[poodlebone]

For the first few months of pumping I wasn't sure I made the right decision. I ran high a lot but once my numbers fell into place I was extremely happy. Unlike a lot of people, I did not/do not mind the thought of having something attached to me all the time. Usually I forget it's there. Sleeping with it is no problem.

Worst thing that has happened to me is having problems with the original infusion set I was using, the Minimed Quick-Set. Check the forums, and you'll see many other horror stories about them. But, you'll also find many users who son't have problems with the Quick-Sets. I use Silhouttes now and love them. Anyway, while having many infusion set problems my BG could go high, but the highest it went was mid-400's. I admit that I am still afraid of pulling the set out during the night and walking up in DKA, but that's not enough to even get me to consider going back to injections. Since I switched infusion sets I have not had problems with bent cannulas.

The pump is convenient - you always have your insulin with you. No weird stares or comments in a restaurant when you need to take insulin to cover your meal. If you're out running errands and decide you want a snack, no need to worry that you left your insulin at home or in the car.

The pump keeps track of the insulin I've taken, and lets me know (approximately) how much is active at any given time. I used to stack injections all the time, which led to many bad lows. I'd have a high BG and correct, and if I wasn't in range 90 minutes later I'd do another correction. The first correction would continue working and the second would cause me to crash later.

If you're going to be very active you can lower your basal rates to avoid going low. If you're sick you can raise them. You can account for dawn phenomenon by having a higher basal rate in the early morning hours. You'll never have to worry about forgetting an injection, something I did more than I'd like to admit. Or, sometimes I did inject but forgot, and double dosed. That usually happened with my long acting insulin but I've also doubled up for food insulin.

The only negatives I can think of about the pump are:
It's expensive, so if you don't have insurance (and even if you do) you might not be able to afford it.
It is easier to end up in DKA due to infusion set problems, but as long as you test frequently and don't change your sets right before bed it shouldn't be a worry.