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Integrated Diabetes Services

Alicia: UnLeashed! November 2017 monthly article: Attack of the Pod People! My In-Depth Review of Omnipod.

ALICIA-unleashed


One of the spiffy side benefits of working at Integrated Diabetes Services is getting access to all the diabetes tech a person could ever try.

In the last couple of months I’ve been on three different pumps, used a couple different sensors and swapped infusion sets. This isn’t for my fun and benefit, but so I can better relate to my clients, assess their needs and meet them with real world knowledge, not just what is printed in the corporate FDA approved literature. I’m a person with type 1 diabetes, helping people with type 1 diabetes, it is that real world and firsthand experience that makes a big difference. So, with that in mind I am also honest about my experiences. When I find something that works for me, I let others know. When I find something that does not work for me I let others know. The common thread here is FOR ME! But put that information into the world and people come unglued like I’d told them I’m going to come and take their favorite products away from them!

attack of the pod peopleMy In-Depth Review of the Omnipod:

Most recently I’ve been trying the Omnipod for the second time. I had tried the “pod” briefly when I first started pumping about 10 years ago. It was an unmitigated disaster back then. The higher profile pod ended up getting ripped off daily, I had one beep at me at 3 am until I threw it in the freezer so I wouldn’t have to hear it, and I lost the PDM for a day and a half. So I went for a “tubed” pump.  But here I am, older, wiser, and a lot less prone to tears when my blood sugar takes a sudden and unexpected left turn. (Ah the peace that comes with knowledge) So I wanted to give the Omnipod another try, to see if the advancements, reduced size and my life now would be a good fit.

I’m finding that the Omnipod is an amazing product!

The PDM is flexible, gives TONS of really useful presets and even has carb listings built in!! I have sincerely enjoyed not catching myself on door knobs or having to pry my tubing from the gummy grip of my 6 month old son. And I am really looking forward to the DASH controller that will be touch screen and also serve as a Dexcom receiver. I gave myself two weeks to put the Omnipod through its paces. It’s been mashed under a corset at the renaissance faire, it’s been to the gym, it’s been a foot hold for my son’s attempts to climb me like a tree, and held tight through my endless tossing and turning at night. I’m quite happy with the lower profile. My sensitive skin has gotten a little itchy, but with mild adhesive allergies, it’s part of the price I pay for pumping.

That said, I cannot WAIT for the two week mark so I can rip this thing off for the last time and never look back!!!

My blood sugar starts to creep up at the end of day two, so I have to basal and bolus more so the pod doesn’t last the full 3 days, I seem to keep putting it in places that are comfortable everywhere except in the car, and I have close to 3 hours of commute time every weekday! I lose my PDM daily and walk the length of my house twice before I can finally bolus, and there goes my prebolus time. It also won’t let me set an extended basal until after it delivers my bolus, so when I ate Chinese food yesterday at a meeting I looked like a noob checking my PDM every couple of minutes to be done delivering, because if I don’t keep looking I will forget to enter the extended basal and that Chinese food will leave me high all afternoon! OH! and that temp basal, it’s going to beep at me to remind me that it’s temp basaling, but I forget that and go running to the PDM to see what’s wrong. Ok, rant over.

Woah! Did you feel that?! It was the feeling of hundreds of people preparing to throw their PDMs at me! Attack of the pod people!!! HOLD YOUR FIRE! I just said the Omnipod is amazing. And, goodness knows, I love my brothers and sisters in arms in this battle that is diabetes. I know you’re not alien pod people out to dominate mankind.  But say that someone else’s therapy choice doesn’t work for you and people are ready to get not only defensive, but downright belligerent! I have had people question my education because I switch from Medtronic, I have had people question my politics because I ever used a Medtronic!  We really need to stop judging people based on their therapy choices. I know we can get a bit tribal about our brand loyalty in the USA (which is a brand unto itself these days!). My phone has a picture of a fruit on it, as does most the tech in my house. But, I’m typing this on a PC. Why? Because, it is a better fit for where I work. Why have options if we don’t use the one that fits best?  We just lost a pump company, we just lost an option. As our options get fewer and fewer the rules of capitalism dictate that we will have fewer and fewer really meaningful innovations. Remember when smart phones first came out? Every new generation had amazing new features that changed how we interacted. This year we are getting facial recognition……yeah that’s about it. Companies know that if you only have a few options they do not have to wow you to win you, they just have to show up and be slightly different. Omnipod is pretty different in the market. It is the only tubeless, real-time programmable insulin infusion pump. I am so glad we have that option. I recommend it all the time for young people who want to keep their diabetes treatment less intrusive. I recommend it for people who swim a lot, and who like to be able to bolus their kids at night without a tangle of tubes.  I am also really glad I can go to a different pump that fits my life, my body and my goals a little better.  I’ve used Medtronic pumps and have things I like and dislike about them. I’ve used Tandem pumps and have things I like and dislike about them. I’m pretty sure if AliciaDownsRN  Medical Inc designed, engineered, styled, and produced an insulin pump, I’d figure out something to complain about and something else that would make me never give it up.

Find what works for you, find the features you don’t want to live without, and the irritations that will drive you batty. And when you’ve found those things, make the best choice for you, and be glad you have choices!  Then find someone who made a different choice and give them a high five for supporting diversity and help them find what they love about pens, or pills, or pumps, or therapy modes that don’t even begin with “P”!

If you need help sorting through the multitude of therapy options out there, check out our blogs and newsletters and schedule an appointment with Integrated Diabetes Services. We will listen to your needs and goals, your limitations and expectations and help you find the right pump for you. We will be honest; we don’t subscribe to brand loyalty. In something as frivolous as a phone it’s fine, but this is your LIFE. And that is far too important to be a question of brand loyalty or sales.