[Luca]

Hi to everybody in the Forum
I am Luca from Italy. I am 35 years old. I live in Rome and was dignosed diabetic type 1 7 years ago. I have no friend with the same experience and I find very difficult to share problems and feeling about diabetes. most of the times I use to hide I am diabetic to new frinds. This is one of the reasons I joined the forum.
A week ago I started using the pump. Pump is not so common in Italy as in the States, but young people with diabets are starting to use it. I find rather strange to have this new device constantly connected with my body as a part of it. It is not easy and I hope to get experiences and help from the forum.
ciao
Luca

 

[Shanny]

Hello & welcome, Luca. We have many pumpers here and it's great to hear you've been able to get one. We also have type 1s who aren't pumping . . . and then we have type 2s who pump. You fit right in here!

Ask any questions you have, make any comment, vent if you need to . . . we're here for you & so happy to have you here.

Take care, visit us often & thank you for joining us!

:welcome:

 

[breezeonby]

Hi to everybody in the Forum
I am Luca from Italy. I am 35 years old. I live in Rome and was dignosed diabetic type 1 7 years ago. I have no friend with the same experience and I find very difficult to share problems and feeling about diabetes. most of the times I use to hide I am diabetic to new frinds. This is one of the reasons I joined the forum.
A week ago I started using the pump. Pump is not so common in Italy as in the States, but young people with diabets are starting to use it. I find rather strange to have this new device constantly connected with my body as a part of it. It is not easy and I hope to get experiences and help from the forum.
ciao
Luca

Hello Luca and:welcome:! Come on in and get comfortable :couch2:! There is a lot of information to be found on the forum. I totally understand finding friends who have diabetes. Maybe you can find one here! I hope you have time to visit often and take care!

 

[Luca]

You wouldn't believe, Shanny, l am at the hospital for setting the pump, replying with Iphone... Thank you for your kind answer. Browsing in the forum l saw l can get many information on the pump... I am happy l joined
Luca

 

[Shanny]

You wouldn't believe, Shanny, l am at the hospital for setting the pump, replying with Iphone... Thank you for your kind answer. Browsing in the forum l saw l can get many information on the pump... I am happy l joined
Luca

So we're right there with you while the pump gets programmed, eh!?

This is exciting!

 

[Luca]

Indeed... They changed the basal bolus (English is not my first language, so l beg the forum to forgive my mistakes). First week with pump went ok. I just find very hard to get use with the idea of my body with the device as a part of me...constantly connected.

 

[onlymep]

welcome Luca I'm type 2 and I inject insulin (not on a pump). I'm 37yo... so we're close in age. I'm sure you will find everyone here very supportive whether they have been diabetic for many years or only new to it. None of us wants diabetes... so we generally understand each others frustrations. It helps to share with others who have a clue too. Look forward to hearing your experiences.

 

[Luca]

Thank you onlymep. Today the doctor who tranied me with the pump asked me how it was going on with it after a week. I said it was ok, l got a good training but l haven't got any idea about the frustration and difficulties l could have wearing the pump... Even though you don't use it l am sure you get my feelings...l feel different as l felt when l was first dignosed diabetic.... BTW type 2 is rather rare at our age, at least it is what l knew....

 

[onlymep]

Thank you onlymep. Today the doctor who tranied me with the pump asked me how it was going on with it after a week. I said it was ok, l got a good training but l haven't got any idea about the frustration and difficulties l could have wearing the pump... Even though you don't use it l am sure you get my feelings...l feel different as l felt when l was first dignosed diabetic.... BTW type 2 is rather rare at our age, at least it is what l knew....

Yeah that will take a bit of getting used to... I'm not sure how I'd cope with that either. But like anything, you learn to live with what you need to do. I couldn't get my head around injecting when they told me I had to do that... but on second try I did the "mind over matter" thing and just got on with the task at hand... I have no problems now despite the occasional bruising and sore spots (when injecting can hurt).
I was diagnosed as type 2 as a 25yo and back then they gave me funny looks too... that was just over 12 years ago. I had all the precursors to get type 2 diabetes though. Nowdays it's not uncommon for young people to get diagnosed with type 2... even children are now being diagnosed with it.
I am on insulin now because I have beta cell damage in my pancreas. Basically that means that I no longer produce enough of my own insulin, so I need full time help. I had a few years where my BGLs were not the best and this was because oral medication stopped working on me... but my doctors insisted on trialling everything using all different dosages. Insulin is usually a last resort here for type 2's. I insisted on having C-peptide and GAD test done only a year ago (after someone told me about it and I didn't really know they could test you again after being first diagnosed)... I'm glad I did that as my docs did agree and the test result showed I needed help. I probably should have been placed on insulin a lot sooner I would say. My insulin dosage is quite low (so they tell me)... hopefully I can keep it that way.

