Sweet Victory

In no particular order: A. The Omnipod and I had a fairly good weekend, other than the fact that I chose a bad location for my Pod change and switched it hours later; something I chalk up to experience. Final Pod-servations: 1) The nature of the Pod and the amazing painlessness of it has one negative side effect. It's less obvious when you've got a bad insertion and it isn't working. I don't think this is a big deal, though, as I expect to get better at placing it. 2) The more comprehensive menus and frequent beeping actually create a slightly different relationship than that which I had with my Medtronic pump. By always reminding me what's on board and asking about my BG whenever I bolus, the Omnipod works harder to be a partner. In contrast, the pump acts more like a tool. You do the thinking, it does the pumping. Period. 90% of the time, I love this. But sometimes it kind of seems like a nag. However, there's no denying: I'm running better blood sugars on...

Second day on the Omnipod after 8 years on the Medtronic. Less observations, but a few: 1. Did a 6 mile run over lunch with the Omnipod on my arm. Felt a little jiggle and was preoccupied for about 30 yards. That was it. 2. I wish the Omnipod had an easy bolus button like the Medtronic pump. To get to bolus you need to first go past a status screen. It's a small thing, but when you've had this disease a long time, you usually know your status (BG, last bolus) and don't need to be reminded of it. 3. I'm a little worried about how loud the alarm will be when it's time to change the Pod. There is an 8 hour window to change it, but there is an hourly alarm during that window. That strikes me as being a bit naggy. 4. I love wearing this thing on my arm. Though I still have the Dex on my belly, it's really nice not to have the pump there. Very cool. 5. I've gotten a few comments from parents with kids on the Omnipod and I appreciate them a lot. As a parent with ki...

After waiting for a few weeks for paperwork to be sorted, filed and what-not, my Omnipod arrived yesterday. Because I am the way I am, I put it on last night without any training. Incidentally, that's probably not something I'd recommend, as my faulty style resulted in an occlusion and waking up with a blood sugar of 300. But I digress... one fresh pod and several hours of detox later, I'm 93 and the living is easy. So here's what I think about the Omnipod, after being on it 1 day and being on the Medtronic pump for 8 years: 1) Taking my pants off is more fun. With the pump, you're either unclipping or being careful you don't end up yanking the cord off. No such problem with the Pod, since there is no cord. 2) Having the Pod on my arm is nice. One of the main reason I did this was to give my belly a break and I like that a lot. 3) There is less trash. Others have written about how much trash is involved with a typical pump change. With the pump, things are simpl...