Short-changed
If it seems I’ve been a bit bitter about the length of my infusion set tubing, I am. For good reason, too.
It never seemed to measure up to the package label. So I decided to put it to the test:
My 32 inches of tubing came in at a quite upsetting…
…twenty five inches! No wonder I’ve found this Sure-T, although comfortable, to be quite restrictive. The Mio, also labeled at 32 inches, gives me a little more wiggle-room.
But wait, there’s a little pigtail piece of tubing that goes between the connector and the actual infusion site. A length of tubing that offers absolutely zero flexibility, but wastes insulin like every other tube-inch. Could it be?
Close, but no cigar. Perhaps if I held the tubing more tightly against the tape, it would measure up. Nonetheless, that piece shouldn’t be counted, and the fact that they DID count it leaves me feeling … well … ripped off.
Now, in all fairness, I don’t know if Medtronic is trying to pull the wool over my eyes, or if Unomedical, who manufactures the infusion sets, is playing Medtronic to be the fool. Or maybe it’s just a big misunderstanding, or a manufacturing error that hasn’t been caught in a really long time. Either way, it ain’t right.
As for my glorious Silhouette tubing, whose size I underestimated by an inch in an earlier post?
Perfect.
Now, I wonder — what set do you use, and how long is the tubing? Really.
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My laptop is in the shop for a few days, so I’m typing this on my phone. So the formatting may be a bit off, and there are no watermarks on the photos. Guess that means you’re free to steal them!
Posted on October 17, 2013, in Diabetes. Bookmark the permalink. 14 Comments.
Rolling in the D 
I’m so with you Scott!! I use the Inset 30 with a 43″ tubing as I prefer to use my arms for d-related ‘toys’. 🙂 This summer I had an entire 2 boxes of 23″-35″ tubing & I was LIVID! Definitely not my finer moments & I called Edgepark to complain. It netted me a complete replacement shipment…all from the same damn lot which I specifically said I DID NOT want! Maybe 5-10″ may not seem like a big deal but imagine your set is on your arm, pump is clipped to your waist & then us women drop pants for bathroom & ACK the tubing is yanked & barely misses being completely ripped out. Try several times a day & the issue of whether size REALLY matters is validated with gusto! 🙂 Hubs & I decided that the foreign manufactures’ measurement is kinda like fish stories bc they have their own idea of how long something is rather than a standardized system. What irks me the most though is that contacting the medical supply company didn’t solve the problem so not sure if going directly to Animas (in my case) or Medtronic instead of Edgepark would help? Good luck I feel your pulling! 😜👍
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Seriously? Were they labeled differently or did the product in the package just vary wildly? If it’s the product, I’d go to Animas, who would (hopefully) turn it back to Unomedical. Can’t fault Edgepark for shipping you a product that’s labeled the way you orderded it. I will say that my sub-32 inch tubing seems consistent from one package or box to the next; measured crudely against the length of my arm.
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Sadly my mishap was completely about piss poor manufacturing. The boxes were all labeled 43″ but the sizes varied widely from 43″ to a mere 23″. I contacted Animas first but was told I needed to contact Edgepark since my order came through them. I know it may sound petty to non-Ders but it really does matter. *sigh*
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What the fuck?!
That’s all I can really think to say… sorry! It’s actually really super irritating that they have to lie about that too and for what reason? why?
it makes absolutely no sense.
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I use the Mio short one and love it! I have never thought of actually measuring it! Did you make Medtronic aware of this? I inquired about retractable tubing….they said it wasn’t in the works 😦 Wouldn’t that be awesome to have something that retracted???
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I haven’t notified them. I was going to, but didn’t know who to ask for or which menu option on the toll-free line to choose. Besides, when I figured out that the extra piece may have been included in the measurement, I decidedly to just air my grievances on this blog instead. Maybe they’ll read this.
If the Mio and Silhouette came up short, too, then I would’ve made a bit more noise!
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I use the Silhouette 23 inch and because I don’t wear it anywhere except on my abdomen (I’m chicken and can’t twist to put it anywhere exotic.), it’s never been a huge issue for me. That being said, if it says 23 inches, it should be 23 inches, right? Otherwise, math class is a waste.
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Tubing length is only supposed to be accurate to plus or minus 20%, right? #BungeePumpSafely
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Ah, see I’ve been right to stick with the 43″ Silhouette these past 15 years 😛
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Well, the 32 is correct if you count the secondary disconnect section and measure it correctly 😛
Not medical advice: I know some people who use a combination of Sils and Sure-Ts. Its the same connection. So they will order half and half or so and use one Sil tubing for multiple rounds of Sure-Ts.
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That’s the conclusion I came to. But if it’s labeled as 32, you’d think it should offer 32 inches of freedom, no?
I’ve mixed them at times (see last Wednesday’s post), but only when circumstances (i.e. premature set change) led me to having an extra 43 incher. I’m not much of a tubing reuser, though.
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Wow! I’m impressed that you did all of that from your phone. I hate doing anything more than checking comments on my blog.
I’m tubeless so no comment on that. But I’m with you, if it’s labeled as 32 inches, it should actually be 32 inches!
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Thanks! It’s a smartphone with a slide-out keyboard. I could never tolerate doing this on a touch-screen.
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I don’t get why they just don’t give longer tubing. Then again when I was shopping around for pumps for my 18 year old (newly diagnosed in June) I was livid that the different companies neglected to say what was tubed and what was tubeless…I can’t comment on your pump since my daughter is on the OmniPod…but she really wants the cgm and pump in one and I think it’s tubed..the new one out. Sigh and it’s a BIG deal..if they say so many inches- it should be that long for practical reasons!
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