To omnipod or not to omnipod??

We r on the ping and with my first summer approaching I am getting more nervous .. Omni pod sounds so great.. No cord.. Does the stabbing for me.. Smaller pods coming in 1 month.. No disconnecting..
If there is a downside I just can't find it. Anyone have any bad experiences?
Here's my blog with my story and my whole detailed omnipod or not rant lol http://jellybean-dlife.blogspot.com/2013/02/to-omni-pod-or-not-to-omnipod.html?m=1

 

If they still have the cut the cord program, then I would say you have very little to lose by trying it out. I was nervous about making the commitment for 4 years if we let insurance pay for one. The biggest issue we have had is adhesive itching and leaving marks on her skin, but there are products that you can use to help if those problems occur. She has been on it over 4 years now and I can't imagine going back to a tubed pump now.

 

We've not tried anything else, but absolutely LOVE the OmniPod!! I actually saw a tubed pump on a kiddo about my son's age and I am SO glad we didn't choose that. For us personally, I couldn't imagine him being hooked to a continuous line all the time. Not to say it's not doable, and we would have done it in a heartbeat if insurance didn't cover the OmniPod, but glad we didn't have to make a choice.

I love that only one thing is attached and it can be moved around and covered wherever we put it. Can't wait for the smaller pods.

If you can take advantage of the cut the cord, you really don't have much to lose.

 

Yeah, I agree. For $199, it's a heck of a bargain. (Says the woman with an Omnipod in her linen closet gathering dust. I really need to slap one on my kid to see what I think.) The only thing that makes me wary of Omnipod is that since my son has been diagnosed, they seem to have had two fairly prolonged periods where they had some pretty serious quality control issues with pods. But if you have a tubed pump as a back up, you'd have the option of riding those times out again (should they re-occur) with your Ping.

 

We loved our tubed pump. We did. But switching to Omnipod changed our lives. We spend a lot of time at the lake and in the pool, and being able to wrap the pod and go relieved me of SO much stress! My son can graze while taking turns on the knee board, he can run out and jump into the pool, change his mind and come back in without any unplugging, any re-taping, and stressing over missed basals, etc. I no longer dread summers.:cwds:

There was definitely something going on with the quality of pods a while back, and that was a major pain. I called Omnipod and told them I was returning everything and switching to a different pump. They changed out all of our remaining pods, and problem solved!

I'd certainly give it a shot!

 

We love ours. We've never had a tubed pump, but we are very happy with Omnipod, and have no plans of changing a thing.

 

Hana has only had the POD. Started when she was 9. She's almost 12 now. No major issues for us
She says she will ever wear tubed. Though looking forward to the smaller pods since she's in a swim suit everyday.

 

We love ours but I have no point of comparison. There was one period where there were a higher percentage of failures but even then they were dealt with by the company. Our failure rate over the last year has been great. I am doubtful the failure rate is any higher than the rate where standard pump sites have to be dealt with because of issues.

My biggest negative was and is the Freestyle strip. The rumor is that they will change to the Verio IQ strips within a year but I'm not holding my breath for that.

 

I have never seen site failure rates for tubed pumps approach the level that the Pods were having during those two separate times when they had issues. And really, it's not a fair comparison anyway, since Pods themselves are so much more delicate and complex than a site. I actually think it makes sense that they would have a higher failure rate generally than tubed pump sites. Our sites are basically a cannula with tape attached. A lot less to go wrong there than with a Pod. That's not a crack on Pods. They're just apples and oranges. That being said, the "regular" Pod failure rate doesn't concern me.

One thing that does make me nervous about Pods failing is that from a non-user's perspective, it sounds like they fail LOUDLY when they do fail. Not a huge deal at home, I guess, but my son would kill me if his arm started shrieking in public. I'm probably making it worse in my mind than it is, but he would never be embarrassed by a sound that his pump would make, and I'm not sure why the pods have to fail so, SO loudly (and sometimes require beating them with heavy objects to make them stop!)

Overall, I like the Omnipod concept, and always have. We will definitely give it a go, probably when the smaller pods are released.

 

They do have the program but it's ending soon, according to our rep. He told me that the program ends with the release of the smaller pod and he stressed that we needed to have everything done by the end of February. We submitted payment on Monday and our pods ship on the 25th. DS is a new pumper but DD is through the cut the cord as we are still within the 4 years on her pump. She hasn't been using it but it still counts. $199 was fabulous and DD is very excited about switching to the omnipod.

And, according to the people we talked to about the payment and ship date, they are getting the NEW smaller pods with the very first shipment. Very, very happy news!

 

I don't think it's all that loud but younger people will certainly think so. I would assume they are loud because they are at a very high frequency and people normally lose hearing around this frequency so in order for an older adult to hear it, it has to be loud.

I have an ultra-sonic dog deterrent in my back yard and the kids, up to about the age of 18, all complain when it gets activated. My son can hear it and complains - none of the adults can hear it. So, I would assume that a pod, when it fails like this, would cause quite a bit of ruckus in a classroom.

The hammer comes out when it just won't shut up which in our case is pretty rare. I actually don't use a hammer - just a pair of pliers.

TL;DR The occasional pod failure is certainly no stealth event.

 

Hana had a POD fail at a swim meet recently. You could hear the dang thing screeching over all the cheering and echoing. It was terrible. She was mortified. We couldn't get rid of it quick enough. She tore it off and I ran out to the car with it because I didn't know what else to do with it.

 

There are times when it would be theraputic to take a hammer to a D-related item, that's for sure.

I love the concept of the Pod, and am looking forward to the smaller ones (and new PDM?). If we can get our hands on them before the end of March when he's on Spring Break, we will probably give it a go then.

 

Hello, We are about to go to the Pod I think but what is the downside on the freestyle strips? I use those now and love them. They hardly take any blood. Thanks!

 

There was a huge fiasco when Abbott changed the strips and, technically, there were no strips that were FDA approved to be found. It was a big stink but, in my opinion, no real harm done. They are very reliable and do take very little blood. I'm just not a huge Abbott fan. If I thought they were a real problem I wouldn't use them and I do.

I would prefer the Verio IQ strips - on paper they are more accurate.

Both now are nits and I wouldn't tell anyone they were a significant reason to not go with the pods.

 

I think the world is divided into two camps. Those who think pump tubing is synonymous with garden hose and those who look at the pod and think tumor. You just have to pick your particular mischaracterization.

 

We have been using OmniPod for 4 years and never had any issues. Not sure when the issues you were referring occurred. If in past 4 years we never had those issues

 

One set of issues occurred when we were looking at pumps, so 5 years ago now. The latest set of issues was probably a year to a year and a half ago. There were definitely quality control problems both times.

 

Sarah,
You crack me up! I just sent the paperwork for the cut the cord program. I figure at worst for $199 I'll find out if she really hates everything but animas.

 

Thanks, Amy

I'm tempted to do the same, though just as a back-up, occasional use pump. May wait till they start shipping the smaller pods, and we just got the G4 yesterday so that's top of the "to do" list for now.