What Pump to choice for my daughter

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Rob C

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Hi all want people’s opinion on something. We are in the process of getting a pump for my daughter ( 8 years old ) she likes the omnipod but she has recently been given funding for the Libre 3 so that means if we choice the My Life Ypso pump we could have the closed loop system. You can’t get this with omnipod unless you have the dexcom G6. ( currently know date on when they will connect with Libre )

My question is has anyone got the Ypso pump and is it any good and what would people do go with the pump with no tube omnipod or the pump we can get the close loop system Ypso ?

All options helpful

Thanks
Rob
 
Later this year Omnipod 5 will be available & will integrate with Dexcom G6 to make adjustments to basal delivery, only know this as will be changing over myself when available.
 
nonethewiser said:
Later this year Omnipod 5 will be available & will integrate with Dexcom G6 to make adjustments to basal delivery, only know this as will be changing over myself when available.
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I did hear this too the only problem is we would have to pay £140 a month for the dexcom G6 where they told us we are getting funding for the Libre 3 because she gets lots of inaccurate reading with Libre 2.
 
Rob C said:
I did hear this too the only problem is we would have to pay £140 a month for the dexcom G6 where they told us we are getting funding for the Libre 3 because she gets lots of inaccurate reading with Libre 2.
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Right, so they won't fund G6, that's a pity.
 
I don’t know anything about the Ypso pump, but in the nearly 11 years that my daughter has had diabetes, we have had: basic pump with no sensors for 4 years, basic pump with Libre 1 for 4 years, and pump combined with Dexcom for nearly 3 (basal suspend only for the first 2 and a bit years and fully looping since December). Daughter’s blood sugar control improved dramatically when we got Dexcom and even more when switched the software over to deal with highs as well as lows, we get some days now when her blood sugars are almost perfect with us not putting any effort in at all! Not always of course, you still get some days when it all goes wrong, but I’m seriously hoping my daughter chooses the same or similar system again when she has to change next year. I’d go with the looping!
 
Hi does your daughter get funding for the G6 or do you have to pay for this yourself. Also what pump is she currently on looping with the G6? Thank you for your help.
 
We’ve got the Tandem T-Slim. Small and great colour touch screen, refill procedure a bit fiddly but daughter has taken that on all by herself (she’s just turned 17 this week). When she was 8 I had to do the refills for her. We are lucky and do get the G6 funded, were told we wouldn’t but then made a case that she was spending far too much time in the medical room at school recovering from hypos (when concentrating on school work she doesn’t always notice if she’s dropping and Libre 1 had no alarms, so by the time she scanned she could already be in the 2s). Hospital eventually agreed to fund for 6 months to see if things improved, they did dramatically so at the moment 3 years later they are still funding it and we are keeping quiet! We would pay for it if we had to, it’s been a game changer. Have never tried Libre 2 or 3 so can’t comment on them, we thought Libre 1 was fairly accurate but Dexcom beats it hands down for us.
 
Thank you so much for info it’s a big help . We were keen on the omnipod but I think the loop system with the Ypso could be a game changer and we would be silly to turn the loop system down . The four year contract makes me nervous a little.
 
I would agree that looping has been a game changer for (Medtronic 780 for me as I am happy with tubes) I look forward to hearing more from you.
 
If you’ve got funding for the Libre 3 then you should be able to get G6 funding especially if it’s to integrate with looping. It may take a few months to get it sorted but talk to your team.

We have G6 (funded finally) and tslim and for the most part the control iq which predicts highs as well as lows has been amazing. We can get follow data and using sugarmate can get phone calls for alerts at night (or whenever we set it for) which has been very useful.

Any pump will be great for you and don’t worry too much about getting tied in for 4 years. It’ll fly by. If you have an option to loop then it will save some issues but with kids and diabetes things are always changing.

One thing that may be worth thinking about is how frequently you change sensors and cannulas. Dexcom is every 10 days and tslim is every 3 days (although we’ve been through phases of every 2 days and phases where we can do it every 4 days). Less frequent changes can make it more manageable for younger kids. Pump sets do fail so working out what early warning you have of that is also worth factoring in. I don’t know what parental options there are with Libre on alerts.
 
Thank you . After doing some research we do like the idea of Libre 3 as its quite small compared to the g6 so would work for our 8 year olds little arms. I think for us it’s whether we go with the omni pod and hope they have closed loop system with the Libre in the future or just go with the Ypso and have it now. The Libre 2 is very good in sending us alerts for highs and lows and Libre link is very handy for keep an eye on her levels especially when she is at school .
 
SB2015 said:
I would agree that looping has been a game changer for (Medtronic 780 for me as I am happy with tubes) I look forward to hearing more from you.
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Thank you we are thinking the tubs won’t be that bad especially if we get the elastic waist band for her to keep it all neat that might help alot when she is wearing dresses.
 
Does your hospital have spare pumps that they can let you look at? Do some research on both pumps and then decide. Maybe you have done this already, if you’re worried about tubes though my daughter has had tubed pumps ever since she was diagnosed at age 6 and we’ve had no problems with them getting tangled or anything, it’s fairly easy to hide the tube under clothes so they can’t get pulled out. And the cannula is a much smaller thing to be stuck on your daughter’s skin than a whole Omnipod pump, if you’re worried about the size of the G6 then the Omnipod is bigger than that!

I wanted to add as well, don’t worry about the 4 years, it always seems to come round again extremely quickly! And I have heard of some people who absolutely hated their pump and gave it back again, doesn’t happen very often but there is a way out if you do come to the conclusion that you’ve made a terrible mistake. I must add here that once you’ve allowed some time to get used to it, most people love them and very few ever want to give them back!
 
