I am in the throws of deciding on our first pump. My son is 8 years old and has been doing shot therapy for almost three years now. I have narrowed it down to the Animas Ping or the Cozmore. These pumps appear to have a good history and share many of the features that I want. I could go on and on about these two pumps, but I think that it comes down to:
Remote control: do we want the remote meter with full function or do we want the meter attached. If the meter is attached then we can’t loose it (Cozmore). If we get the remote we can deliver insulin (bolus) without having be right next to our son or take the pump off his belt (Ping).
Size: everyone complains about the bulky size of the Cozmore. If you look at the dimensions listed online it does not look that much bigger than the Ping but then maybe the dimensions listed does not include the attached meter. Anyone have experience with the Cozmore and its big size?
Time on the market; the Cozmore 1800 has been out long enough to have the kinks worked out. The Ping started shipping this week. Being new is not all bad it means that the Ping has the newest features for a little while.
Screen: the Ping has a bigger and easier to read screen but the remote, which would be used most, has the same contrast screen as the Cozmore.
Child Friendly: every post I have read calls the Cozmore child friendly (except for its size which is always in the way). With the Cozmore’s 25 preset meals we can put in school lunches and a teacher or my son could delver the insulin himself. This could lessen how many trips we have to go to school to give shots. Right now it is everyday. I do not think that the Ping does this. Anyone know?
Misc: everyone a year ago felt like the Cozmore fixed many of the problems the MM was having. I am not sure how the Animas compared but from reading post I hear more about how quiet and reliable the Cozmore is. I hear similar things about the Animas 2020 but not as much. Does anyone have input?
Contentious Glucose Monitor (CGM): I, with the rest of you, am waiting for a CGM that will actually decrease finger sticks (and insurance to pay for it). It is just not ready. Anyone have ideas which company is going to be closest?
Infusion sets: both use the sure lock. This makes these two pumps easier to use with insurance companies who only pay for a specific brand of infusion set. Anyone have experience with insurance caps with infusion sets, insulin reservoirs, or the pump?
Insulin reservoir: the Cozmore holds 300 units and the Ping only 200 units. Does this end up costing more or less? Or does it end up being a pain having to change or refill it more often? Do you refill or change the reservoir?
Upgrade feature: although MM appears to be leading the charge in this (a recent development), Animas is trying to offer a similar deal. Cozmore has no upgrade feature. Does this really matter? In four years everyone upgrades to something new anyways. Do we just end up paying the 80/20 most insurances cover at the end of four years, or does having the upgrade feature save us money? I think that Animas will upgrade no matter which brand of pump you own. Any one have experience with this?
Thank you all in advance to those parents who are a few steps ahead of us and have experience with these two pumps.
Hi Troy! I am not a parent, but I myself am a pumper. I am on the Cozmo pump and LOVE it (but in general you will notice that everyone loves THEIR pump best!). But I will try to address your questions specifically.
1+2) Remote control / size: I would love a remote control, I wish that my Cozmo had it. I have a Cozmonitor ( the meter that attaches), but I DO NOT USE IT. The reason is that I found it to be less accurate than my freestyle and one touch meters. Maybe others had more success… but I was also amazed at how much smaller the pump feels without the monitor attached (But i did use it for over a year and I did not find the pump as HUGE as others claim)!! So I am used to it without it now. Without the monitor, they are around the same size. I enter all my blood sugar number into the pump, whether or not I need to correct. So it stores everything, but I enter it by hand-- so I think the convenience of the PING could be great in this regard.
3) Time on the market; My experience with the Cozmo 1800 upgrade was very good right away… i guess most kinks are worked out before release.
4) Screen: I have never had a problem reading the Cozmo screen. When it’s hard to read, I use the backlight. People who are used to the Animas screen have complained about trouble reading the PING screen. I guess you and your son could get used to either.
5) Child Friendly: I agree that the Cozmo is child-friendly-- or more generally user-friendly. It works very much like a cell phone menu system, which your 8 year old son could master with no problem!! I have never used a Animas pump, but what I notice from the demos that I have seen online is that Animas puts more information on a single screen. While this might be an advantage for some, I think for a child it is not. The Cozmo takes everything step by step. Asks you first about carbs, then asks you if you want to enter your blood sugar (if you just entered your blood sugar or tested with the Cozmonitor, it remembers the number). Then you press deliver. In the pre-PING version of Animas, there was a lot more thinking involved in giving a bolus. It recommended the amount to give for the bolus, but you actually had to scroll up to that amount to really give it (this means lots of button pushing and chance for error). Maybe they fixed this in PING.
