He’s a great kid! Thanks, I try to be. I still feel guilty about making him go to school on the day he ended up in ICU. I don’t blame myself, but it bugs me. He didn’t have the signs, he had just had a stomach ache for three days. I sent him to school, and told him if he didn’t feel better I would come get him. It was the last week of school, and I just wanted him to finish the week. I tought it was just nerves about having the lead role in the end of year play.
This is true. Do you have a preference on pumps?
Animas partners with Dexcom. I would have to buy a seperate device for CGM. What about Medtronic?
If I choose mm does he still have to do fingersticks since it has the CGM? He wants to know does the pump eliminate the use of his long acting insulin all together?
You still have to test your BG w/ a glucometer with either brand of CGM available. They both require calibration, where you test your BG and input it into the CGM, basically telling the CGM where it’s at. In a lot of cases, they are very close and it works great. In some cases, it’s not quite that smooth and takes some time. There’s a lag time with a CGM if your BG is changing a lot, the CGM runs about 20 minutes behind “IRL” of your BG which can make things interesting.
Pumps eliminate long-acting insulin entirely, replacing one shot of long-term with a thin trickle of 'log. I think that it works quite a bit better. You can also turn it down if you are doing some sort of exercise that will crank up the insulin on board. I think that it just works better. You sort of have to do it to see how fabulous it is. I spent my whole 2 hour training class going back and forth “two tacos or three tacos” and went for 3 and was @ 85 two hours after I ate them. Dawn phenomenon became a thing of the past. One black belt, 2x 1/2 marathons in 2 weeks and other amusing athletic diversions (for a 40+ year old…) have all been facilitated by my pump.
My daughter has had the Medtronic Minimed, the Ping by Animas and most recently the OmniPod by Insulet. The Omnipod is great as there is no tubing to catch on anything. They are working on an even smaller pod than what they currently have. There is also alot less trash when changing pods than what there was with the Ping (Animas). The Omnipod device to give insulin also serves as a tester, eliminating a separate device. Hope this helps.
I just went through this whole process, and ended up going with the Animas Ping for a few reasons. I have been a Medtronic pumper before many years ago (MiniMed 508 pump) when they were just Mini-Med and not owned by Medtronic yet, and I had really good experiences with them. No complaints. I have heard that since Medtronic bought them, the customer service has tanked. I stopped using it because I had crappy insurance, not because of any complaints.
Years later, now that we have good insurance, I decided to revisit things. I knew I didn’t want the Omnipod, and ended up trying to pick between Animas & Medtronic. In my non-scientific “research”, just listening to what other patients have to say about both companies, I have heard a lot more complaints about Medtronic customer service than Animas. This was also my personal experience when I was trying to get quotes from both companies. Animas was much more customer-oriented, and their reps were way more knowledgeable than Medtronic. My choice of CGM influenced my decision too. If a CGM is something you are thinking about having for your child, you should definitely take that into consideration when making your choice. I have used the Medtronic sensor for a trial and didn’t like it at all. I have heard that some people can get between 7-14 days out of their Dexcom sensors, and that it is much more accurate and easier to calibrate than the Medtronic CGM too. So, that really influenced my decision to go with the Animas because they are going to integrate with the Dexcom at some point in the future. Also, the Animas Ping has a bunch of bells and whistles on it that the Medtronic doesn’t have, that aren’t crucial, but that are important to me like a carb data base, a color screen that is easier for me to read, and that it is water proof.
OK, that’s a long post! Sorry! Really,since the pumps are so similar now, it’s mostly about what you’re the most comfortable with, what features you want, and I think if you are going to use a CGM, that can be a big factor in the decision too. And of course, what your insurance will cover, etc. 
Good luck! And happy pumping!
Thanks. My insurance will cover both, and my superwell program will cover the copay. I’m not completely sure about the CGM, because I did have someone tell me that her mm was reading 15 and when she did a fingerstick it was actually 54. Still low, but big difference. Just one instance though. I do like the animas, but want to be sure to make the right decision. My experience with insurance is that there is no do over if I change my mind so I’m probably stuck with the one I decide on. I’m glad to get feedback from those of you that have used both, it gives me better insight.
Does insurance cover the omnipod? It is relatively new right? It looked bulky in the pictures I saw, what does it look like up close?
So is it worth even getting the CGM? Oh wow! So if he started back playing basketball, I may not have to worry about the drastic drops and the five snack I have heard about.
I need to speak about the comments about MM reps and customer service. My advice is to go for the pump you want that has the features that are important to you and to your child. I hope you will not decide on Ping because you don’t trust MM customer service but because you prefer the Ping pump, if that is what you decide. I have had a MM pump since 1/01 and never had one problem with customer service. I think most people who have had problems are those who buy their supplies direct from MM or are unlucky to have problems with their particular pump. All pump brands, as someone else said, can have problems. Many of us never have problems or not more than the very minimum. Both companies will replace a pump with a problem without any hassle, assuming the problem is the pump and not your problem in using it. All pumps have a 4 year warranty.
One more thing. I don’t buy anything based on whether the rep ‘bad mouths’ the competition. I buy based on the product. I am car shopping now and they do the same. But if I want a car that the salesperson claims is better than the other brand, I just ignore that and focus on the car. The fact is that MM has lost some market share with Ping, and much less with the Omnipod, so their reps are hyped to keep their market share. MM, regardless of ownership, is the oldest pump company and will be around regardless.