 

[Luca]

I see, onlymep, you manage your diabetes with a low insulin dosage. I started with a low dosage then l increased till 24 units of basal bolus per day. Now l need less insulin with the pump. I remember when l was first dignosed diabetic. At that time l was working in a Fiat plant producing engines in Turin. I went up to the Alps mountains for a weekend skiing. It was the 9th of March. There was a bright blue sky, so clear and cloudless you could see the snow capped tops from Italy to France to Switzerland. It was outstanding but l was feeling miserable, so thirsty l stopped skiing every 10 minutes to put an handful of shining snow in my mouth to melt and drink it. It tasted bitter. I manage to drive down home - l lived alone - and the day after l went to work. I asked to see the doctor of the plant and he checked my blood....

 

[Shanny]

You're so very lucky to have made it back safely . . . I hope you get another chance to go up there when you can enjoy it more!

 

[Richard157]

Luca, I was diagnosed in 1945, when I was 6. I have been type 1 now for 65 years and am very healthy. I used injections for 62 years and have used a pump for 3 years. Pumping has given me the best control I have ever had. It is good that you have a pump now. You are using less insulin and when you are fully adjusted to your pump you will find that it will help reduce the number of highs and lows you will have. It is a very convenient way to manage our diabetes. If you have any questions, be sure to ask. Good luck in the months ahead.

Richard

 

[righteousdude2]

Ciao, Luca!

I really love the inter-net, because it has no boundaries. You are an example of the world without walls, Luca, and let me be one of many who welcome you to the Forum!

I hope you're not only getting a good handle on your disease, but that you keep well ahead of the potential complications by doing what your doctors tell you, developing a good exercise program, and having will power when it comes to pasta. Pasta is my weakness, and I am thankful for Dream Fields pasta, as I can enjoy some Italian dishes now and then!

Hope the forum proves to be a great emotional investment, and that over time you develop lots of new friends and a diabetic support group that you can look to for the kind of support you need to cope with this chronic disease.

Pastor Paul :amen:

 

[Luca]

Richard
You seem to have a long and good experience with diabetes and pump. Yesterday evening l started to have high numbers. I calculate and recalculate carbohydrates lhad eaten many times but no mistakes came up. I got an additional bolus, even though the pump told me l had enough insulin in my blood to cover the high. I did the bolus anyway, just before drive to my mother place. She is having heart problems. When l came back home l had numbers even higher. I panicked... My blood seemed to not react to insulin anymore. I decided to look at the pump more carefully - in Italian it is called microinfusore. I noticed there were small bubbles of air in the little wire (tube? Canal? Pipe? How do you call it in English? Help!)... I changed set and number got down....

 

[Luca]

Paul,
One of the fewest things that let me survive over these 7 years of diabetes it was knowing that for a standard dish of pasta l needed 6 units of insulin....
By the way what is Dream Fields Pasta?
Luca

 

[Richard157]

Luca, the bubbles in the tubing will cause problems like that. After filling the reservoir with insulin I always check very carefully for bubbles, before I remove the insulin vial. I hold the reservoir in front of a very bright lamp and turn the reservoir upside down and if I see bubbles I push the insulin back into the vial and refill until the bubbles are completely gone.

The biggest problem I have is avoiding scar tissue on my body. I rotate sites and use different body parts to avoid scar tissue. I also change infusion sets every three days. Rotation, and not going exceeding three days prevents scar tissue forming beneath the skin's surface. If scar tissue does occur, it prevents the insulin from being absorbed properly. Slow absorption will cause high blood sugar.

 

[Luca]

Richard
I have been told to rotate place of injection and change set every three days. I changed set only four times so far: l am new to the pump and now l am very scared of air in the tubing. By the way, where do you rotate the injection. Before the pump l used arms and tights as well, but now...

 

[Richard157]

My arms do not have much fatty tissue, so I use my abdomen and the upper portions of my legs. There is a lot of fatty tissue in those locations.