6) Misc: I think both pumps are reliable.
7) Contentious Glucose Monitor (CGM): This is hard to know (though we all want to). I think anything out there so far are just rumors.
8) Infusion sets: I use Comfort infusion sets, but I don’t think these are the most child-friendly cause the needle is huge and scary and it has to be inserted by hand. Check out Inset 30, which is a GREAT angled infusion set and QuickSets. You should buy or get samples of both and ask which one your son prefers. He’s the one who has to wear this thing all the time!! As long as they both seem to be working, then the question is which is more comfortable for him.
9) Insulin reservoir: I like the big reservoir. One less thing to change frequently. You can estimate how often you will need to change it by dividing 300 (or 200) by the TOTAL number of units of insulin that your son typically uses in one day (both long and short acting). This is just an estimate. I use a new reservoir about once a week. I recently learned that you can reuse reservoirs, though this is not usually recommended. I reused my first reservoir this week (just refilled the old one, didn’t open a new one) and it seems fine! But I think with you son it would be better to use a new reservoir each time. Your insurance will likely pay for them.
10) Upgrade feature: My Cozmo 1700 was under warranty when the 1800 model came out and I received a free upgrade. This might be only for software upgrade and not hardware ones… I’m not sure.
I am been enjoying reading all your comments throughout the day as I have been fixing a bath tub leak. I got more than I was expecting, my son has been diagnosed for three years and this is the first time I have really reached out to an online community. Thanks for the help.
I knew that I was at the point of needing to see, touch and practice with these two pumps. Unfortunately we live in rural Utah and live 4 hours from any of the pump reps. They are willing to meet us but I would like to make our decision soon and the reps could not get to a meeting point with in my decision time frame.
Talking it over with the family and reading all of your post together I think that we have decided to go with the Cozmore. I did not know that they had any warranty let a lone a great one. The rep in this area does not respond to email as well as the Animas rep does so I guess I never got that question answered. I made an assumption and was wrong. I am thinking that the Cozmore has the features that we really need to manage my son’s diabetes and that if they upgrade soon we get to move along with them. I can not tell you how nice that is to hear.
Now we just need to see if our insurance will cover the Cozmore.
Hey, Troy. Like Kristin, I’m a Cozmo user. I’m also a fan of the new Animas Ping. Like most pump wearers, I believe I made the right choice for me, but as a tech-savvy diabetic news-follower, I have to say that there is not a bad pump out there. You will likely be happy with whatever you choose. I have had diabetes for 18 years and have been pumping for 8 years (since I was 20).
The Ping remote is really the first of its kind, but similar to Omnipod’s PDM. It’s a really great new technology and I’m interested to see what people think about it. But it is new. Like Kristin, I am not that impressed with the Cozmo’s attachable meter. It comes in handy occasionally, like when I really don’t want to carry an extra meter, but it is heavy and makes the pump way too thick for my taste. I don’t find it less accurate, but I have only been using my Cozmo for a month now after 8 years as a Minimed customer. What I don’t like about the Cozmonitor is that you have to fiddle with it to get the monitor’s IR port to match up with the Cozmo’s. I found that trying to force the communication between the meter and the pump took me longer than manually entering my bg from my Freestyle Flash. But I know that many parents like using the Cozmonitor. I’m a high school teacher and I know a student who loves having an attached meter. She carries strips and a lancet device in her jeans pocket and she’s good to go.
I’m one of the people who loves my Cozmo but wishes it was a little thinner and had a native clip. I’ve found several ways to wear it comfortably though - my new favorite way is to slip it in a baby sock and pin it in my clothes, but that’s not going to be your son’s way. He’ll likely just slip it in the pocket of his pants or shorts. They make holsters and cases though. It’s really not significantly larger and it’s shorter that most other pumps, so it makes up for it there.
Either company will back up their product and should offer you a trial period.
Screen was a huge dealbreaker for me with the Animas. I actually found the refresh rate of the color screen to be kind of annoying and didn’t like that SO much information and so many numbers were present at once. The Cozmo, like Kristin said, has a very easy-to-navigate series of screens and uses plain English. It’s very customizable and you can choose which screens and how many you see. You don’t have to scroll quite as much and it fills in some of the data for you, which is child-friendly. The Animas buttons are easier to push than Cozmo’s though. The 1800s upgraded to teflon buttons that you have to press more deliberately. You might contact a rep from each company so you can play with these features in person and see for yourself.
