Mr Pumperdinck sitting on my desk, as taken with a crappy camera phone
Today started off with a slow trudge to the bus stop through a depressing dreich dismal ditch of despond. So pretty much the usual Monday morning then.
However, I arrived at the office to find an eager delivery man champing at the door with a couple of large packages. A ray on sunshine broke through the rolling damp clouds as my brand new shiny pump arrived and after 18 months of long Lothian waiting list, I was finally able to clutch my Medtronic Veo in my eager hands. Huzzah!
It was as if Christmas had come early (if your idea of an ideal Christmas Day consists predominately of receiving medical equipment). I eagerly tore open package after package of pump detritus, infusion sets, spare batteries, instructions manuals, more instruction manuals and miscellaneous other guff. And, finally, there it was my new pump – black, moody and with a shiny new ACT button that was ready to, well, ACT.
Of course, I’m not actually allowed to use it until I’ve had the requisite training – which seems entirely fair. The thought of being let loose on a pump with little or no knowledge of how to actually operate one is somewhat terrifying. So training starts in a couple of weeks’ time on the 2nd November.
So what could I do with it in the meantime? Come up with a name for it of course! Reading other people’s blogs and websites I had noted that lots of people have names for their pumps. Not being one to stand out from the crowd, I thought I’d better do the same. So the Veo has now been dubbed – wait for it – Engelbert Pumperdinck!
The instructions say I’m not to immerse Engelbert, so I’m not entirely sure how I’m going to christen it formally. Suggestions below. But, that aside, welcome to diabetic fraternity Engelbert! Hurrah!
“And there was much rejoicing, hurrah!”
Personally, I would raise a toast to myself for being so damned patient. 18 months… bah! 😀
@mark – it was a long wait, but on the plus side, don’t have insurance companies to deal with and I didn’t have to pay for it (except through taxes of course…) Mmmm…
Hi Engelbert, meet Billy and his commander, Mandy, aka pump and meter/remote. (The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy. One of the most sarcastic cartoons ever to come out of the States.) I think the only way to christen him is to wait until he’s attached and then throw a lorry load of alcohol at him (from the inside) to see how he/you copes…and have @katie on standby with glucose 😉
Maybe crack a bottle of champagne over your head? Oh wait, no, that’s boats, isn’t it? 😛
I don’t envy the extra little wait til you can use it – that would kill me even more than the long wait to get it, having shiny new things you can’t use 🙁
@Rohan – I suppose it gives me time to read the pump manual and my pumping book before starting training proper. What fun!
Welcome Engelbert hope you enjoy your delightful marriage with Tim. I’m sure he’ll be very sensitive with you especially knocking out those infuriating air bubbles from time to time and will promise to protect you from the wind (that’s what it said in my booklet?) Now I know where I’ve gone wrong I’ve no name for my pump!
I need a name for mine too – although “life saver” immediately springs to mind… good luck and here’s to happy times ahead for you and Engelbert!
Pumperdinck is an excellent choice: just a small skip away from Bumperdinck (when infusion sets are put behind you when doing topless sunbathing) and Tumperdinck (when stuck to stomach…though “Bellini” might also do on those occasions :))
I agree with @neobrainless (Rohan), waiting three weeks until I could start to use my shiny new toy would drive me potty! I’d probably spend the time reading all the instruction booklets, dismantling and rebuilding the bits I was allowed to, and fondling it possessively on a regular basis.
In the meantime, @mustard (Ms Cromwell), could name her pump ‘Charles I’ and @charlie could call hers ‘Chaplin’! 😛
@Teloz you’ve got a great sense of humour we’re planning on calling the new puppy Ollie well I couldn’t really get away with calling my sons Oliver or daughter Olivia!
@Tim have you tried wearing your pump (sorry) Englebert yet? You could try loading it and sleeping with it on or even bending over and catching the plastic tubing on something so you pull the wire out of you (a particular favourite of mine when unloading dishwasher!!)
I managed to pull mine out for the first time last weekend – I’ve had it 6 months, so that’s quite good going, bearing in mind how clumsy I am! But what amazed me was that it actually hurt less than when I take the cannulas out normally – the speed did it, I guess.
Congrats on finally getting it. I finally got around to asking the DSN yesterday about a pump but got told that Glasgow has no money for them and a very long waiting list. Maybe if I could find out next weeks lotto number I could finally get a pump.
I had to read that three times @annette, before I realised what you were on about. It must be me age… Come to think of it, I only understand one in three of @ckoei‘s posts, I think my education is sadly lacking… 🙁
@enkki – have you spoken the chaps at iPag Scotland (http://www.ipagscotland.co.uk/) – they’re very up on trying to convince health authorities to deliver over on the west coast.
I have an appointment with the DSN’s next week and might get an answer to how long the waiting list is. Once I have this I will contact ipag.
I was told 6 months ago that I wouldn’t be a suitable candidate as I was terrible at testing my blood sugar now i test 6 times daily and I am slowly getting under control which again means I will probably be ruled out for pump therapy as I don’t ever get extreme hypos or DKA.
@teloz – education creates literate fools. Experience and common sense engenders wisdom. 🙂
E-ducation creates e-literate fools…thanks to Shoot Up & the explanatory oracle Google (via selection& right-clicking), I’ve been informed of the existence of ASDA, Dr. Who, idiomatic expressions like “come a cropper” and “light blue paper & retire” etc. (though my foolishly literate posts can be blamed on the outlandish frame of reference in which my brain-baboon clambers about, and it came into being long before advent of intermaweb-access ;))