I finally received my shipment from OmniPod and had my pump training! As of 2pm PST today, I will have been on the saline-filled “real” pod for a full day. Setting everything up was surprisingly easy, but I can see why people are on saline for a week-- 1) you don’t waste insulin, and 2) you don’t kill yourself by overdosing on insulin! =P
I have to be honest though, I did NOT know what to expect when I slapped the real thing on the back of my arm. I started getting anxious because I didn’t know if the needle would hit a vein, nerve, etc. After a few seconds, I heard a loud pop. You know that sound your lancet device makes when you stick yourself? THAT was what I heard when the needle retracted, leaving the cannula inside me. Of course, hearing that sound for 15 years make me think one thing: OUCH. So now I don’t even know if it actually hurt, or if I had a Pavlovian response to that sound.
In any case, it was sore for less than 5 minutes. No bleeding. I learned how to program my basal rates and give boluses. I’m on saline for the first week, so what I’m trying to do is inject whatever the PDM recommends. We’ll see how that pans out.
Next Tuesday I get transitioned to an insulin-filled pod. I’m excited and nervous for that, mainly because I am now deathly afraid of ripping this off. It’s one thing with a demo pod, another thing with a saline one, but COMPLETELY different with insulin. I don’t feel like wasting 200 units!
More updates to come…