Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Jim on June 16, 2012 at 3:01pm

Well, I received my trial pod in the mail the other day and decided to try it on my tricep as that was never really a workable option with my minimed. I have noticed it starting to pull, which would be really bad if it was a working model as it was pulling where the cannula would have been. I decided to try using a tegaderm patch (works well enough to hold a sensor) which seems to be working well so far. As I am a reasonably active person trying to keep up with my extremely active sons, I am looking for a viable solution to ensure that the pod remains properly attached. I really like what I have seen so far, but am hesitant to make the jump if I can't keep it attached.

Permalink Reply by Eric Rizzo on June 17, 2012 at 6:54pm

For pods on the arm during activities, I use a self-adhesive wrap. See http://bewarethepenguin.blogspot.com/2011/01/my-secret-weapon-for-h...

Permalink Reply by Truffle on June 16, 2012 at 9:21pm

Hi James,

I've been on the Omnipod for just two months and absolutely love it. I've used five other pumps in my past from the old Mill-hill to a Minimed. I've waited too many years for the Omnipod to be available in Canada. Since I'm new to this particular pump I cannot state anything about the problems other users have described. The only problem I have experience so far is running into a doorway on my second pod and ripping it right off my arm. I have since re-acquainted myself with my surroundings and don't think I'll do that one again. I have not had problems with it not sticking to my skin, in fact, I seem to be experiencing the opposite problem, I almost need a crowbar to remove it!

I still have a lot to learn about how it works and to program it with my favourite meals and snacks, as well as my tags. I run, so have been starting to plan for long runs and different basal rates. So far, just suspending my Omnipod has work perfectly for me.

Permalink Reply by dougjones on June 29, 2012 at 11:46pm

hi,
I wore a tubed pump for about 12 hours. it was the first time i ever felt sick, felt like i had a disease. I've been type 1 for about 12 years, started in my 30's. i took off the pump and went with pens, but my control was lousy. I've been on the pod for all of one week, but so far so good. it's kind of like taping a cat toy to your arm, but it's much less intrusive than that tube. the little gizmo looks a bit dated but the technology is simple enough to use. (and the tubed pump gizmo was like a lesson in Jurassic technology- flet like i was programming my old Atari game...)not sure why they havent figured out how to sell them pre-filled yet...

Permalink Reply by Hockey Mom on July 3, 2012 at 1:19pm

James, my son is 18 and has been on the Pod since 9 months after diagnosis at 15. These were our experiences and misconceptions when we signed up for the Omnipod. Hopefully, you can go in with your eyes wide open. But, through all of our misadventures, he loves his Omnipod and would never consider changing to a tube pump or back to MDI.

#1). Expectation: Now that the insulin is attached to his body, he would be FREE to roam about like a normal teenager and not carry an insulin pen, wipes, etc. Truth: Insulet supplies a rather large square bag containing an insulin of vial and a complete pod change kit in addition to the PDM controller. This is more cumbersome than the previous kit. We do stash some of these things at school so that he can get by with just the controler and test strips. Reality: You are never free with this disease.

#2). Expectation: The pod would come off frequently during ice hockey or other sports. Truth: He plays ice hockey in the pod with UA Compression shorts and has never lost a pod playing hockey. They actually stick pretty well. We did have itching problems and use a barrier wipe.

#3). Expectation: His Blood glucose would be instantly under 6.0. Truth: It took a lot of basal testing to achieve his fairly good for a teenager A1C of 7.2 and initially his A1C was higher than on MDI. Our failure rate was really high the first summer and we had to increase our Pod order and insulin order. But, at the one year mark we had 5 boxes of pods in the cabinet because our failure rate was so much better and we were not using the pods by the next shipment. We wish they replaced "Occlusions" but they don't anymore. they only replace Pods that show an "Error Message" in the PDM.

#4). Expectation: There are lots of Pod placement areas. Truth: It takes a lot of experimenting to get good pod placement. My son really only has a few good places and he rotates in those areas. He usually has occlusions on his arms before the three days but occasionally rotates there for two days. He does seem to knock the pods off of his stomach area and his thighs are too muscular per his CDE. We try to encourage him to use 6 spots but it is hard when some work better than others.

Permalink Reply by Jim on July 14, 2012 at 12:34pm

All,

Thank you so much for the advice. After reading all your responses and speaking with the various companies I have decided to make the switch. I received to new supplies the other day and will be going to my endo's office on Monday for the mandatory training before making the switch to the new equipment. I am honestly looking forward to the idea of not having to deal with infusion set lines dangling all over the place.

Now if they can just seal the deal with the Dexcom integration.......

Permalink Reply by FHS on July 14, 2012 at 2:04pm

Best of luck to you James!

Hopefully, we've offered insight that will help your transition be a lot easier. I would encourage you, if at all possible, stick with it through a few shipments if things do go exactly the way you hoped at first. The entire first shipment for me was trial and error and learning a gazillion little things that may or may not make a difference. The second shipment was reviewing those gazillion things, thing discovering a gazillion more little things that make all the difference in the wold.

Going on 2 years and 12 shipments later and I'm still discovering a few things but I've been able to put many difficulties behind me. I'm more comfortable with the pod now than at any time in the past and I'm amazed at how much mormalcy has been restored to my daily routine because of the pod.

Good luck again!!

Permalink Reply by Jim on July 14, 2012 at 2:11pm

Thank you for the advice. I do have a question for you though, did you transition from a different brand of pump (I am moving over from Minimed)? If so, how much different did you find it. What kind of challenges did you have compared to the tubed system?

Permalink Reply by FHS on July 14, 2012 at 5:35pm

Np,

The Omnipod was my first pump. I was on MDI for 25 years before that.

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