I have never used closed loop but I have used tubed and tubeless pumps.
The reasons for my transition to tubeless was
- Size. I think pumps are a little smaller now than they were then but few tubeless pumps are as small as the OmniPod. My problem with the size was that I could never hide it. I felt like my diabetes was on display all the time. Yes, I could put it in a pump belt but, as I am small, there was still a bump in my clothing which I was always conscious of.
- Access. I do not know about the Ypso but my tubed pump had no remote control. So every time I needed to bolus, I had to get my pump out. This meant that putting it in a pump belt under a dress was a non-starter.

The tube was never an issue. I may not be an 8 year old but I not a sedate adult either. My tubes were not a problem for climbing or running. And when I was on the flying trapeze, it did come out of the pump belt but it stayed attached. I never caught the tube on door handles or anything.

The other thing to consider is being able to detach a tubed pump. This is something I miss when swimming. But there again, I like not having to disconnect it for my morning shower ... when my DP is at its most ferocious.
 
Rob C said:
Thank you . After doing some research we do like the idea of Libre 3 as its quite small compared to the g6 so would work for our 8 year olds little arms. I think for us it’s whether we go with the omni pod and hope they have closed loop system with the Libre in the future or just go with the Ypso and have it now. The Libre 2 is very good in sending us alerts for highs and lows and Libre link is very handy for keep an eye on her levels especially when she is at school .
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I had conversations with the folks who do Omnipod this year. I asked about future integration with the Libre 3 and Omnipod 5. She couldn’t give me an answer but said they were in partnership with Abbot, so there could be something down the line. In my view, she was just as much confirming that it was in the pipeline. Also, I would suggest that NHS funding will be available for Dexcom very soon, and also many other CGMs. Whether that’s a year or more, I don’t know, but children will be first in line.

So closed looping will be available for your daughter sooner or later. I have started on a Medtronic 789g recently. I haven’t started looping yet as I am waiting for the sensors which I am self funding. I have found a massive difference in my diabetes already with the pump alone. I hope this helps you make a more informed decision.
 
Rob C said:
Thank you we are thinking the tubs won’t be that bad especially if we get the elastic waist band for her to keep it all neat that might help alot when she is wearing dresses.
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I've got a pump with tubes and I occasionally wear dresses.

I try to get dresses that have pockets (in general, not just because of diabetes) and I sew large button holes into the pockets that the pump can slip through. The tubing can go from my infusion set, under my clothes and into my pocket, making it easy to take out the pump when I want to check where my blood sugar is at, when get an alarm and when I need to bolus. Having the pump in a belt under a dress would mean needing to lift up the dress to get to the belt and the pump.

The dress modification might sound like a faff, but it was easy and makes life with a pump a bit simpler for me. Any seamstress should be able to do it if you explain what you want.

I do have a pump belt (Spibelt, they make kids sizes too) but I use it at night so my pump doesn't get tangled when I sleep. I do use it around the house during the day sometimes if I'm not wearing something with pockets, but more often I just tuck my pump into my trousers, shorts or skirt.
 
I have a tubed pump and wear it in a Hid In soft belt round my waist under my dress. My pump can be controlled by my phone so I don’t need to take it out. When I had a pump I did need to take out, I’d either put it in a Tubigrip round my thigh or simply bolus with a pen if that was more convenient.

I’ve never found any issues with tubed pumps. I like being able to disconnect them in literally a second or two; I like being able to put the cannula in more places; and, most importantly, I think it’s crucial to have a choice of cannulas. The wrong cannula can ruin the most fantastic pump in the world.

In your position, I’d go for the tubed pump with the loop. I’d also ask if there was any chance of getting a different loopable pump like the Dana i or the T Slim mentioned above.
 
I've always had tubed pumps but with combined BG meter/bolus wizard/pump remote control and 2 years-ish ago at my last pump change Omnipod was one of my options, so I sent for and got their 'dummy' pump and was horrified at the huge size of the thing in comparison to a tubed pump cannula. I'm nowhere near the size of an 8 year old little girl but not exactly huge either - height barely 5ft 1ins now (was 5'2" but have shrunk) (not in the wash, more to do with anno domini ! 😱 :rofl:) and bearing in mind I'm not as steady on my legs as I once was, and have always had a knack of walking into doorframes etc, having summat essential stuck to me and sticking out of me so far definitely did NOT seem like a Very Good Idea to me.

I've used Libre for quite a while now, and the very very first one I ever tried, I walked into the motorhome loo one day and ripped it right out of my arm, violently. The pain shut me up completely for 10 minutes, it was so bad. So bad I couldn't even utter a single expletive despite the contents of my whole directory of expletives in two languages, oh no, 3, if we include Milligan's one from Puckoon. So - the Omnipod ain't for me.
 
I have only ever used tubed pumps. This has not been a problem and I like being able to position it where I want.
I also use the buttonhole inside the pocket for dresses with the pump in the pocket and the tubing coming through the buttonhole from the cannula, it is then easy to access the pump when I need to.
If wearing tops I just stuff it in the side of my bra. For a dress with no pocket I put it in the centre of my bra (a third boob) or under the strap in my armpit.
At night the pump just goes free and causes no problems.
Like @trophywench I do not fancy a lump of pump stuck on my arm. I would be sure to dislodge it.
I would definitely want a pump that loops for me know. There is no going back. I self fund my sensors but I am glad to do so having seen the impact of looping on me.
 
SB2015 said:
If wearing tops I just stuff it in the side of my bra. For a dress with no pocket I put it in the centre of my bra (a third boob) or under the strap in my armpit.
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The OP's daughter is 8. This is unlikely to be a solution for her.
 
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