One year already

Huh, would you look at that- according to my blog post history, turns out that today, one year ago, i started using an insulin pump...
i *knew* there was legitimate reason for me to be craving a cupcake this afternoon! Darn, should've gone with my gut (pun?).
Instead, sans cupcake, this anniversary (pumpaversary?) was marked by me making a rookie-mistake: i inserted a new infusion set without pulling those little tabs off the sticky part. Doh. Trying to pull those guys off while trying to keep the needle stable and stuck in your skin is no small challenge!

Ok, some quick thoughts on a year of pumping...
-I love love love my insulin pump.
-Seeing how much i can fine tune my doses- basal and bolus- makes me realise probably just how bad my control must have been on MDI. And has me thinking, seriously, how does anyone manage to manage diabetes properly on MDI? Unless you just stick to a robot- type of routine??
-Not that everything is perfect with a pump all of a sardine. It's still diabetes. It still throws curve balls. For the most part, i still feel like a rookie at the whole thing. There's still a lot to work out, and rework out. And adjust. Again and again. The cool part? It's so much easier to do that with a pump..
-I have yet to do a round of proper basal testing. It's kinda a factor of time. And kinda a factor that, every few weeks/ months, my routine, (the season), and with it stress levels and food habits, seem to change. And with it, my insulin needs change. So i don't really see the point in the whole fasting schlep for now. I just adjust as i go along until i find a pattern that works.. Until i need to adjust again. (did i mention how easy pumping makes it to adjust dosing and stuff?)
-I'm still working out what to do with the pump during excercise. Like running, and dance class. (and sand boarding, and kayaking- stories yet to be told). It does sometimes make me wish for a waterproof pump to be available here...
-I'm till trying to work out what to do with the pump when i wear a skirt or dress.
i'm still working out good spots for infusion sets and cgm sensors. I'm kinda small , so real estate is a litlle limited. Plus, to be honest, the needles do still make me kinda nervous. So it takes me a while to psych myself up to trying a new spot. I'm working on it..
-On the topic of sensors: as much as i love my pump, one thing that i thing has made the hugest (is that a word?) difference to how i try manage my diabetes has to be the cgm (i've got the medtronic veo with integrated cgm, so this still counts as being about pumping). Holy cupcakes, batman! i love having the real-time in context information. No it's not perfect. But it helps. I have yet to go anywhere near any sort of software that will help me analyse trends or anything, but in the day-to-day, meal-to-meal, moment-to-moment-ness of this disease, the cgm is awesome. Seriously.
-On the topic of batman... I seriuously can't wait to see the dark knight rises! *excite*
-ok, so that had nothing to do with pumping
-I'm sad i didn't get a cupcake... (still not really about pumping?)
-After a year of pumping (ok, only 9 months with the veo pump, but still) i have yet to name it. My cgm transmitter has a name (joe, if you're wondering). But i have yet to think of something suitable for the pump. Any suggestions?



My sleek and sexy (in a bulky, pump-y kinda way), black, yet to be named, Veo. Always by my side/in my pocket/tucked into some random item of clothing...