Omni Pod pump .. My thoughts

I think I promised yesterday to give my Thoughts on the OmniPod. I loved it! I am so sorry that United Healthcare made it difficult to purchase replacement pods. I think I may have made a huge mistake switching back to a regular tubed pump in order to save the hassle of dealing with insurance.

First I have to say that United Healthcare hadn't out and out denied the Pods for the OmniPod pump but it did seem to me that they were going to require pre-authorization and doctors notes every time I ordered replacement pods. Every three months to go through all the effort put into authorizing a pump and wonder whether it would be approved. I unfortunately decided to go back to a tubed pump and am already regretting it. I will explain much of my regret when I tell you about the T-Slim pump tomorrow.

The OmniPod is a little different and has a bigger profile on you than most other pumps so you might have a problem with that. I didn't. Each OmniPod, Pod contains it's own tiny little insulin pump. This explains their expense. They are basically a 3 day one use insulin pump that attaches to your body. Each Pod is about the size of credit card and about 1/4 inch thick. I don't have one in front of me so I'm doing this from memory. This entire plastic piece is attached to your side, arm or leg, wherever your infusion site is.  As you can tell this will be a bit more noticeable than the infusion site from other pumps. The wonderful thing about the Pod is that there are no tubes attached and running to a pump. everything, the circuit board, the memory, the insulin itself is self contained. This makes the Pod water proof and you never have to take it off.

When changing a Pod you keep it close to the wireless Pod Controller. and fill the Pod with insulin. the Pod Controller wirelessly uploads all the info for the pod to the onboard memory, Basil setup, Carb ratio etc. After the Pod is filled with insulin and things are ready to go you put the Pod on your selected site for infusion and push start on the pump controller. The Pod automatically inserts the canula and begins proper basil insulin delivery. From that point until the next Pod change you only need the controller to input info for Bolus's. You can shower, bath and swim with the pod on. I wore my Pod on my side and on the back of my arms on my triceps. There is so much scar tissue on my sides from years of pump use I found that absorption was much better while on my arm.

Advantages of the Pods:

1. More variety of site placement: I can't imagine tubing running from my arm through my shirt and to a pump on my waist, but wearing a pod on my arm was easy. 
2. Waterproof: I wore my pods in the shower and even swimming. We went to the lake one weekend and I spent a few hours in the water each day. No problems. 
3. User less insulin: because you don't have to worry about filling tubing there is very little insulin waste. I was down to 175 units every three days. I'm putting over 200 units in my current pump and between the insulin lost in the tubing and the insulin it "hides in reserve" I'm getting only about 170 units of usable insulin. 
4. Never taking the pump off and not worrying about tubing kinks or air bubbles did seem to moderate my blood sugars much better. 

Disadvantages of the Pods: 

1. They are much bigger on your body than traditional infusion sites. It can feel bulky occasionally. Felt huge the first time I wore it on my arm and I worried about the weight pulling it off. As I got used to it though I would forget it was there and bump it on things like door frames as I walked through. That's a little weird. 
2. There Pod only lasts three days. There is no extending the time if there is a little extra insulin there. It will shut down and force you to change the pod. This also means that if you change your Pod at 4 oclock in the afternoon you can't wait till a more convenient 6pm to change it when you get home from work next time. It will shut down at 4 and you will need to change it. 
3. Don't forget the Pod controller: I did twice and had to go back home and get it. You cannot bolus or do anything else without that controller. The Pod will continue giving you basil insulin and follow the proper pattern for that but if you want to change anything you need the controller.
4. Controller's Glucose Monitor: OmniPod built a freeStyle Glucose monitor into the Pod Controller. Unfortunately my insurance didn't cover freestyle well and I ended up carrying a Glucose monitor too. 

I Loved the OmniPod. I wish I would have fought a little harder to keep it. Now it seems I'm stuck with Tandem's T-Slim. The Diabetic educator at my Doctors office was really high on the T-Slim. So Far I'm not so impressed. I'll tell you why in the next post. 

If you have any questions about the OmniPod please comment. I'll try to answer them.