[Moderator Note: slightly edited for thread split]
My suggestion is to read the X2 manual. Front to back. Read it pretty quick - no need to linger, dwell and over think it. You obviously have significant experience so the biggest thing you are looking for are the concepts of what the Tandem does and how some of the naming conventions are different on this pump. I am sure you will pick up a couple nuggest but the vast majority should be things you already know.
Also don’t overthink the menu system and “WHERE” things are on the pump.
Then give it a try and let us know where you might have questions.
The single biggest thing that new users of the Tandem t:slim X2 have questions on is the cartridge fill. There are some good YouTube videos. But like everything else, once you do it half a dozen times it just becomes “the way it is”.
I’ve been told I overthink everything, but I’ll try.
I’m going to have lots, and now they’re all going to be addressed to you.
I’ve heard about this but have absolutely no idea what it’s all about. I like going into something completely in the dark. Not sure why.
I really appreciate the help. My mom wants me to wait for a trainer. Rookie. No one waits for trainers these days.
Seriously, I’m very excited and am going to open things up and do the reading tonight. I really do appreciate a place to come back to with my questions. You guys take good care of people, and I look forward to participating in some of the Dexcom/Tslim conversation around here… finally.
I think the reality is we all use it a little different. I hear both @Chris and @glitzabetes talking about things they do. So hearing from different people will give you different ideas and ways. Then you can do what works best. And then give us more ideas of alternative approaches as well.
The one things I have NEVER done is gone back to our “trainer” and asked them anything. Never. When I first heard some people with “other” pumps talking about this, I thought they were joking. Then I realized they were serious. I think this is just different. I would not even have a clue how to contact our “trainer”.
Which is not to mean we do not talk with our Endo a whole lot as we certainly do. I love our Endo.
But she just doesn’t get involved with the pump.
The only pump thing I ask my endo is if knows the name of local pump rep that I can contact. Worked great, and got an in person delivery of some sample infusion sets.
Thank you. I was joking about saving them all for him. He was just foolish enough to roll out the welcome rug. And to make eye contact.
I’m going to start reading tonight and will hopefully be together enough to try it out on Friday. The kids will be home and screaming, which is, of course, an ideal time to have to concentrate on my life-saving medical device.
You may want to consider getting a different case. The one which comes with the Tandem is nothing to write home about.
When wearing something with pockets like jeans, it seems potentially to be more convenient to skip the case and just slide it into your front jean pocket. With no case, it slides in and out very nicely.
We use a case which is designed and sized for the Motorola V300. Fits very nice and has a magnetic front lid which holds the pump yet is super easy to open and close. Plus it is super cheap. I would strongly recommend this. At $10 (including shipping) it is well worth just ordering it and giving it a try.
A lot of people rave about the Type 1 Tactical holster/case/pouch (whatever you want to call it). We never ordered one of these. These are backordered 1 or 2 months and are a bit more expensive. But people really seem to like these.
Also @Nickyghaleb the pump comes with a screen protector. It may or may not be obvious.
Do not remove this. It is designed to be left in place. If this needs to be replaced, you can order more from the Tandem store. We have never needed to get another one.
In terms of charging, this just charges like any other device.
We do not use the Tandem provided chargers or cables.
We have chargers all over the house and in all the cars plus a bunch of the little portable USB batteries for our smartphones. We just use the same stuff (Android standard Micro-USB) for the Tandem t:slim X2 charging as we do for any other type of portable device that needs power.
The charge on the X2 is supposed to last about 7 days when NOT running integrated with the Dexcom about about 5 days when running integrated.
A good time to charge the X2 is when you are in the shower. It does not take long to top off the charge if you plug it in every day or every other day. Another good time is in the car. Probably not a good idea to charge it while you sleep.
The charging of the X2 is something that seems to be a frequent concern BEFORE people start using the X2. However once people are actually using the X2, it seems to quickly become a non-issue.
I wrote about experiences with LOOP, it got split off into a separate thread. The bottom line is that I get as good a result as I was getting from intensive surfing, but with much less effort. I get to sleep through the night without going out of range, for instance. LOOP has two main drawbacks. One is that it requires a really old medtronic pump (but this may change in the future, either with Tidepool LOOP or if the hackers figure out how to command some other pump or if a new open-protocol pump becomes available.) The second drawback is that it really can’t surf. If I tell it the wrong amount of carbs I ate, or the wrong digestion time, or my basal settings are wrong, I may be heading for a persistent high or low that LOOP can’t really handle, because it’s prediction of the future course of the BG is so wrong (because of the bad data I gave it). Fundamentally, in my view, the LOOP software can’t ethically give a rage bolus when the CGM graph clearly shows me it’s needed, because if LOOP gives me too much insulin they can’t recover. In the future I hope that the closed-loop algorithms will learn how to infer the bad data from the behavior of the CGM trace and compensate better than LOOP currently can. How I got started on Loop
I haven’t posted a review of the t:slim here, but I used it for a couple years before LOOPing and I liked it better than the Medtronic 723. I could read the t:slim screen without reading glasses. The t:slim is more compact. The t:slim gets firmware upgrades over the internet so you can get new features without waiting 4 years for your old pump to go out of warranty. On the minus side, they went to a proprietary connector for the infusion sets. And they only have 1 style of 90-degree soft cannula set. If you hate that style, you’re SOL. Back when they had a standard luer-lock connector you could try several different infusion sets and use the one that works best for you. And the t:slim will set off a metal detector whereas the 723 would not.
The cartridge change procedure takes a little longer on the t:slim because you have to let the pump prime the tube, you can’t do that manually before inserting the cartridge into the pump. While the tube is priming there’s a loud, continuous beep-beep-beep but there’s a trick to solve that. On the back of the pump, opposite end from the tube, look for 6 tiny holes in a   : : :  pattern. That’s the speaker. Hold a finger over those holes and you can prime quietly.
My problem when I tried that style of infusion set (a needle guided by two plastic prongs) is that the needle has to be pointed in exactly the right direction or it won’t go in. That was fine when the set was in a place that I could see, but when reaching way around my back it was close to impossible. This may be less of a problem for folks with younger, more dexterous hands. I remember shaking with frustration and rage after 5 minutes of failed attempts to reconnect after a shower.
I like the QuickSet infusion set, because it is easy for me to slip the hub over the post and twist it to lock, anywhere I can reach with two fingertips. The Cleo from Smith Medical was almost as easy to use. It has a needle, but the tube ends in an octagonal ring that fits over the infusion set’s post from any of 8 directions, then the needle clicks into place, guided precisely by the fit of the ring and post.
I understand that Tandem needed to go to a proprietary connector so that they would be the sole seller of infusion sets for their pump (they were in financial trouble back then, and infusion set sales are now 25% of their business.) But I say that from the patient point of view, it is better to be able to select the equipment that works for me, rather than to be restricted to a few choices so that some company can get higher profits. Whether that company is the manufacturer or the insurance company.
