Tethered

I love my pump.

 I have since I walked into the Consultant's office on day 1 of my pump-life and saw the Medtronic Veo on the table.  It was the very same pump I had wanted when I was soaking up all I could from the Internet about them.

I liked the integrated CGM and low glucose suspend.  I know this is ridiculous as I'm not funded for CGM and as I don't spin gold from my hair, am unlikely to have it for years yet.  But I liked it.

I liked the colours it came in and the fact I could add a little touch of myself to it.  I liked the automatic inserter, meaning I didn't have to stab myself with the inch long silhouette needle (the first time I ever discovered that I harbour just a touch of needle-phobia).  I liked the Medtronic team and their many nudges in the right direction when I was acting like a diabetes-moron and kinking cannulas left, right and centre.  Most of all, I love the freedom it afforded me and new, improved, complication-free (ish) life it afforded me.  I loved feeling well again. 

I still do.

What I don't like, is the tubing.

Over the last two and a half years I have begun walking through doorways at a distinct angle.  To the knowing diabetic, this is because if there happens to be some wayward tubing protruding from your clothing, you could bet your house on it getting caught on the door handle, wrenching you back stomach-first in a cartoon-like rebound.  To the unknowing eye, I simply look disabled.  The 'in the head' kind of disabled, that is.  I have learnt never to change the cannula when in sight of a cat, because all that rustling and flicking of tubing is enough to entice even the most lazy feline into a stalking frenzy.  I am a little frustrated to say the least by having to find gym clothes with zip-up pockets in, because when I try to exercise, 'pumpy' flies off the trouser band, effectively assaulting anyone within a 3 foot radius (that's the length tubing I use).  I have also learnt that if you are going to snuggle up to the husband during the night, make darn sure he isn't laying on the 3 inches of tubing closest to your stomach, because when you turn over seeking a more comfy position, you will think someone is pulling out your insides, liver first.

As much as I love my pump and the freedom it affords me, I am more than ready to go tubing free.  And although Omipod and I didn't get off the the best start, they are gathering momentum in the UK all the time, and the positive reports make their way back to me time and again. Perhaps a second glance is worth a think or two.

We also have Cellnovo now on the horizon, who despite have gained CE approval (meaning it has been deemed safe for human use) are still hanging on to their new, very sexy, patch-pump.  And although they are a completely new company, most of their team have been head-hunted from the heady heights of likes  of Medtronic, my personal favourite (well, only really) pump-provider.

There are also rumours about the Solo making its way to ours shores in the near future after Roche acquired 'Medingo' (who??), which for me, is probably the best news of all.  Being tubing free but also from a very well established company and with a bolus button on board meaning if you forget the handheld diabetes manager tool you use to deliver insulin (you scoff, but beggar's belief I managed to go out the other day having not even connected Lord Pumpingtopn.  Clever.) then you can still deliver a bolus for meals.

Yes, it is definitely time that I ditched a tethered pump (even the name annoys me these days) and discover a new way of pumping. 

18 months to go before I should be able to apply for a new, less tubey pump.  And very much counting!

An accurate representation of how I currently feel. With only the smallest element of massive over-exageration