Hi Everyone,
Tomorrow will be my 1 month anniversary on the Pods and so far I’m mostly thrilled. I had two pod errors that I called Insulet and they sent out a replacement for one (I’d had the other on for almost 40 hours and they said I’d used it’s full life basically). The problem I’m having is that I’ve had a couple pods in bad places where my absorption just wasn’t acceptable (increased basal more than 50% and bs was still going up) and the other night I actually walked into a door frame and ripped the cannula out of my arm. Does anyone know where I can get/buy replacements for these pods? I’m pretty sure Insulet won’t replace user errors (like walking into a door frame) but I imagine everyone has some trouble figureing out their best sites at first. I’m beginning to get really worried I don’t have enough pods to make it to my next shipment date in late April. Please let me know if you have any ideas or know anything that can help!
Thanks,
Rebecca
Originally Caleb’s prescription was “every three days” but I had that changed to “as needed”. We typically will change his pod every 3 days, but of course there are times when we have to do it sooner. With shipments of 40 one quarter and 50 another quarter, we find that we are covered for those “walk in the door jam”, or in Caleb’s case, simply running around the house moments. Is your prescription set up that way?
You might want to check on exactly when you can request a shipment be sent out early. I realize that they have them set-up on auto-ship; but, they told me to call them when I opened my last box…that way, barring catastrophe…you should NEVER run out.
When I talked with the shipping company (CCS Medical) I thought they said my prescription was actually to change it every 2 days but they only sent me 40 pods which would still leave me short there. I’ve got a call into them to ask about this but they haven’t called me back yet. Just called again this morning and left another message with them. Hoping I’ll hear back later today. The way they do it my supplies automatically ship out every 3 months and my next shipment date isn’t until April 21st. I’ve still got a couple of boxes of pods now but if I keep going at the rate I’ve been my estimate is that my last pod will expire sometime around April 10th. I’ll definitely ask them about the prescription though if they ever return my calls. Do you think Insulet themselves would know anything about this? The only thing I’ve actually talked with Insulet about was getting the software and replacing the pods that actually had a pod failure. I don’t know if they know anything about my prescription status or shipments.
Janice, if I ever get a person at CCS Medical I will ask. Thanks for the tip, it never occurred to me that I might be able to request supplies earlier.
All last year we got shipments of 50 pods each quarter - automatic shipments. We changed insurance companies and our first shipment this year was 40. My husband called Insulet. They explained that the shipments are 40 then 50 then 40 then 50. They also said that’s how it was all the prior year which was just not true. Anyway, they said that’s how the insurance was set up. As far as the not replacing the pod that was used for 40 hours - that’s a new one. I’ve never heard that before. They are usually very nice at Insulet (although I got a doosey once) but I have to say, they all seem to have a different story about policy. So if you called with a similar situation another time, you might, perhaps not, but you might get a different response. And when I got that “doosey” it was not normal business hours - it was early in the morning. I read - it may not be true - that they have a call center, I think in CA. When you call outside of normal Eastern business hours you will get someone there, and they are not always as helpful as the people in Mass. I always try to call bt 9 and 5 now. But for all I know all the calls are now answered in CA, although I haven’t gotten a “doosey” since>
Hi Rebecca -
You can also ask your Insulet rep for some backups. We did that with ours and got about 10 extras. I keep these in a drawer separate from the other supplies - they are my “just in case” pods. You can also get a loaner PDM to use as a backup when you go out of the country on vacation. We did this last summer when we went to Mexico. It was nice to know that we had the backup, again, “just in case…” Try to create a good relationship with your rep and they will take great care of you - ours does.
Take care,
Susan
I would call Insulet and tell them that you’re running out of pods. There pretty good about helping out when they can.
I have not tried the pod on my arm but I have seen other posts saying that is not a good spot. Also, I know from injections that the arm is not very good for absorption and I would imagine that same would be true for the pods. I have been wearing it on my lower back and I love it there.
I actually wear it on my arm alot. The absorption for me is one of the better spots! But then again it is all personal. But i have had no problem with my arm, other than the ocassional door jam =P
Same here - arms are my favorite location by far and I get the most efficient absorption there, too.
By the way, does anyone really expect Insulet to replace a pod that has been worn for more than half of the recommended 3 days (40 hours)? The way I see it, I don’t blame them for declining a replacement if there was no failure (like if it ran out of insulin or the cannula came loose, etc).
Finally, Rebecca you might want to call your Dr. to get him/her involved in the shipment/quantity issue. And make sure to get Insulet involved. Both of them are motivated to get you as many pods as you need, as opposed to an insurance company or third-party supplier who is paying for it.
I wanted to thank everyone who replied to this post earlier this month. I finally heard back from CCS Medical yesterday. It seems my Rep left the company so they couldn’t figure out who should return my calls. Nancy called yesterday and worked with me to get everything straightened out. They’re going to ship my test strips monthly now so that I can get enough, they’re finally going to start sending me lancets, and they’re talking with my doctor about getting me more pods in each shipment. Once my doctor fills out the form they’re going to send me the extras I need. Overall once I finally got through to them they were very helpful. Thanks again for all your comments, they helped me keep my cool as I figured out what I needed to do!