Remember when I had the demo of the t:slim shown to me earlier this month and how excited I was?

Yeah…. I don’t know how that happened seeing as how I didn’t think I was eligible til December 14th, but I am now officially off-my-rocker, kid-in-a-candy-store STOKED andEXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! {Read: I’m more excited than a kid getting an iPad AND iPhone for Christmas!}

I was told yesterday, though, that the distributor that I have to go through to get one didn’t have one in stock  at the time (HOW does THAT happen??), but that one would be shipped out as soon as their restock came in, which should be that day or the next. Well, today, I got an email… IT HAS SHIPPED!!!!! I should have my brand-new t:slim pump IN MY HANDS on Tuesday.

Did I mention how excited I am?

Guys, this is awesome.

I just hope HOPE hope that the t:slim lives up to all that I hope it will. I’ve heard a LOT of good reviews about it, along with some not so great, so I’ve weighted out the good and the bad of what I’ve seen. Don’t think that I think this pump will be THE answer to pump therapy, because I don’t. A lot of work still has to be thought out and done by the user (I mean, it would be awesome if it included a camera that could see what we’re eating, calculate the carbs, and bolus it for me, but yeah.. that ain’t happenin’). I also know that {for some strange reason} people who use Apidra have a TON of problems with occlusions. My theory is one of two things: the insulin has a reaction with something in the material of the reservoir “bag” that is not known yet or (two) there is something that happens to the insulin breaking down (since it breaks down the fastest of the three available) too fast in the safety chamber. Now, I’m no scientist at all, so PLEEEEASSEE do not take those assumptions as being truth because they are not. Either way, I don’t plan to try to find out why it doesn’t work. I have Novolog on hand and plan to keep using it with the t:slim.

What I’m not excited about though – and there’s absolutely not thing that can be done about this unless they change the design – is that with my Ping, even though I hate the scrolling everywhere to bolus and the darn timeout-refind my place stuff, I do like that once I DO have a bolus programmed, it goes in FAST. I don’t have to wait forever for it to deliver. And I know it’s all in my head… thinking that if it delivers fast, it’s going to absorb fast – which is totally untrue, but it’s still something that I’ve always liked because I like to listen to my pump deliver until it’s done JUST because I want to be sure it delivered. Call me crazy, but it was what I was taught to do 12 years ago when I started pumping and I still do it. And the less amount of time I have to “listen out”, the better for me. But I think I can get over that in exchange for the cooler features of the t:slim.

And, though I’m not even using it yet, I think there would be a great program addition if you guys could include it…… So, you have the awesome site reminder, right? What about rotation? Maybe have a setup that asks where you usually get the best absorption (i.e., the abdomen, right leg, left leg, right arm, left arm, etc). Then, for those areas chosen, the pump just adds that into the reminder: “Time to change your site. Rotate to Left Thigh”. HOW COOL!? No? Okay. Just a thought.

Some have wondered if I would miss the remote-bolus feature of the Ping. The answer is no. Since I hooked back up to my Ping 2 months ago, I haven’t used the meter-remote. I check my sugar with my Verio IQ and manually put everything into my pump to bolus with. I did that intentionally to see if I wouldn’t mind losing that function with the Dexcom integration of the Animas Vibe, and I don’t miss it. And since both Animas and Tandem are working with Dexcom (though I know the process will most likely be longer for Tandem), I’m okay either way. And complete truth be told, **SHHHHHH** I don’t want my pump integrated with CGM. {WWWWWHHHHHHATTT did she just say???!???????} While the feature is great and you certainly won’t lose track of your CGM, and integration does have GREAT benefits – I don’t like it after being on a pump with it. Why? Because I was embarrassed when I went to a wedding, wearing a great dress, and my pump was in my thigh holder. In the middle of the ceremony, my pump started buzzing an alarm, and I could not dismiss it. Not to mention, I looked pretty awkward to others constantly pressing in “that” area trying to dismiss it. Now, if there were some way to have a remote that controlled both the pump and the CGM function, then great. Until then, I’ll probably be the only diabetic on the planet that uses both technologies that couldn’t care when the integration is available for other pumps here in the US. I’ve lived long enough with pumps, diabetes and parties to know how to dismiss myself to a private location and plan a bolus that may not work exactly GREAT, but covers my food for the next hour, and how to eat accordingly. Some people (okay, a lot) may not agree with me, but that’s why different pump companies have their own features that are unique to them. They’re better able to reach targets that others aren’t because of personal preferences.

So, this geek is off to read the PDF of the user manual for the second time. Also, watch Sarah L’s videos about her t:slim for the umpteen dozenth time.

Oh, and I can’t WAIIIITT til I can order the t:clip. I understand that current t:slim users will be getting one shipped to them for free, but I have a feeling it will be black. I want to order a PINK one and a PURPLE one… MOSTLY a PURPLE one! EEEEK!