, because it IS such a big help, so I'm not surprised that your co-workers doctor is doing the same, even if he doesn't end up with an LADA diagnosis.