"I can’t believe I’m not wasting sets any more." Fiona Corley spent 19 and a half years doing multiple insulin injections before she went on to an insulin pump. Like many people, she found the first few months challenging. But once a few months down the track, she was confident enough to start fine tuning what she was doing. And her first step was to re-consider the infusion set she was using. "I had chosen an infusion set that I thought would be the best for me when I started, but I began having trouble inserting it," Fiona explains. "The main problem was that if I hit a sensitive spot, I would stop the insertion and try somewhere else. But that meant I had just wasted a perfectly good cannula." Further research lead Fiona to the Accu-Chek FlexLink infusion sets, which are the only sets available with the Accu-Chek LinkAssist, which is an automatic inserting device. "With the inserting device, I just push the button and it's done!" she said. Fiona still hits a nerve occasionally, but finds it settles down within a short time. More importantly though, because she's not taking several attempts, she is not wasting any cannulas. "I can't believe how many sets I used to waste before. It gets expensive. But not any more." This busy mother of two young daughters says she hasn't looked back since she started using the Accu-Chek FlexLink and LinkAssist. "I do get some help from my husband too, but it's just so much easier now." Fiona also likes the fact that the Accu-Chek FlexLink uses a Teflon cannula, as her body reacts to steel cannulas. And she agrees that the set is as comfortable as we promise. "Once it's in, I just don't feel it," she says. And apart from the savings she makes by not wasting cannulas any more, Fiona also points out that the Accu-Chek sets are more economical in another way too. "It saves you money because you use the lines twice," she explains. "The lines last twice as long as the cannulas, so I just transfer the line to a new cannula and use the line twice." We understand this is what people prefer to do, so last year we arranged for the infusion sets to be re-packaged so people can buy all the Accu-Chek cannulas separately. That way, you buy what you need, to suit your own preferences. This is something unique to Accu-Chek Infusion sets. Fiona says it's small things like that which can make a lot of difference to people. And she also advises anyone on an insulin pump to do some research to make sure the infusion set they're using is the right one for them. "Talk to other people, look on the internet, and talk to the company reps, and definitely try the Accu-Chek FlexLink. "It's all about being well informed," she says. And, as Fiona has found with the Accu-Chek FlexlInk and Accu-Chek LinkAssist, when you're better informed, you're more likely to find the right device for you, and may even find a few extra benefits you weren't expecting. Right now, if you would like to be better informed about the Accu-Chek FlexLink or the Accu-Chek LinkAssist, click here. Or you can email our 'company rep', Nisha Taylor, BHSc (nursing) who is our resident expert on insulin pumps, and has previously worked with Auckland Diabetes Services and been a Diabetes Nurse Specialist at Starship Children's Health. You can email Nisha here. « Back to eNewsletter