Pros and Cons.

(Whoops, it's really been a while this time).

Who am I kidding. I could have found time.
Ah well, I'm here now.

SO! This week I've been taking a pump break (I'm back on needles/MDI/however you think of it). I'd like to talk about the pros, cons, why I'll be going back on the pump, but why I'm glad I took this break.

Firstly, before you ask why I would want needles when I already had a no-needle solution:

Consider being tethered to something for four and a half years.
The only break you get is your six-minute showers every two days, and occasionally your exercise class. (And also when you simply forget to reattach after either event, however you feel guilty/high/generally not great after that, so is it really a break?)
Consider having to share your waistband with a machine day in and day out. Consider dresses being incredibly tricky to wear - the joy of the swishy skirt can be taken away when your pump won't sit right and your underwear is falling down.
Consider catching your tube on countless door knobs and ripping out your site. Ow.
Consider the battery dying/cartridge running out/site failing at the most inopportune of times.

See why I needed a break? (It was the dress thing that put me over the edge. I just wanted to wear a dress with no hassle. It's [pretty much] summery out, and all my new dresses were begging me to wear them. And Bubbles, well, he just wasn't going for it.)

So. I have thought of an [incomplete] list of pros and cons. Here you go.

PROS for MDI:
- No robot parts
- Dresses easy to wear
- Better control for some people(but not me)

CONS for MDI:
- Needles (minimum 5/day)
- Controlled snacking (Sometimes hard to control)
- Less accurate doses (only 1u steps)
- No basal adjustment between doses
- Injection sites get tired

PROS for PUMP:
- Better control
- Smaller bolus increments
- BASAL (also it's adjustable)
- No needles
- Injection sites get lots of time to breathe

CONS for PUMP:
- Robot parts

A small price to pay for so much help. I'm glad I took this break - it's definitely reopened my eyes to the awesomeness of the pump. Even though I'm glad, it's been a week and I'm taking Bubbles back tomorrow. :)