Wednesday, May 19, 2010

She's here: Meet my Minimed Revel Insulin Pump

 There she is attached to me while laying on my laptop keyboard.

Finally!

I got the pump I gushed about getting yesterday.  A MiniMed nurse/trainer met me this afternoon to walk me through a new and improved pump and all the new things I need to learn to make it effective in managing my diabetes.

The frustrating part was I was approved for it sometime in early or mid-April.  I have an approval letter from my insurance.  The pharmacy I chose is run by people who just don't seem to care.  They're one of just two or so pharmacies approved to provide MiniMed pump supplies, so the attitude there seems to be a whole lot of "whatever."

My Minimed nurse contacted me at the end of April to set up a time to train me, so she's been on this mad roller-coaster ride too.  However, I switched pharmacies yesterday.  I hope the new one I chose is better.  It was sort of like playing darts blindfolded as, I had no idea of their customer service reputation. Also, in Korea, there was just one supplier as I paid out of pocket for my supplies (expensive). They were on the ball and then some most of the time. I don't want to stress the ineptness of the first pharmacy. It's over. I've got my new pump, so yippie!!!

This.pump.is.awesome.  Here is a great guide to the model I have written by Scott Hanselman*: A Diabetic Product Review for Non-Diabetics - The Medtronic MiniMed Paradigm "Revel" Insulin Pump and CGM.

I don't have the CGM, continuous glucose monitoring, component.  However, my nurse is working on getting that for me too.  Yeah, MiniMed!!!

Here are links to the TwitPics I sent out last night when I was having a geekgasm over my new diabetes equipment.  I'm truly blessed to have this.  It will literally add a few years to my life.

My stash of new Minimed Revel insulin pump supplies and new g... on Twitpic

My stash of new Minimed Revel insulin pump supplies and new g... on Twitpic

My stash of new Minimed Revel insulin pump supplies and new g... on Twitpic

My glucose is a bit too high right now, but that's because of bad carb counting on my part and because I drank too much orange juice before I exercised this afternoon.  However, with this pump, it reminds me to check my blood glucose two hours after a dose, so I can keep on those numbers better. Now it's time for me to get to work.  Since I blog for others and manage their social media now, that means my hours are usually split with early morning work, an afternoon check-in and on nights like this, some work on a newsletter.

My pump is awesome, and I'll definitely post an update a few weeks in to give you an update on how things are going.

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*Scott and I have been connected on Twitter since the day I joined the site back in 2007.  I remember specifically searching out other diabetics.  I'm glad I found him because he also works in tech, for Microsoft.

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Hey there! Thanks for visiting my blog. It's my first blog, and I'm glad folks are still stopping by even though I'm no longer living in South Korea. Feel free to comment. If you want a personal answer, leave your email, and I won't publish the comment. Nasty comments and spam links will not be tolerated.