Unpacking My Insulin Pump from Medtronic (Video)
I created the “Unpacking My Insulin Pump” Video below so that everyone can see what came in the 2 boxes and to also celebrate what is hopefully the beginning of a positive step in the management of my type 1 diabetes. Note: The contents of the package may be different for each person depending on certain factors. These factors include, but are not limited to, pump brand, pump model, insulin dosage, body type, infusion set choice and pump color. For instance, Medtronic’s Revel model combines an insulin pump with a continuous glucose monitor, which means that the CGM components (sensors and a transmitter) were also included in the box.
8:30AM: Ding-dong. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! I woke quickly, knowing exactly who it was. It was a package that we didn’t want to miss. My wife turned to me dreary-eyed and half awake, “Who could that be at this hour?” Poor girl. It was obvious her short term memory was still resting.
“It’s my pump!” I answered as I jumped out of bed. I can’t blame her that it didn’t register. It had been the third time that we had been woken up this morning. For a little over a week (since I had landed in the hospital from severe hypoglycemia), we had been setting alarms to wake ourselves up several times during the night so that I could test my blood sugar. Last night, we had set alarms for 4am, 7am and 10am, the last being our wake time, which had yet to arrive.
Dressed in my pajama pants and an old extra-comfortable undershirt with a few too many holes, I hurried down the two flights of steps to our front door. I greeted the UPS man as he handed me his electronic signature pad. “Are you Kevin,” he asked.
“Yes,” I responded. It was a little odd since I couldn’t remember them asking for the addressee by name before, but I guess that must be normal in the case of prescription type items and perhaps flowers. As I accepted the box, I stated, “It’s just diabetes medicine,” fully realizing that the brown-clad man in front of me was under no misconception that he was delivering an organ of some sort (although, a new pancreas would be nice). However, I imagine that he must get curious as to what’s inside all the boxes he delivers. I shut the door and took the semi-large box labeled “Medtronic” upstairs. Little did I know that it was the first of two Medtronic boxes that would arrive today.
The unboxed components of the Medtronic Revel Insulin Pump and Continuous Glucose Monitoring System that shipped to me.
Before unpacking my Medtronic MiniMed Paradigm Real-Time Revel Insulin Pump and Continuous Glucose Monitoring System (yes, it’s a bit of a mouthful), I felt a sense of excitement that was similar to when I first unboxed my iPhone. Only with this device, dialing in a wrong number would likely have worse consequences. Yes, it’s neat to have the latest technology. However, unlike the iPhone, this piece of technology is going to be used to help keep me alive (even though some would argue that they can’t live without their iPhone).
In this sense, I’ll admit that getting an insulin pump is a bit scary and overwhelming. However, I know that educating myself and learning as much as I can about the Revel Insulin Pump and CGM will only make me feel more relaxed when I start to use it (I first have to meet with a Medtronic instructor on Tuesday for a one-on-one class). Last night, as I sat in bed expressing some of my concerns about using an insulin pump, my wife commented, “I bet you were a little apprehensive back when you first started doing insulin shots too.” She’s right, I was.
My name is Kevin Lang and I am a Type 1 Diabetic who was diagnosed in May of 2004 at the age of 27. My last A1C was 6.0 in May 2015. I used to use daily shots of Lantus and Novolog to control my blood sugar until I switched to the MiniMed Paradigm Revel Insulin Pump in February 2011. To learn more about me, follow the about link in the menu bar.