Simco County Insulin Pump Group Minutes 06.29.02


Hello all,

This message is being distributed to all who left their email address on the
sign-in sheet.  A notice of the next meetings is below. We hope you all will
come again and in the meantime spread the word about the group and bring another
pumper or interested person(s) with you.

All meetings:  New Zehrs (in the community room up stairs) 472 Bayfield Street
North, Barrie.

September 21, 2002	9:00 am Ð 11:00 am

(The Canadian Territory Manager for Animas Pumps will be presenting the Animas
Pump - this should be fascinating)!



October 26, 2002	9:00 am Ð 11:00 am November 16, 2002	9:00 am Ð 11:00 am
December 14, 2002	4:00 pm Ð 7:00 pm  ***Note time change***

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(Very brief) minutes:

SIMCO COUNTY INSULIN PUMPERS MEETING # 2 June 29, 2002 New Zehrs (in the
community room up stairs) 472 Bayfield Street North, Barrie.

We had 6 attendees in total; the low number due to the long weekend.  This
meeting was more of a "where do we want to go from here" group discussion, most
topics of which will be carried forward to September.

Discussions:

Meeting times and place? The group felt Zehr's Community room in Barrie is the
best place to hold meetings as the room is free and numerous refreshments are
served at no charge very kindly by Zehr's.  Also tables, AV equipment etc are
all available to us at no charge!

As for time.  there seems to be no "best" time to hold meetings.  For now the
above schedule will have to remain in place as the Community room is booked
solid!  However some members I have contacted by phone feel a time later in the
day is better to allow for travel.  As for me, due to a sleep disorder I cannot
commit to 9:00am meetings.  (I fell asleep on a ladder after this last early
morning meeting and got a free trip to the hospital).  In September we will
hopefully get a consensus on a "convenient" time of day for meetings in 2003.


Use IV Prep or just alcohol to prepare a site? This is one issue where YMMV!  IV
Prep has a strong antibiotic and helps set adhesion.  However for many alcohol
works just fine!

Diabetes and Depression etc. Briefly discussed were the complications of
depression and emotional and psychological disorders which usually accompany
long term diabetes.

Highs after a set change! This is a common problem.  Some members experience
highs after changing a set.  This is apparently caused by either under-priming
the set or that in some people a "pool" of insulin is built up under the old set
and the new set takes a couple of hours to build up this "pool" to be absorbed
by the tissue.  One possible solution is to leave the old set in place for an
hour or two after starting to feed the new set.

Cap or not to cap? Some members feel that a disconnected site will get infected
or leak insulin out of the rubber membrane if the set is disconnected and not
capped.  This is another YMMV issue. Most pumpers never cap a disconnected site
and suffer no problem.  for others they seem to loose insulin or get infection. 
Could the various sets be inconsistent in their quality control at the plant?

Short term Goals and Long Term Goals for the group 1.  A small library of
Insulin and DM related books is a good short term goal.  Books such as "Pumping
Insulin".

2.  Shall we pursue formal non-profit status? Discussed in great length and open
to further debate in September is this one!  It is safe to say that most feel an
informal group discussing pump related topics and sharing mutual support is the
best short term plan.  However Paul and his wife Cheryl are expending great
effort in determining if we can get a "charity number" as a non-profit group.

This may require some formalization of the group and some paperwork BUT it
apparently will open the door for some employers to "donate" funds to this group
which would assist or pay for a pump for their employees who need to try pump
therapy.  If indeed obtaining non-profit status would enable the group to be
used as vehicle for some to obtain assistance from their employer for purchasing
a pump then this is probably a worthy endeavour and should be pursued.

3.  Paul has kindly spent effort opening a bank account for the group as we
accept donations form companies who present their goods at meetings and there
are some expenses involved in organization such as photocopying, long distance
phone calls, ink, name tags etc., etc.  At some point we need a 2nd person to
volunteer to sign any cheques.

Any lawyers out there? If anyone has professional contacts such as lawyer
friends which we may be able to solicit free advice from from time to time
please contact Paul or mention this at the next meeting.  For anybody; please
feel free to volunteer your own special talent to this growing group!  Paul and
I can;'t do everything for ever!


There!  I think that's everything!  (I will be away until August).  Hope to see
you all in September for the Animas presentation!


CONTACTS:

Paul Beckwith:Ê p.c.beckwith@sympatico.ca

Darrin Parker:Ê darrinp@sympatico.ca

--

Darrin Parker Ontario, Canada http://www3.sympatico.ca/darrinp

------------------------------------ I have used the insulin infusion pump for
over a year thanks to the support of wonderful internet friends & the
http://www.Insulin-Pumpers.org

The Pump gave me better control than I had achieved in 27 years of MDI!  Best
pre-pump HeA1c = 9.2.  1st & 2nd post-pump HeA1c = 5.1 &  7.0