our 1st pump appt./Omnipod for kids

[Twyla]

Hi,

We just met with our nurse educator yesterday to discuss starting Gabriel, 5, on a pump. She showed us the Minimed, Animus, Cosmo and Omnipod pumps. The first 3 have probably been discussed to death here but I thought it worth posting that the Omnipod was just approved for kids in May (according to the nurse). I like the Omnipod concept a LOT but I think we'll go with either the Animus or the Cosmo (and recent opinions welcome on both!). There are two downsides to the Omnipod that I see--1) limited data available, especially in kids and 2) it can go in the water but only for 30 minutes at a time. You can't just unhook it to go swimming without completely changing the set.

I am also told that not all insurance companies are covering it so I suppose that could be another disadvantage, but ours does. I think we'd go for it in spite of limited data if it were only more waterproof. Then there is the issue that our son wants nothing to do with a pump--any advice on convincing him? I really think it will be the key to getting good control over his BGs.

Twyla
Gabriel, 5, d'xd in April; Daniel, 12 and non-D but waiting for the results of his anti-body test

[AmyMcCracken]

Twyla - neither my daughter (6) or husband liked the idea of the pump. Our endo really wanted us to switch but I couldn't fight both of them. At an endo appointment I had them show my daughter a pump and infusion set. They stuck the set on her (no cannula) and let her play with a pump. When I explained she would only need 1 "shot" every 2-3 days instead of 5+ a day she got really excited. This made it a lot easier to convince Dad. You could even talk to the pump reps about testing a pump for a week and wear it yourself. You could then let your son bolus you so he could see how easy it is. After 2 months my daughter says she never wants to go back to shots. My daughter loves the fact that at school she can particpate in any treats and doesn't have to have a shot. It's helped her feel a lot more normal and gives her a lot of independence. I hope your able to convince your son - the pump has made our life with D so much easier.

[Twyla]

Well, I just got off the phone with an Omnipod rep. He says that, as of this week, they have removed the restriction on only 30 minutes in the water from their FDA material. He tells me they have a lot of lifeguards on the Omnipod and assured me that wearing it in water wasn't a problem. I'll be calling our nurse educator to see what she thinks about this shift but it sounds very positive to me. If it works as advertised it's pretty impressive. If anyone has direct experience please let me know.

Twyla

[Seans Dad]

See my thread about omnipod, let me know if you have questions

[EmmasMom]

We decided against the omnipod because of the limited experience of the company, and the lack of software. We actually spent months after Emma's diagnosis trying to get more info from them, but we only got automated responses, and no real answers. We rely heavily on our pumps software to adjust insulin, and track patterns, etc., so that was a big downside for us.
The idea is very intriguing though. We'll see how others do with it and maybe in 2.5 years, (new pump time), we'll look into it again.

Good Luck!!!