Omnipod users

[madilynsdad]

We are fighting the insurance company pretty hard right now to get the Omni pod for our 2 year old. The pump just seems like the best fit for our 2 year old, no tubing to worry about and a big plus, we would not have to worry about her wearing her controller. It has been very frustrating, I am wanting to know if it worth all the frustration we are going through. If you have a child who uses the Omni pod Please help us, we want to make the right decision! Are you finding that it helps control diabetes just as good as the other pumps?

[kevin@diabetech.net]

Please double check how their insulin on board feature works. I heard that their pump does not keep track of bolus insulin due to carbohydrates (meal bolus). As a parent, we are constantly saved by the correct IOB calc which considers all short acting insulin on board - not just the correction bolus. Please post back what you find out. I hope I am wrong or just misinformed on this point regarding the omnipod.

[Kirsten]

Griffin has been on the omnipod since he was 2.5 years old. We are very happy with it, but if your 2 year old is physically small, it may not be the best choice. Feel free to PM or email me with any questions. There is an Omnipod thread under pumps with lots of info from people who's children are on the pod.

Kirsten

[madilynsdad]

thank you for your comments!

[Barry]

I have become somewhat close with my Omnipod rep and the company CDE. I asked that specific question and the answer is yes...it does account for insulin on board when making bolus reccomendations.
Insurance info is @ Insulet...cant wait to do the fine tuning I've always wanted to do but been unable.

[kevin@diabetech.net]

A well respected source has it that in fact Insulet is planning to change the way that their pump calculates residual short acting insulin to incorporate the meal bolus in the future. As a direct quote from Amy Tenderich (http://www.diabetesmine.com/2007/05/omnipod_the_iob.html), a user and huge fan of the Omnipod, at DiabetesMine.com:

"First I queried Insulet Corp. on why they made their IOB (aka BOB for "bolus on board") function work the way it does: it currently shows only insulin delivered as a correction -- and not remaining insulin from a meal bolus -- therefore it can prompt the user to take a post-meal correction too soon after eating if the BG reading is too high."

She goes on to report...

"However, the Insulet folks did say that considering customer feedback on their IOB function is "on the top of our priority list for future development." I guess I'm not the only one tripped up by it."

Keep in mind that while medical device sales reps do try to stay on top of things, they are human and may not get the same answers as a reporter who calls headquarters... Unfortunately, I couldn't find an Omnipod user guide on the web so could not verify myself. Also, this doesn't mean their pump is faulty. Just that the user, especially someone who might be used to a different pump, needs to pay special attention to the increased potential for stacking insulin.