24
LIVING
MY DIABETES KIT
Lucy Fox
A music teacher
with Type 1 tells
us about being
diagnosed in
August 2000 at
the age of six.
When I spoke to
her, she'd just
turned 28 the
day before. By
Sue Marshall.
Lucy Fox works for a local
music service in the Midlands
where she teaches woodwind
instruments, though she is
a saxophone specialist. For her job
she visits lots of different schools,
colleges and music schools, where
she offers lessons to individuals,
small groups and whole classes. She
also facilitates evening classes and
performs with various ensembles.
She says, "Sadly, due to the
pandemic, I have not had the chance
to perform much, but I have done an
awful lot of teaching. I would define
most of my days as involving a lot of
people and a lot of driving!"
The diabetes kit Fox currently
uses includes Ypsomed's Ypsopump
and a Dexcom G6 CGM sensor.
However, these two bits of kit are
not 'looping' (the two systems don't
'speak' to each other). Lucy has been
using Dexcom for about three-and-ahalf years
and the Ypsopump for the
last two years, although she's been on
a pump since the age of 19. Initially
she went on an Accu-Chek Aviva
Combo, then moving on to the AccuChek Insight
before moving to the
Ypsopump that she currently uses.
She says, "To be fair the Insight
pump was quite small, but I do really
like the Ypospump for its size as it is
little and light. The infusion sets also
rotate, which means that instead of
each new infusion set having to be
carefully positioned and directed, like
my former pumps, the Ypsopump sets
are free to be rotated 360 degrees;
should you want to put your pump
in a different pocket or in a different
area with this rotating infusion set,
you don't get a kink or have to bend
the tubing.
"This set just twizzles around,
which I like - it just gives a little bit
of extra flexibility, I find, especially
if you're wearing the infusion set on
your arm. If I wear trousers, I just put
the pump in my back pocket. It's also
supplied with a clip, so I can wear it
some days 'loud and proud' and have
it on show. Other days, I know that
it's possible to just tuck it away, and
I'm glad that's an option too."