Sunday, March 29, 2009

Finally

Have you ever lost touch with a close friend?

Ever let so much time go by without talking that you just didn't know where to begin?

And even when something truly wonderful happens, your shame at having let this friend fall so far out of your life prevents you from sharing it with them.

Well, that's how I've been feeling for quite a while now.

About this blog-- and about all of you.

So I'm just gonna jump in where I left off and see what happens...

Joseph loves the Ping-- we all do.

His new pump and meter arrived over the Christmas break and turned out to be quite the gift.

"Mom, look at this screen!" my boy exclaimed after we powered up the pump, "it's... beautiful."


I had to agree. Definitely more readable than its predecessor.

In addition to the fabulous color screen, I love that we can use his meter to see how much insulin Joseph has on board from another room. And as I mentioned in my previous post, giving him a corrective dose of insulin while he sleeps is sooo much easier now.

So yeah, we're happy.

Now.

This is not to say that the Ping is perfect...

When we opened the box and pulled out the pump, I noticed immediately that the Ping is considerably bigger than Joseph's IR 1200. (Bear in mind, one of the things that drew us to Animas in the first place was the small size of their pump. So this was a surprise.)

Also, I was looking forward to Joseph having the food database in the pump.

You see, shortly after we purchased his IR 1200 four years ago, Animas released the IR 1250--the first of their pumps to include that database.

Sadly, the Ping only has the food database on the meter-- which seems kind of nutty (at least for us) as we don't send the Ping's expensive, somewhat large meter to school with Joseph (where I think he'd most benefit from having access to that food database).

Ah well.

In other news, Evan lost her first tooth!



AND I got a job!

Which is part of the reason I've been MIA.

It's part time (20-30 hours a week) extremely flexible-- and dang cool.

I'll tell you more about it soon.

One last thing.

Joseph is just shy of my height and closing fast... which is sort of freaking me out.


21 comments:

Jill said...

YAYYYY Sandra!! Welcome back :) and as any true friend would do...we're welcoming you with open arms! A true friendship is one that you can go months without speaking and then pick up where you left off and never feel like you were apart :) Congrats on the job! Can't wait to hear more :)

Anonymous said...

Yeah - finally! Definitely missed you.

Scott K. Johnson said...

Welcome back Sandra!

Please say hi to Joseph for me. I've missed the updates, and am glad to hear about what's going on lately.

Penny Ratzlaff said...

Sandra,

It is great to hear from you again!

I look forward to hearing more about the ping. That is probably what we will go with when Riley's pump expires next year.

I look forward to hearing from you again soon.

kath said...

Welcome back!

I just got a Ping myself. Understand why you don't send the meter to school but it's a shame.

Jillian said...

Welcome back! I think it's safe to say we've all missed you. It seems like things are well, and I can't wait to read more.

Sandra Miller said...

Jill-

Thanks for understanding.

Rachel -

Finally, indeed. :-) Missed you too.

Scott -

I will definitely pass on that hi to Joseph... :-)

Penny -

Thanks.

I think the Ping will be a terrific choice for Riley... though by then Animas might actually have the pump/CGM combo available-- which would be super cool!

Kath -

Joseph actually prefers taking his OneTouch Mini to school-- he thinks the Ping meter is too bulky, and doesn't like bolusing from it since it doesn't have the pump's "awesome color screen."

Jillian-

Thanks. I'm looking forward to writing more... and catching up with everyone else. :-)

Val said...

Welcome back Sandra! Been missing you. I have a Ping too now. I'm hoping the larger size and lack of onboard food db meant that they've already got the space allocated inside for the Dexcom hookup, and it will be a software upgrade rather than a new pump when their integration with the CGMS is ready...

Caro said...

Hi Sandra,

I too have missed your posts and was glad to read this update and hear that things are going well. Joseph and Evan are both growing up so fast!

I'm also interested to hear about the Ping. I'm certain that I would have stuck with Animas rather than going back to Medtronic if it weren't for the CGM. I still miss my IR1200!

Looking forward to hearing more.

Anonymous said...

Sandra, I almost never comment, but had to when I saw you posted. I'm so glad to read that you are all doing well. Congratulations on the job! Please keep writing. Your posts have help me a great deal.
I am sure that I'm not alone.

Ellen

Molly said...

Sandra,
So nice to hear from you!
Glad that all is well with the Ping. I'm part of the group that's grieving the loss of Cozmo, and hoping that when my warranty is finally up--a new pump will have the features that I've come to love.

Sandra Miller said...

Val-

Congrats on getting the Ping! And yes, if Animas made the Ping a bit bigger in order to save space for the Dexcom hookup, then I am totally good with that! :-)

Caro-

Thanks. I will definitely make more of an effort to keep you all posted...

Ellen-

Thanks so much for the kind words.

Molly-

I'm so sorry.

I just read about the Cozmo last night. Holy cow! I had no idea they were closing up shop. That's crazy. Deltec's pump was in a close tie with the Animas back when we were choosing Joseph's first pump. I loved the Cozmo's interface and software.

Molly, I know that if we were forced to switch to a different pump, it would be really hard.

Hang in there.

Kassie said...

awesome to see you 'back'. I've been thinking about you (and Joseph), especially as jake gets ready for baseball season (pitching lessons at the moment). Looking forward to hearing more!

Nicole P said...

Isn't it funny how friendship works? We CAN pick up just where we left off.

I've missed you.

Good news about the Ping, hopefully they'll iron out some of the glitches... :)

Yay for lost teeth and NEW JOBS!!!

Cannot. Wait. To. Hear. More.

Lyrehca said...

Welcome back! I started on the Ping in December and am enjoying it as well.

Sandra Miller said...

Kassie -

Thanks.

I look forward to reading about Jake's pitching adventures this season. Joseph just got a call from his new coach last night. Can't wait to see my boy back on the mound... :-)

Nicole -

Yes. Yes we can. :-)

And I've missed you too.

The issues I mentioned about the Ping are (thankfully) pretty minor compared to the benefits provided by this new pump. Fingers crossed, that CGM comes soon...

The very thought that this technology could arrive as Joseph heads into his last year of middle school or his first in high school gives me goosebumps.

More to come on the job... and the lost teeth (Evan has three more VERY loose ones-- how cute is that gonna be? :-)

Lyrehca -

Thanks. Good to hear that you're liking the Ping as well.

And hey, congrats on the book deal! I'm slowly getting caught up with my blog reading and saw your news.

That's awesome!

Momof4 said...

My girls are on the Animas pump and I want a ping!!!

Ronda said...

Missed reading your posts. Glad your back. Also interested in learning more about the Ping. My daughter will be pumping within the year. Congrats on the new job.

Gianna said...

Hi Sandra, Welcome back! I've missed reading your blog...looking forward to reading more soon.

:) Tracie said...

So glad you're back to posting! Been checking on ya every so often figuring life just took over.

My daughter has had the Ping since last July and I absolutley love the not disturbing during sleeping and the whole dosing from the other room....she'll even yell "hi mom" when she hears it dosing her! The best was when she was in the nurses office at school and went into the bathroom and I dosed her through the wall!(no "hi mom" then....hmmmm....too embarassing I guess)

It'll be fun to share Ping adventures!

Anonymous said...

As an avid (but anonymous) reader, I am very, very glad you are back and everything is well.