The preset meal option is one of the things lots of parents love about the Cozmo. It is certainly a favorite among kids and parents. By the same token, I met a five year old with an Animas the other day. I have been Type 1 since age 10 and always administered my own shots. I am completely confident that most 8 year olds could understand the basic functions of a pump. I’ve seen younger kids on the JDRF website videos who can program in their carb counts and bolus with supervision and no problems.
Miscellaneous concerns. Animas and Cozmo are both great companies with good products. When I decided on a new pump last month, this website here helped me a lot.
CGMS. It’s anybody’s guess. I am anxiously waiting for my Abbott Freestyle Navigator to arrive because I feel like it’s the newest, latest, greatest, but everyone is working on them right now. Omnipod is talking about integrating with the Dexcom and later the Nav. Cozmo is partnered with Abbott and will probably end up backing the Nav. Animas… I have no idea. But I am sure that they’re on board and working on a CGMS or partnering with a currently produced one. This website helped me, too.
Infusion Sets. You can use anybody’s infusion sets that you like and shouldn’t have any problems obtaining them if you have a Rx for them. Insurance has never given me a problem ever with them. It’s part of your DME (durable medical equip) and it’s mail-order direct from pump suppliers generally. They take care of dealing with your insurance. I like the Animas Inset 30 and Inset with my Cozmo pump. An angled set is probably best for a young child, but he’ll have to experiment with manual vs. auto insertion to see what he prefers. I prefer auto, Kristin likes manual. Go figure.
Read “Pumping Insulin” to understand your child’s possible daily insulin needs. I use 180 units every 3 days, tops. But everyone’s needs are different. You may not ever need 300 units in a 3 day period - which is the longest you can wear an infusion set. The most I’ve ever used in 3 days was maybe 220.
I don’t anything firsthand about either company’s upgrade policies, but just be sure to check on warranty issues with upgrades. Minimed had a program I was on that would allow you to upgrade for a small fee but would not give you a new warranty on the new device. So when I wanted to upgrade 4 months before my 4 year warranty expired on my old pump, I would have had a brand new device and only my old about-to-expire warranty!
Troy,
I’m hoping my Animas Ping will be shipped soon. It was originally supposed to be shipped the first week of August, and now I’m told they have begun shipping, but they just don’t know when I will get mine. I’ve worn the Animas 1200 for the last 4 years, and I have been pleased with the company. Before that I wore a MM and liked their infusion sets, so kept with them. My insurance would pay a higher % for them than the ones I got from Animas, because MM had an instate billing address. Something you might want to look into. In almost 13 years of pumping, I have never had issue with reaching an insurance cap.
I do wear the Dex, and am optimistically hoping that Animas and Dex will come out with something in 2009. We will see. I specifically asked about an upgrade when this happens, and they told me that this has not even been discussed yet.
The 1200 only holds 150 units, and I change sites every 3 days, which is not a pain. After three days I am ready for a new site. I wouldn’t think an 8 year old would need that much insulin anyway.
I have no experience with the Omnipod, so can’t help you there. I can let you know how the remote goes when I finally get it:)
I just got of the phone with the Cozmore rep. She said that Cozmore does not have an officail warranty policy. When they upgraded everyone last year it was a software upgrade and they thought it was in their best interest to go ahead and just give it out. When the new pump comes out in 1 or 2 years it will not be a free upgrade. They are working on a policy for how to handle it but do not have a commitment to make at this time. They will most likely do something like Animas but do not know.
This makes me a little nervous but I think I have worked out a time to see the pump so that helps.
I think you will be happier with the animas–
the screen is brighter, like a windows screen,
and the cosmo seems more plasticy, where as the animas seems more durable. I am sure they are about the same, but I am talking purely cosmetically.
The thing is with insulin, you will have to change the site anyway, you dont always need to change the site when you fill a reservior… but 200 units will last my 11 yo a week almost. You dont have to fill the reservior all the way, and especially in hot weather, we only fill about 80 units, because it will get so hot.
We use minimed now, and will be switching to animas.
I wore both at Children With Diabetes Friends for life. The software in the Cosmo is a lot of what I would like to see in a pump. I agree the feel of pushing the Animas buttons is better but the screen menus are better on the Cosmo
I find the food database unusable in the Animas pump. So do my kids 'cause they don’t use it.
Here are a few pictures.
I think sets are key and you should try them on yourself and let your child try putting them on a Teddy bear or something. Sets matter. Set changes were a big issue with an 8 year old. Not so much now that she is 11.
