[Diabetes-Talk] The great experiment has begun!

Tue May 1 23:14:26 UTC 2018

Hi Veronica,

I’ll be interested to hear how you make out with all of this using the OmniPod. My Medtronics pump will be out of warrantee in February of 2019 so I will have to start looking at pumps by the end of this year to figure out what I want to do.

As for loading your syringe, I use a length of staples that are scotch taped together as a gauge. This gives me the correct number of units when I fill the reservoir. However, the reservoir I use has a smallish cap at the end around the needle so it helps to cradle the vial of insulin and allows me to use the staples to draw on the plunger end. 

Years ago I used a device called the LoadMatic or Load A Dose – its been a long time and I kinda forget the exact name. Basically it had a circular holder for the insulin vial at one end of the device. The other end was a longish arm that allowed for the syringe to snap down securely. The needle poked through the circular holder area so that when the insulin vial went into it the needle pierced the rubber on the vial like a bulls eye. Then there was a system of clicking a gauge down by I think 5 or 10 units and a dial that increased by single units. It did work very well until the day it broke.

Any way, keep us posted on the pump and how you manage.

Eileen

From: Veronica Elsea via Diabetes-Talk 
Sent: Tuesday, May 1, 2018 4:24 PM
To: 'Diabetes Talk for the Blind' 
Cc: Veronica Elsea 
Subject: [Diabetes-Talk] The great experiment has begun!

Hi everyone.
Okay, as of yesterday, I am now using the OmniPod insulin pump. There are
things about it that I'm really starting to enjoy and yes, there are some
tricky bits as well. 
There is a lot of memorization and we did find a work-around for one screen
where what key you need to press is not consistent. But boy would this
remote be fun with speech. Two things are saving me, well, one really, my
cool hubby. <grin> 
I am able to fairly easily read the screen with the Seeing AI app. So Peter
and I are designing a little stand that I could carry with me if I needed to
check something.
The other thing that is tough for me is filling their syringe. To use this
pump, you fill a syringe with the amount of insulin you want, then use the
syringe to fill the pod with insulin. The pod is inserted into your body and
then you use the remote to bolus and anything else you need to do. 
But the syringe is short and fat. The needle on the end of it is really
short and not as sturdy as many I've seen. So when I put the needle into the
vial of insulin, I'm having a hard time turning the whole thing upside down,
holding it together while I pull the plunger out. It holds up to 200 units
of insulin, but a pod lasts for 3 days. So I'd need to make some marks on
any gadget I create, but clearly for my hands, I need something that holds
the vial and syringe together. And no way does the count-a-dose work for
this one. <grin>
So here's my question. To those of you who used the old H-tron pumps in the
past, anybody remember that fitment for filling their cartridges. It was a
cute holder for their cartridge and the insulin vial. Now I wish I'd kept
mine. Anybody still have an old one hanging around? 
In the meantime, as I progress in this trial, we'll see how things behave. I
need to see how I cope with any messages, alerts, etc and find any gotchyas
down the road. But so far, I'm actually quite happy with delivering various
kinds of boluses, correction, meal and just insulin. I'm enjoying being able
to be more precise than I was with the Animas. I'll let all of you know how
I get on over time and whether or not I do the actual switch. 
Veronica

"Guide Dogs, First Hand", Veronica Elsea's classic album is now available on
iTunes, along with other music from her and from the Guide Dog Glee Club. 
To learn more, visit:
http://www.laurelcreekmusic.com
                Veronica Elsea, Owner
Laurel Creek Music Designs
Santa Cruz, California
Phone: 831-429-6407

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