The New Pump and the Go-Ahead

So I've been using the Animas Ping insulin pump and One Touch Ping meter for nearly a week. I'd thought that it would take me weeks to figure out which button does what, and that an infusion set change might take me awhile to maneuver.

It hasn't.

Despite the eight years on my Minimed 508, the Animas Ping is pretty intuitive.

The Ping itself is worlds ahead of my old 508. The screen is some colorful bright thing (LED?) that impressed the Mister. "Can you get cable on that screen, too?"

Weirdly, though, the blood meter that comes with this system doesn't have the same fancy bright screen and colors. It's a bit more advanced than the Ultra Smart meter I was using before, and there are a few graphics around the numbers as it counts down five seconds to give you a blood sugar reading. But it'd be nice if the meter had the same kind of screen that the Ping pump does.

But I'm getting used to the (new to me) concept of Insulin On Board, changing my vocabulary from "dual wave" to "combo bolus" and learning how to bolus from my meter screen, instead of a pump screen. And the alarms to tell me to test my blood sugar a few hours after my last bolus is a nice treat.

I was doing a lot of this all in my head (the insulin on board calculations, the insulin to carb ratios, remembering to test a few hours after my last bolus, etc.) so it's new for me to let the pump do what it is programmed to do. Sort of like the difference between hand washing your car and sending it through an automated car wash.

Last week, I met with Kind Endo to get the last of some bloodwork done. Sure enough, she called me at the end of the day to tell my A1c was in range (as it always is) and that my thyroid hormone levels were as well (they'd been out of whack for months).

Oy, that means I am clear to start trying for kid number two.

I don't know if I'm ready.

But time marches on nonetheless.