I am currently in the process of waiting to hear back from Medtronic to start the switch from an OmniPod to either the 630G or 530G. I’ve never had a pump with a tube, so I’m a little concerned. With OmniPod, I’ve never had to worry about the tube or anything. You just put it on, then take it off 3 days later. How does life with the tube work? Do you take it off for showers?
Also, my family is very active with rock climbing, biking, whitewater kayaking, etc. With kayaking, there is a lot of skin tight neoprene to keep us warm. Are these activities that I will still be able to do with a physical tube being run from the pump to under my gear? I’d love any feedback; especially someone who is or knows a person involved with these kind of things. Thanks!
Medtronic is rolling out their newly FDA-approved artificial pancreas next Spring.It is th first of its kind ever approved in the U.S. and should be worth waiting for. It will also have a new, more accurate sensor. Look for either artificial panccreas or closed-loop CGM controlled pumps. Announcement came from JDRF website.
omnipod has a tube, it’s just covered by the hockey puck.
the pump is pretty small, and it can be in a pocket or on a belt clip. the tube runs from the pump to the infusion set, which is pretty small.
the tubing can be disconnected from the infusion set, it a plastic snappy thing, leaving you with a band-aid sized connector still attached to you. there are pictures and videos on the medtronic web site.
one time I had the tubing under a belt with the pump in my pocket. the tubing was twisted up pretty good, and then I had to put on a fall-protection harness (rock climbers use these too). the tubing eventually got crimped and my pump beeped and said that there was a problem (“No Delivery”). I fixed it by un-twisting the tubing and the problem went away. Happened once in 12 years pumping with a medtronic minimed.
as far as with diving suits: what did you do with your onmipod? in my opinion, it’s pretty close to the same thing… you could get a “pump band” and wear the pump under the suit, the only trouble would be you need to get to it if you need to push buttons. good luck.
I have the Metronic 630G and have been using it for a little over a month. I have not used the Omnipod and I am honestly not very active. However I can see that it is surprisingly easy to work with. It is nice to be able to move it around. I have used a running belt to hold my pump when it comes to activity. Like this https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01HXCC6V8/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 . Like the Omnipod there is a chance that the site will get pulled out. I have heard that if you sweat this is more likely for some people. There are a lot of products you can use if you have an issue. It is really nice that the 630G is waterproof, so you won’t have any issues when it comes to water.