Got my Omnipod hooked up today attached to my stomach. I will be using saline solution for 2-3 days until I'm comfortable with everything and then start up the new insulin regiment. I'm very excited to almost be needle free! I'll be sure to keep everyone up to date with everything, and I will try my best to keep updating my blog on juvenation here. All my best to everyone!
Hi I just met with an omnipod rep today and got to put a real one on with saline! I took it off so they could show me that too. I will be filling out the paperwork this afternoon hopefully. I'm very excited and I was very pleased that the insertion did not hurt at all. I put it on my arm. Good luck and let me know how it goes. How long did it take after you filled out the paperwork until actually getting on it??
Thanks, Laura
Good luck with the pod Michael and LauraJ! My son will be starting on the pod when we receive it (it shipped out yesterday). He is very excited about it and we are hoping that it will help control his BG more than the shots. We sent in the paperwork last Monday and the company contacted me yesterday to let me know they had everything ready to go. So far they have been great to deal with!
The Omni-Pod is FANTASTIC!
I've been a D for 27 years and have been taking 5-7 shots per day until my pump which I started about one month ago. I feel like I have been let our of PRISON!
LUV IT, LUV IT, LUV IT!!!!!!!!!
Kathy,
So... was that first morning after you got on it as cool/weird/wonderful for you as it was for me???
I woke up - sat up - realized i didn't have to give a shot and nearly swooned, LOL
Cheers!
A-D
I can NOT wait til I feel that way!!!
What is it like being on the Omnipod? Do you guys like it?
Is the omni pod covered by regular insurance? Its not covered by Missouri Medicaid and I have applied for the Mini Med for my daughter and we're still waiting to hear something. I know it could take forever. I was just curious about the Omni Pod since she wants to be totally wireless and she's a avid swimmer/althete.
The OmniPod is amazing. I spent 20 years on a tubed pump and made the switch last month. The tubeless and waterproof design, automated cannula insertion, and user-friendly PDM are WONDERFUL.
I used to sleep in a pair of shorts each night so I wouldn't get tangled in that $#*%! tubing, and I carried that pump around in my front pockets during the day for so long. I constantly feel like I'm missing my pump, but I'm not. It's just awesome -- it's the biggest advance in my diabetes care since I was diagnosed 20 years ago.
Hello again everyone, thanks for your responses!
Laura- the process was very quick for me. I filled out the initial paperwork with my doctor, faxed that in and within a week I had already spoken to a representative over the phone and received my first three months supply of everything. It did take a good week and a half to get someone to come to my house however, but this was largely due to a phone number error on their end. Either way, they are very quick about getting the supplies to you, best of luck with everything and let me know how it goes for you!
Amy and Montana- my insurance was able to cover it, I believe 90%. There is a small initial fee for the pump we had to pay and then it is something like $80 for three months of supplies. I didint even need to do anything about it, the Omnipod people contacted the company for me and set it all up once they had my information. I am on COBRA right now, and I think it is thru Anthem. Hope I helped!
Day 1 almost over, headed to bed....see how this thing feels when I lay down finally!
Gina,
There is a lot to like about the Omnipod. When a pod or site goes bad, however, you lose all the insulin in the pod. If you have a few failures near each other and early in their wear - it can get pricy and while Insulet is good about replacing bad pods, they don't do anything for the lost insulin. If I wasn't so darned needle phobic and if I was on a different CGMS, I think I might have gone with the Animas(now Johnson & Johnson) Ping…
Having the pump and CGMS download to the same software is a big advantage for me.
Amy Lyn: If your daughter is active in the water, I would take a long hard look at the Ping, too. It is not tubeless but it does have a remote and it gets better underwater marks than the Omnipod. Also, no loss of insulin when you lose a site with that one…
Cheers!
A-D
My paperwork has been faxed in!! I think it will take a little longer for me to get it though because our insurance needs at least 7 days before Omnipod can do anything. I cant wait!
Hi A-D - my rep told me that they do not recommend removing the insulin from a pod if it is bad, but also said that it is ok if there was a lot left in there. Do you remember specifically why they told you that you should not remove the insulin from the pod if it is bad?
I put a new pod on one night and the next morning my BS was like 300...so I tried to bolus and the PDM told me that the cannula was plugged and to switch to a new pod...so I took that insulin out and put it into a new pod. I didn't seem to have any trouble with it...so just wondering...?
[quote user="A-D"]
Kathy,
So... was that first morning after you got on it as cool/weird/wonderful for you as it was for me???
I woke up - sat up - realized i didn't have to give a shot and nearly swooned, LOL
Cheers!
A-D
[/quote]
Hey A-D - every single time I don't have to take a shot I feel that way!
Whether it is eating, or going to bed, or waking up in the morning, or treating a high bs...every single time I punch those buttons on the PDM instead of taking a shot I feel so incredibly awesome and thankful for that pump!
One of the last shots I gave to myself before going on the pump left a pretty bad bruise and it took like 2 weeks for it to finally go away...by that time I was on the pump, pushing buttons instead of having to find new spots to bruise with a frickin' needle!
It is a daily, hourly, minute by minute swooning for me! And it is fantastic! ;o)
[quote user="LauraJ"]our insurance needs at least 7 days before Omnipod can do anything. I cant wait![/quote]
Those seven days are going to feel like a lifetime!!!
Kathy,
I believe there are two concerns. First, once the pod has been placed on the skin there is no good way to sterilize the port. It is not shaped to accommodate the friction + good alcohol coating that you would use, say with an insulin vial. So when you draw the insulin out, I suspect there is concern that you may be contaminating the needle and/or the next pod. The second concern is that if you have had the pod on for – say 48 hours, that insulin has now been over 80 degrees Fahrenheit for two days. If you keep pulling insulin out and going from pod to pod at some point you are very likely to encounter significant differences in action.
These are my guesses but I have not had good answers from any of the people I’ve talked to, either but they Insulet folks have been adamant that they do not recommend doing it. Let’s face it, if you get in a bind – you do what you have t’ do – LOL but I would love to have seen a trap door with a removable reservoir and a clean-out port of sorts where you could remove the pod, and safely and easily get the insulin out in the event of a failure. This would (of course) not address the temperature concerns but there are several circumstances where I can see this being a nice feature.
If you get more or better information before I do, I’d love to know what you find!
Cheers!
A-D
I know!! And that is not even including the time that Omnipod needs to process it all on their own...ugh...It WILL be worth the wait though...I know that!
Laura
This Omnipod sounds really good,I may go to youtube and see if anyone did a video on it.
There are a ton of videos on youtube because they had a video contest. I've watched a lot of them...some are really cute. I really like the ones that the little boy caleb made.
Laura
Wanted to give everyone a quick update about how the pod has been working out for me. I spent the last few days moving the pod around every other day, seeing where it felt best on my body before I start putting insulin into the thing this comming week. For me, I've found the best places to be on my legs and on my back, though I have no tried my arms yet. I'm not really the biggest guy so I don't have alot of fat on my body. Having the pod on my stomach felt awkward, and I always became aware of it again whenever I walked or climbed the stairs. In contrast having the pod on my leg, I forgot about it within an hour, same thing with my back, only noticing it again when I sat in a chair.
As far as the actual process of using the handheld device, administering a bolus etc, everything is very simple, the handheld PDM doubles as a glucose monitor so I have really been enjoying that. The entire process seems very natural after just a few days, very much looking forward to getting all my levels finalized and starting insulin soon!
All my best to everyone, have a great weekend!