Where to even begin… I guess I could start by giving you a link to my little bit of the back story that lead to you reading the words on the screen before you. Then we can get into the details of my order for the Tandem insulin pump. For those of you without a couple of extra moments to spare to give the page a read, I will summarize it for you: Got sick, doctors took out a few organs, now T1D forever… well at least for now.
So finally on the mend physically from surgery and experiencing wild blood sugar swings as a new uneducated brittle diabetic. What does that even mean? To be a “Brittle Diabetic”?
What is a “Brittle Diabetic”?
Seems to be a very textbook answer… What does it mean to me and my body, though? It means a roller-coaster of a ride for everyday I want to stay alive… Finally, my endocrinologist gave us some hope with a Continuous Glucose Monitor and an Insulin Pump. It was intended to take over the 24/7 monitoring and give us a little more peace of mind to go throughout our day. Doctor put in the order back in the beginning/middle of June to get the ball rolling.
EdgePark Medical, a local to me, medical equipment provider/vendor got the order and called us up on June 18th to discuss the order. I will save the long drawn out story and details, but over the coarse of 2.5 months, they ended up messing up the entire order and losing it, into the ether for whatever reason. After requesting no less than 14 copies of the original Rx. from the Dr… argh!!!
Anyway, I was lucky enough to have been given a product brochure by one of the Diabetes Educators at the Cleveland Clinic. Attached was the local Territory Manager Contact Info… Was able to touch base with him and he informed me that Tandem had their own division that provided their pumps to patients. No need to go through a middle-man company.
Tandem to the rescue!
From the time I placed my order with Tandem and got the approval, I had the pump in my hands in 21 days. 5 days of which was spent in a UPS truck all the way from California to Ohio… Needless to say, Tandem wasted no time in getting the order processed, approved, and shipped. So, if you’re reading this and debating to give Tandem a try, so far, I can only sing their praises… We will see as I finally get to use the pump for the first time…
I am looking forward to having the ability to have better control of my Blood Sugar Levels, at my fingertips. To know that it is doing its job while I am sleeping. It has been a long time since Christine and I have had a good nights sleep.
If you would like more information on the Tandem T: Slim X2 Insulin Pump, you can find out more at www.tandemdiabetes.com or more information on T1D at www.diabetes.org
So without much more ado, check out the unboxing video below. It is unedited, so to speak… Leave us a comment and let us know what you think on YouTube!
Tandem Insulin Pump Unboxing
Be sure to check back…
I will post a follow up link to a first time usage video once I am up and going with my pump after training has been completed.
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