With either I would ask for, in writing the upgrade to a CGM receiving pump cost. Both are going to be there real fast probably '09. They can say no, but all of us should be asking. We are the market.
thanks for all your advice. we already have the cozmore ordered and on it’s way. we are going to do the saline trial this week at diabetes camp. Unfortunately it is a 2 month wait to get into the DR. to get started on insulin.
Troy,
Are you sure it will take that long? It’s actually pretty easy to set up your pump - the only thing they really need to do is estimate what your basal rates will be and all you need to do that is John Walsh’s book Pumping Insulin . He does a great job of walking through how much insulin you need as basal based on your long-acting insulin doses. And I’m sure you already know what your son’s insulin-to-carb ratio is and his correction factor(s). If you’re concerned about getting it right the first time, I want to say I met with a CDE to get my settings ironed out before we met with the pump representative so maybe meeting with someone else in your endo’s office is a possibility?
we have the pump going with saline right now. The nurse got us started on saline at diabetes camp. we have to wait to see the dr. before they let us start with insulin. she wont see us until Oct 22. I pushed the nurse to find an earlier date and she said she could not.
By the way the cozmore is great. Tanner is using it all by himself making life a lot easier. Except for the double dozing. one with saline and one with the shot of insulin.
I went to the Diabetes Expo and the Animas rep told me they would have the CGM upgrade (partnered with Dexcom) available in summer 2009, pending FDA approval.
I don’t know much about the Cozmo and this thread has been very informative. =) I’m an Animas user myself.
Dear Troy,
I am fairly new to this diabetes community. My son Evan, who is currently 7, has had Juvenile Diabetes since he was 18months old. In August of 2008, we finally went on a pump. It is absolutely outstanding. It has changed his mood, lifestyle and attitude completly along with our lifestyle of taking care of him. I cannot speak highly enough about the OmniPod. His A1C has dropped over a whole point with being on the Pod for only 1month. Who knows how much next time. His numbers are fantastic. It is easy to use, convenient and makes him feel more like a kid without diabetes. After you get his ratios and everything set in it, it does all the calculating for you. I cannot speak highly enough about it. We did find that it is better if you change every two days instead of every three. The pod seems to start pooping out by the third day and we can keep his numbers lower if we change it more often. CHanging the pod is like brushing his teeth now. If you don’t have insurance that will cover the pod for you, I imaging it can be quite expensive. If you want to know anything else about, let me know!
Renee
Well you have probably already made your decision, but I would like to tell you that my son 11yrs old has had the cozmo model 1700 for 2 1/2 years. and we have had nothing but problems. We have had a pump failure 6 times in the 2 1/2 years. It’s bad enough the pump just quits working (system fault) but then Smith Medical will take 2 to 5 days to get us a new pump. When the new one arrives it isn’t a new pump it is a refurbished pump which then fails again. They have never lasted more than 6 months. In the last year we have had 4 failures, The last was pump worked for 4 weeks. We have contacted our insurance and they agreed that this is a defective pump and they asked Smith medical for a full refund so that we could get a new pump from another carrier. We will be getting the minimed 722 in a few days. We are hoping that the cozmo will last until then.
Hi Eric’s Mom. I have had a lot of trouble with air bubbles in the lines from my pump and it has been replace and everything thing else you can think of. I have had nothing but trouble as well and was begining to think it was just me. I even had my pump specialist switch and do everything for me to make sure and they gave up as well. I even tried the Animas pump and the same. The Cozmo pump would work for about 6months then have trouble. The Coszm specialist gave up and said I might be one of those that it didn’t matter what pump I chose I would have problems. I went back on the shots and the pump just sets in the box. That was almost a year ago.
You mention that you got your insurance to agree that the pump was defective and got a whole new different name brand? I wander being its been a year that I can do anything about this situation being it was Medicare who rented it for me.
Do you know if Medicare still have to pay on it? Everyone gave up on me pretty much, so it was just more simple just to go back to the shots. I would like to check out the Animas One Touch Ping being its suppose to be wireless?
Any suggestion would be great.
we have been lucky so far I guess. We got the Cosmore and have loved it. No problems with the pump or the insert sites, although the software for the PC is touchy and took a few times to get used to. Funny we don’t use Coz foods as much as I hoped I would, too long to find the foods it is faster to figure it using other sources. I do still wonder if the remote of the Ping would have been nice. Tanner has become very independent with the pump and when I want to Bolus for him having the remote would be nice.
Thanks for continuing the discussion. As of now pumping with cozmore since November 2008.
I got more than I was expecting, my son has been diagnosed for three years and this is the first time I have really reached out to an online community. Thanks for the help.
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