48. I finally got my pump!

It took me a long time, and a LOT of learning and advocating for myself but I finally got a proper diagnosis and was FINALLY outfitted with an insulin pump!

Talk about life changing!!

A year ago I learned about how insulin pumps work, mostly from listening to the Juicebox Podcast actually. Kudos to Scott and Jenny over there for doing such a great job at diabetes education! And when I learned that not only could I get completely away from those long acting insulin injections that were ruining my life, but also have tighter blood sugar control, I was like SIGN ME UP!!

It took me an entire year to finally get it after fighting for the proper diagnosis of type 3C diabetes, and then all the training involved with it!

Type 3C diabetes means that you have high blood glucose levels because your pancreas is not producing enough insulin, because it's either damaged from pancreatitis, or cancer, or surgically altered, or removed. Plus you need to take digestive enzymes to digest your food.

Many people who've had surgery like I have, are being misdiagnosed with type 2 diabetes, and instead of providing them with the insulin their bodies need, they're given pills or shots that may or may not be harmful to their kidneys or other organs.

The best blood test to determine this is called C-peptide, because it measures the amount of insulin your pancreas is actually producing. Do not accept a type 2 diagnosis without having this test at the very minimum!

Type 2 diabetics are also not covered for continuous glucose monitors or insulin pumps where I live. It's a big deal to make sure your doctors are making a proper diagnosis no matter what your condition.

I wanted to get an insulin pump because I was giving myself multiple daily injections of insulin and I was having wild blood sugar swings every day. And since my pancreas is still making some insulin but not sure when, if I gave myself a long acting shot then I may have to spend the next day or 2 correcting low blood sugars if my pancreas decides to finally work again. Or end up in hospital with hypoglycemia.

The way the pump works, is that it takes away the long acting shots altogether and instead gives tiny doses of insulin, all day long, based on what settings you and your care team determine are safe for your body. The newer ones can actually read your blood sugar and make calculations every few minutes based on those readings! It's truly life changing because the algorithm will give more when needed and cut back when needed, preventing lows and bringing highs down safely. No more rage bolusing or tanking due to bolus/basal miscalculations!

It's the most amazing thing for us type 3C as well because we have different digestion rates as our digestion is affected by EPI. With the pump, it will give the insulin at the appropriate time, in relation to how fast or slow I'm digesting my food, because it's intuitive.

Having a pump has taken away the need to make a million little decisions and calculations that was taking up so much brain space before. It's been such a level up for me!

In the end, I decided to go with the Omnipod Dash and the Dexcom G7 CGM. It IS the older omnipod (this is Canada BTW, we are WAY behind here), but there are no tubes! Plus I have this awesome app on my phone that talks to both my CGM, and my pump, and with tiny micro bonuses, it keeps my blood sugars under way better control!

My A1C went down immediately after starting on the pump, as well as my anxiety about getting so many scary hypoglycemic attacks! I also use less insulin then before! I don't know, maybe my body is better able to use the smaller amounts this way? All I know is this is one great thing about technology!

If you're on the fence and have been taking insulin injections I highly recommend looking into insulin pumps. There are different ones available but honestly it really helps, less needles, and a lot less decisions to make has sure helped my quality of life!