Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Putertech on May 31, 2012 at 8:05am

You only have to be close to the PDM to start the bolus. Once it's started, it doesn't matter how far away you get from it. Now with my Ping, if I used the remote to start a bolus, I would have to stay next to the remote until it was finished, or it would stop. Kind of a pain in the butt.

Permalink Reply by smileandnod on May 31, 2012 at 8:05am

Interesting. I thought my CDE said within 5 feet but I haven't experimented to see how far out it will work. Maybe it finished the bolus before you got completely out of range?

I've had a few communication errors where it tells me to move the PDM closer to the pod even if I have it sitting on the table in front of me so I generally just sit there for the couple minutes until it beeps.

Permalink Reply by Scott Wilkins on May 31, 2012 at 8:10am

The PDM doesn't control the bolus in real time, it just initiates the bolus amount and start. It basically sends a signal to the pod to start, say 2 unit bolus, then it's done for the most part. The pod's programming will do exactly that without any more communication. It will stay in communication as long as the pod is near, and confirm a bolus finish. But the pod's been given it's instruction and will follow and finish that one single instruction without the need for more information.

I too was confused about this at first, and stayed near my PDM for a day or two. Panic occured once when I realized what I did, similar to your situation. I called the Omnipod guys and they confirmed what happens.

Permalink Reply by Bradford on May 31, 2012 at 8:15am

Just like Putertech mentioned, once the bolus is started you can leave the PDM's location and the pod will continue to push the bolus until it is completed. It only needs to be within range to get it started.

Permalink Reply by Stress on May 31, 2012 at 8:26am

Thanks all! - I was always waiting for the bolus to finish before moving from my PDM.

Permalink Reply by Bradford on May 31, 2012 at 8:30am

As a side note, you can press and hold the power button once the bolus has initiated and the screen will turn off, saving your battery. The bolus will continue to deliver.

Permalink Reply by Gil DePaula on May 31, 2012 at 8:29am

Hi,
You don't have to be close to the PDM while the bolus is being delivered. But after the bolus is finished, the PDM and pod automatically communicate to confirm that the bolus was indeed delivered. Since you were away that didn't happen. When you went back you checked your status, and checking your status causes the needed communication to occur, so the bolus delivery was confirmed.
Cheers,
Gil

Permalink Reply by smileandnod on June 1, 2012 at 11:07am

You guys are awesome! This is really helpful.