Before I get to the Medtronic I need to share my thoughts on the Pod/Goiter. Sunday morning was the end of my 3 days with my first pod and so I went to change it with the replacement. I pulled out the book and removed my old one (which was still really sticky), filled the new one and then I set it to prime (communicate and start insulin flow). It was going well and good until right after it "finished" priming it made a horrible long beeping sound like a mild fire alarm. I of course freaked out. I had no idea what was going on, or why it was going on. The remote read Communication Failure please put pod closer to PDM (remote) so I did that and pushed next. Another error (minus the alarm) and it said to move to a new area location. What??? I thought maybe my house has crazy sound/electromagnetic waves that makes it not connect so I tried in my car. Nope. Well by this time I was really frustrated and had to get to church because I was teaching RS and it is the first hour of church. I tried 3 more times and then I gave up. Oh well needle pokes don't bother me anymore. Dez said this stuff happens and it might have connected with another PDM in her office. Who knows?
This picture is of the part of the goiter that goes into you. It is just the cannula not the needle but you can see how unobtrusive it is. My biggest drawback to the OmniPod is that I will need a seperate CGM which means a separate remote and that it is (the Pod) actually pretty hard to hide under clothes. I would be covered with goiter spots. The trick is that you can't put it in the same place you already had it and so you need at least 3 good spots. I have the pod still (Dez says you just throw them away and also I can take it apart, cool) and so I can pretend to wear it under the clothes I have to see if there are better places to put it.
Okay back to the Medtronic. It really does look like a pager and as much as I love the idea of people thinking I am a very important surgeon who needs to be available at any moment it just isn't true. It is actually as you can see from the picture below it is not as long as my blackberry but a little thicker and of course it is tethered to me by a really long tube that delivers my insulin.
It comes in different colors which is fun. The one I am wearing now is purple but I think the silver one is the one I am most drawn to.
When I was shown the different pods on my first visit with Dez the way you insert this cannula was really unappealing. Mostly because you have to use this weird device (I called it a torture device) and you determine when it sticks you. With the OmniPod you tell it to start and then you just wait for it. So I filled the pump (the thing that holds the insulin), primed the pump and removed the insert, which has the tube connected, and had to bolus until I saw insulin come from the needle. Then I removed the case from around the needle hook the device to the needle, pull the plug back and put it to my abdomen. This is where the big decision comes in. If it hurt I knew right then I would tell her I want the OmniPod...I pushed the buttons on the side and it sprung into me. She then had me push down on the top and hold it there for 10 seconds to make sure the insertion worked and that the tape on the patch would hold and nothing except the needle would come back out. Dez was very complementary and gave me the short cannula because (her words not mine) I am not big enough to need it to go deep to make sure the insulin doesn't stay on the surface!! Yeah, my dietitian doesn't think I am fat!! Well just like the OmniPod I didn't feel the insertion. I think I am just getting use to needles. When the 10 seconds were up I pulled the torture device (sorry no picture) and the needle out. I actually was surprised at how long the needle was. It was bigger than the needles I use now and about another half a needle length longer.
That is actually a mole on my stomach. I have tons of little bruises because of my shots but I actually have to make sure I don't put my site too close to moles because it will/can disrupt insulin flow...weird I know. Also that is my pinky finger so it gives you a good idea how small the patch is and it is only about as think as a nickle or maybe a nickle with a dime on top.
I will have this pump until Thursday and will drop it off and tell Dez my decision. So far I like how small the patch is on the Medtronic and the fact that the "pager" doubles as a remote for the CGM (I am not demoing that because it is too short of a time). I love that is has a CGM and that there are so many different ways of hooking it to your body. They even had a thing that you can use when you exercise, a strap around your leg or something. Drawback #1 I have to take it off to shower. Drawback #2 I actually don't know if this is a drawback yet but I don't know if I will get caught up in my tubing while I sleep. I will figure that out tonight I guess...
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