Yesterday, I had the absolute pleasure of meeting up with part of the Kaleido team. Kaleido is a new patch pump, currently making it's way to the UK market.
I found Kaleido late last year when researching different pumps and I've been dying to meet up with them ever since. I was a) really excited and b) really grateful for this opportunity. I haven't been on Omnipod long but I feel like I understand it enough to give you a decent insight to Kaleido and compare it with what I know. This is all my opinion and I just want to share it with you (because I think it's great!). So, here it goes...
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This will be my last post for my 'trialing pumps' category for one very exciting reason... The funding for my Omnipod pump was successful!!!He was also lovely enough to let me have a freebie like everyone else... which I'm glad to say will definitely come in useful now!
By the end of the course, my DSN (who was also there) came over to tell me the good news. This time next Monday I will officially be hooked up to an Omnipod with insulin and not salty water! I keep going through moments of being excited, scared, REALLY EXCITED and then a bit nervous. I know this will be a complete change for my body, one which I'm quite looking forward to. So now I'll be using an 'Injections to Pump' category to blog this whole experience. Wish me luck! Today I had an appointment with my diabetic team and we started the application for pump funding. Pump funding is grouped in to districts. I'm part of the South Staffs group, so it will take about 4-6 weeks for a response. It should all be fine, I don't know why I'm worrying... but I am. After struggling for so long and finally getting a pump trial done, I've got my hopes up. Which is never a good thing to do. Now I really, really want a pump. I suppose I'll just have to wait and see. *fingers crossed*
Today I changed my Omnipod for the first time! My nurse asked me to do one on my stomach, so that's where it went. I wanted to do it quite high up but as I went to stick it on, I slowly got lower and lower... and lower until I reached the part of me with more flab. It hurt a lot more this time, only initially. I haven't really felt it since. Although I did pull my leggings over it when going to the toilet. Ouch! I'm definitely preferring the site on my arms.
Second day in to my Omnipod trial and I'm still loving it. Hating the doubley-diabetic feeling of having to do everything twice. Then I have moments of excitement thinking about life with just a pump. Part of me regretted the pizza for a while but then I told myself to shut up and enjoy life.
So I just had the call. On Monday I get to start my trial of the Omnipod.
I'm so, so, so excited right now. I've been diabetic for 20+ years and I'm still really struggling to manage it. I know I'm too harsh on myself and my doctors always tell me I'm doing a great job but I'm a perfectionist and always want better. I know I'll never get it perfect, that's impossible! But I do know I should be able to manage it better than I am right now. I also have Necrobiosis Lipoidica Diabeticorum, which I've been told is nothing to do with the 'control' of my diabetes. It's just a shitty, rare skin condition. Just because you're diabetic doesn't mean you'll get it, it's just if you have it... you're likely to be a young, female diabetic. Woohoo! Having this diagnosis played on my mind a little bit, some people said better control of my BG would help, some said it has no relevance. Either way, it made me want to try my best to control what I can and avoid any future complications. I've been using the same treatment for my diabetes for 20 years and I've never tried anything different. Some days, when I'm having a tantrum, I scream about how 'all I want is a fresh start'. Which, you can't really do as a diabetic. You can't have a week without injections to get the insulin out of your system and then start again from fresh. That's just not going to happen. Swapping from injections to a pump is my fresh start and I've wanted this for so long. It might not work out but at least I can say I tried. So, 9am Monday I'll have an empty Omnipod attached to me. I'll see what it's like, see how I feel about it and then I possibly get to try a Cellnovo insulin pump. I'll update you along the way. Here's to my new (diabetic) beginning. |