At last! DSN called re: new pump!

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Hello @Pattidevans reads like you know your body well, well done.
I too am retired which makes for more stable less stressful days. Reading your reply to me above is exactly how I was when first diagnosed T1, I was not going to let it crush me, and I haven't.
I got the impression when I met the rep that she had a set way of expressing the pod details and would leave your nurse to tweak the pod after her instruction.
I hadn't had a pod before so it was all new to me but once I'd had the principle explained setting up differing time blocks was exactly as she had explained only at a differing time block, easy peasy.
There didn't seem to be any reason for her to set up a pod for an individual with multiple time blocks as it would suck up her time unnecessarily, she just explained it once and left it to myself to repeat the steps to match my needs.

Best
 
She emailed me with a link to a lot of videos which explain more or less how to set it up and what it does, so I've been watching those.

Mark, can I ask what you do about priming the pump? My current pump is filled by a reservoir that you fill from the vial, but however careful I am and however slowly I fill the reservoir there are always bubbles (little teensy ones) that I cannot get out of the reservoir. So I put it in the pump and then prime the pump until all the bubbles have stopped coming down the tubing. I was thinking about that as I changed my pump this morning.
 
When I started on the Omnipod (about 18 months ago) I had the three-way video conference thing. During that the rep explained each step of the set-up and then waited while I put my own numbers in and then moved on to the next step. The DSN didn't really get too much involved in that part. It would be a bit time consuming to input 24 time blocks so I can understand why the nurse would want to reduce them, and I would do exactly as you propose i.e. go along with the nurse and then put in your 24 blocks immediately the video is over.

As to your question about priming the pump to get rid of bubbles, the way it works with the Omnipod is that you take out the insulin from the vial with a syringe and then inject the insulin into the pod. You get rid of the bubbles when filling the syringe, and I was told that a little bit of 'champagne' at that stage doesn't really matter. Once the insulin has been injected into the pod, the priming process is fully automatic and you have no control. In any event, once the insulin is in the pod you can't see it anyway.
 
m1dnc said:
When I started on the Omnipod (about 18 months ago) I had the three-way video conference thing. During that the rep explained each step of the set-up and then waited while I put my own numbers in and then moved on to the next step. The DSN didn't really get too much involved in that part. It would be a bit time consuming to input 24 time blocks so I can understand why the nurse would want to reduce them, and I would do exactly as you propose i.e. go along with the nurse and then put in your 24 blocks immediately the video is over.
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Excellent!
m1dnc said:
As to your question about priming the pump to get rid of bubbles, the way it works with the Omnipod is that you take out the insulin from the vial with a syringe and then inject the insulin into the pod. You get rid of the bubbles when filling the syringe, and I was told that a little bit of 'champagne' at that stage doesn't really matter. Once the insulin has been injected into the pod, the priming process is fully automatic and you have no control. In any event, once the insulin is in the pod you can't see it anyway.
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That's exactly what I suspected @m1dnc so thank you 🙂 Having watched the videos I was wondering... when they say you can see the pink thingie which signified the neede has gone in... how on earth do you see that if the pod is on the back of your arm or on your buttock???
 
Hello @Pattidevans as David [m1dnc] says above you clear the syringe before you fill the Pod.
Pattidevans said:
how on earth do you see that if the pod is on the back of your arm or on your buttock???
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Well you can try balancing over a mirror not a pretty sight but I struggle / can't see it anyway even when I have the Pod on the front of my thigh it is too difficult to see it. I just rely on the ping feel as I insert the Pod needle into my body and........... if my bg shows corrections for the carbs I've eaten.
So far so good.
 
I agree with Mark. The pink thingy is very difficult to see at the best of times, and I too just rely on the feel of the cannula insertion. You can't really mistake it.
 
Hi all - I've just come onto this thread so haven't read every entry but can fully endorse the Omnipod which I've been using for the past two years in conjunction with the Freestyle Libre FGM system (operated separately). I love the lack of tubes and cannulas etc with the Omnipod and find the PDM easy to use (I'm not on DASH yet). Changing every 3 days gets a bit tiresome but still much better than MDI and my "time in range" has never been better (always >80% and often >90%). My DSN also proposed the Omnipod at the start because there was no long term contract to sign up to. Having said that I have no desire to change it anyway. For me the small of my back is my preferred location alternating with my stomach area. I play a lot of sport and the back is just out of the way! My wife used to stick the pod on my back to start with but, with a bit of practice, I now manage to do it myself without problem. I never bother to check whether the cannula has inserted correctly as, to date, it always has. Anyway I'd know very quickly if there was a problem as my BG would show it!
 
Thanks @T1Nick that's very reassuring!

So I finally have the Omnipod in my sticky little grasp, having picked it up this afternoon. Looking forward to the training session on Wednesday and my fears about being put onto "time blocks" have been allayed by the pump DSN as she has looked at the hourly basals I sent her - after I'd put them into some semblence of sense rather than the rambling order they had got into - I adjusted them a few days ago and they seem fine. Apparently my "picture" does not follow that of a "normal" person (well, I never conform 😉 ), but she says that she's looked at my Libreview data and can see that I run a straight line. I'm still smiling about her comment at the end of the email..."your control is the sort of control I would wish on all my patients". Silly though it is - it is so nice to get approval rather than being ticked off all the time! Something the Endo does every time he sees my Hba1c which he says is too low.
 
Excellent news - I'm sure you will love "podding"! Funny how Endo's like to comment on HbA1C levels being too low - I have had the same comment from mine! He seems to assume I must be having loads of hypos to be able to get it that low, which is not the case. In truth it was due to me treating Time in Range as a competition between me and diabetes and I liked to win. OK maybe I did get a bit obsessive at times - so last time I'd let the HbA1C go back up to 48 mmol/mol and he was happy! For reference before Libre and the pump it was as high as 75 mmol/mol - is this a similar experience for others?? If there was ever an argument that "diabetes tech" works, then I think I have it.
The function on the Omnipod controller I find really good is the option to "extend the bolus". I guess that, as an experience pump user, this is all second nature to you but, for me, it has been a revelation in helping ensure that the insulin release time matches the absorption time for the CHO I've just eaten.
Do let us know how you get on - always happy to answer any teething trouble questions!
 
Hi @T1Nick - funny how the Endo was the one to give me the Libre, but doesn't take any notice of the results which prove I'm not hypo all the time! Been on the Omnipod now for 3 days. I am about to report on that.
 
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