OmniPod & CGM

Hi all -

I’ve enrolled Will in Stanford’s CGM study for toddlers and am finding carrying around the CGM reader (?? - looks like a pager) is a real drag. He keeps running out of range and I’m constantly resetting the thing. Are there any people out there using both the OmniPod & CGM - this one is the Medtronic product. We got hooked up on Thursday and today went swimming today. I put a large tagaderm over the CGM and the tape came off in the water. I thought I was pretty careful about coming out of the water every 30 minutes or so but I guess not. So, this evening, we inserted CGM #2 (no issue for Will - we used lidocain and he didn’t seem to be phased by it).

So here are my questions -

  1. is it weird to carry around the transmitter (pager thingy) and how do you do that?
  2. what do you use to keep the CGM on in the pool?

Right now, I’m feeling thankful that we never had a traditional pump because of the hassle of carrying around this thing. I’m hoping this is totally user error on my part and am trying not to be discouraged. BTW - we have to wear it for two weeks blind (no data for us) so they can create a before the CGM picture. Someone please tell me this is worth the hassle…

Thanks in advance for the advice!!

Susan,

My son Austin wears the OmniPod and we also have a MiniMed Guardian CGM. He does not wear it all the time, but when he does wear it, we have him wear the pager in a pocket. He is 3 1/2 and VERY active. When wearing pants with pockets, we have gotten him used to being “Attached” to his pager by the clippy thing. When he is not wearing pants with pockets, we attach it using the clip to his waistband.

We have gone to the waterpark a time or two, and seemed to have good luck using the tegaderm patches. He was not submerged the entire time, and this could be why we didn’t have any problems. Some of the time he was going down water slides, walking around the waterpark clubhouse, lazy river, etc.

I think it is worth the hassle ans only having used the CGM a few times, it has alerted us to overnight lows that Austin did not wake up for. We have had the pager go of in the middle of the night showing 70, gotten up and checked his finger BG and it was 54. If this didn’t wake us up, he would have gone lower and then MUCH higher after his liver pushed a bunch of glucagon. No Fun!

Good luck and let us know how it goes!

Thanks for the response. Will is also 3.5 years old and is a crazy, rough and tumble kid. Since I got it on Thursday, I’ve replaced the sensor on Friday (too much swimming) and Saturday (I don’t know what went wrong - we had a bbq and after he had a shower and it popped off). Today is Sunday so we’ve actually gone now 24 hours with it still in place. I’m finding the IV3000 patch that we’re putting over it actually comes off in the shower. I replaced the IV3000 patch after his shower Saturday morning and the senor seems to be still on. We’ll see what happens today.

Where do you put the senor? Right now, he’s wearing his pod on his arms (his favorite place) and the sensor on his butt (he calls it the mushroom! :+)

I know this is going to give me good information so I’m hanging in there. The main researcher suggested I get a www.spibelt.com and I’ve ordered it - you might get one too - we got the flame one on the kid page. Should arrive by next week. I’ll let you know how that works out!

Thanks for the reply!

Susan-

Hello! I do not have a CGM at this time. Honestly. I’ve thought about it but it’s not a big “must have” for me. I am waiting for Insulet to either go with dexcom or the navigator. I did talk to a rep from Dexcom at the ADA expo and she said they are working on intergrating the dexcom with the Omnipod…one cannula for the pod and one for the CGM. I personally don’t want to have a lot of things hanging off of me.
I am curious to see what the other Podder’s have to say.

Cherise

Hi Cherise -

The study we are in was supposed to be using the Dexcom and that’s the reason I wanted to put Will in the study. So far, we’re using the Guardian and it is going better than last week. I thought this would be a good opportunity to see how CGMs work and I would be able to use the data collected to help give Will better control with certain foods. We won’t see real data until they un-blind the study which should happen sometime next week. I’ll keep you posted as to whether or not I think it’s useful stuff.

Apparently, ever since the Dexcom got FDA approval for wearing 7 days - they are completely sold out and can’t keep up with the demand. I’ve read online that of all the CGMs out there, Dexcom is the best.

I anguish over CGM. After reading about your recent experience Susan, I’m leaning toward waiting. I want CGM to be the magic that in theory it should be, but to ask Caleb to add another device and with that a whole new set of rules and beeps and pricks, for something that seems to get mixed reviews, seems like a lot.
Many people love it, and it seems to be a terrific tool. However, I hear as many instances of incorrect readings or adherence issues or false alarms. I just read a tweet about someone who said they were woken up 7 times to highs and lows only to be in perfect range all night.
I think the advantages are great, but the scale just hasn’t tipped for me yet. Integration would be huge in tipping that scale.
I actually submitted for insurance approval and have a message from Dexcom that I have yet to return. I’m assuming we weren’t approved right away since I was asked to “please call back”. I haven’t been anxious to find out. It was so much different with pumping. That was a clear no brainer for us.

Hi Lorraine -

I agree about adding another device to Will - it is scary. I did ask Will if he wanted to be in the study - he’s 3.5 years old and pretty strong minded and he agreed. At Stanford, they have a rule that if the kid says they don’t want to do a study, they will listen to the child and not the parent. I have to say, I was ready to give up this weekend but Will was persistent and we forged ahead.

Everyone I’ve spoken with says the data you get on how certain foods react to the body is invaluable. My thought is this is a great way to try the product without having to actually pay for it (in fact, they are actually paying us $25 per visit - not a big deal but a new toy for Will!)

I agree about the alarms, but you can set the thing to vibrate. We don’t have access to the data yet but when we do, I’ll update and let you know how it’s going. I’m particularly interested to see what he’s doing at night - we think his numbers are stable, goes to bed and wakes up 20-40 points in either direction. Can’t wait to see what’s really happening. I also am interested in certain food like pizza - where he goes high 5-6 hours later - I’ll be able to see what’s really happening and then adjust the insulin accordingly. So far, I haven’t used the extend feature at all…

Anyway, we’ll see what comes next…