I do understand why parents with kids who like to swim like the Ping. Of course, the MM can be removed and stored in a locked place (yes, they get stolen if left on the poolside) for an hour or so while the child swims. You cannot remove the Omnipod and then put it back in. You lose all the insulin that is in the pod unless you pull it out and insert it in a new pod. You can disconnect both the Ping and the MM and pause delivery for showers or swims or shortish canoe rides. Or read the info on the Ping in water. You can get the user manual for all pumps on their websites to review them.
Sorry for ranting. I don’t work for MM, just use the product, and want you to know that not everyone is unhappy with their service. They ain’t perfect, but then neither is Animus!
Well, the CGM is a mixed bag. It works but it runs behind? In your other post you mention the CGM reading 15 and the BG @ 54 but usually, I get the opposite, where if it’s headed down, my BG is lower than the CGM will read, b/c the CGM is about 20 minutes behind? I still like it a lot for exercising and just living in general but it’s still a very challenging disease to manage. The tools don’t get rid of the challenge but I think that it’s easier to have fun w/ sports and easier to live in general if you can see about where your BG is? When I’m not doing anything crazy, it can be very stable and I have sort of fiddled around with how to use it for running and get decently stable results out to 10-11 miles or about 1.5-2 hours of running? It doesn’t bring normal back.
I would have never think someone would steal a pump. Thanks for the advice. Do you know where on the site I can download the manual?
The OmniPod is awesome for activities. You can leave the more expensive controller on the sidelines but still have the pod connected and doing it’s thing. Also, no need to disconnect during a shower or swimming - it’s waterproof. A downside would be if you took a hard knock to the pod, you could rip it off - but then you’d just put on another one, no big deal. It’s been around for about 5 years now I think (I’ve been using mine for more than 3 years), most of the time I don’t even know it’s there.
All the pumps do pretty much the same thing, equally well from what I can tell. You need to figure out, with your son, which one he will be happiest with. You can get demos/trials from all of the pump companies.
i think they’d steal it because it’s a shiny electronic gizmo and worry about figuring out what it is later and then likely throw it out when they realized that it doesn’t do anything useful except to us. $7K down the tubes…
MM has “Pumpschool” classes at https://pumpschool.minimed.com/index.tpl. Before I had a pump, I sort of looked at insulin as “Russian Roulette” as I did MDI but didn’t bother counting carbs, just flew by the seat of my pants and guessed, did a lot of trial and a lot of errors. My results were ok but I was, frankly, whacked out of my gourd on insulin much of the time, either low, recovering from lows, going to be low, mysteriously not low so I’d better take some insulin just in case, etc. The “math” part of carb counting nad balancing doses never entered my mind.
I would suspect that you are way ahead of where I was with your son? I think that the big advantages of a pump are having more and better data and finer increments. I still see periodic (seasonal, although it could also be related to my exercise habits?) changes and am always amazed that a .05U/ hour adjustment can make a huge difference in results for me. I hope that whichever brand you choose will work well for you! FWIW, none of my pump SalesNurses w/ MM ever referenced any other brand of pump during our conversations.
My son isn’t pumping yet, but we have started our research for when the time comes. Perhaps current pumpers can comment on whether or not this is an issue, but it seems like the Ping delivers insulin at a much faster rate than the MiniMed. Most of the time, this might not matter, but for my son, I could envision him disconnecting for sports or swimming, then needing to connect for a snack or correction before going back on the field or in the pool. In those instances, it seems like having the insulin delivered in seconds rather than minutes might be beneficial. Is the delivery time ever an issue for anyone?
Also, Shant, our CDE recommended we go online to view demos of the various pumps. That wouldn’t replace meeting with the reps and trying them personally, but it might at least give you a little more background information to help you evaluate your options.
As an aside, my son had his first quarterly endo visit yesterday (actually 5 months because of scheduling) and his a1c went from 14.2 at diagnosis to 6.1 yesterday. Woohoo!
I have come back form my JDRF support group, and omnipod was there. He did give me some insight on his pump. No tubes to get tangled, and you can shower and swim with it. A parent did say however that they have to wrap theirs when they hit the pool. The interesting thing is that when I tried to speak to medtronic users, most people had animas. The ones that didn’t, had omnipod. They chose omnipod because it’s tube free. They chose animas because it had the lowest dosage. I think I am leaning toward animas, but like I said, I want to be sure. Insurance doesn’t give a doover, I’m stuck with my decision for three to four years. Congrats on the 6.1, we went Thursday, and got a 7.5. I’m still psyched because he started out with ketoacidosis and ten days ICU. We’ve come a long way!
I guess it depends on how mich you want to deliver. But yes this could be a possible consideration. With Medtronic’s Revel they did improve this over their previous models. I was told that the Revel will deliver any size bolus within 5 minutes (with their older models it could take 10-15 minutes with a larger bolus). Even at the highest dose the Ping would be substantially faster. You would have to research but the technical specs on how fast the “pulse” of insulin is should be out there.
BTW- congrats on the 6.1 A1C!!!
I use the Animas PING – it has a remote. I have found Animas support to be wonderful. I looked at the Mini-med, Omnipod, and the PING. I chose the PING because of the remote and because it is waterproof. Having handled all three – I think the PING and Mini-Med are very similar. I don’t understand why someone would say one was any less in quality than the other.
As most people who use tubes will tell you they are not as big of a deal as they seem they may be. But that being said many out there would have never gotten a pump unless the tubeless option was there. I have used the OmniPod as well and the biggest drawback, for me, was the size of the Pod. Did the rep who was there have the demo Pod’s you could put on to see if the size is a consideration for you?
Like I said before make sure you look and feel and even possibly trial each on saline so you can see which of these considerations would make the most impact on your decision.
An A1c of 7.5% right after diagnosis is something to be proud of!