We were all set to get started on the Omnipod yesterday. Went to the saline class and when it came time for my son to push the button to insert the cannula, he freaked out and refused (he's 14 and doesn't want to be different). He said he didn't want to use the pump and didn't want a "robot" on his body controlling his insulin and that he'd rather control it himself through shots (which he had been doing pretty well) - but I think he's just scared. He starts high school in the fall and I thought this would be so much easier for him. My husband and I are so worried about him. I don't know what to do at this point. Just got the insurance to pay for this and now he changes his mind.. any advice out there? He was diagnosed 7 months ago, so we are still new to this.
Hi Peggy,
I emphathize with you and your son. I’ve been diabetic since 2006 and gave myself needles for 3 years. I was quite anxious myself to start something different that I didn’t know too much about but I also realized how the OmniPod freed up my life and NO MORE PAIN from needles. Find out if your health care provider has access to diabetic meetings with people who wear pumps. I think your son just needs to talk to someone who uses it and see how it works. He’ll literally be freed up for 3 days just entering in the carbs he eats and the pump does the rest. Nothing hurts and you can’t even feel the Pod while it’s on. Changing it every 3 days takes me less than 5 minutes. I also didn’t want something attached to my body but there’s absolutely NO COMPARISON about giving yourself needles all day and just pressing a button to deliver the insulin… NO MORE BLACK AND BLUE MARKS, NO MORE PAIN, 3 DAYS OF FREEDOM, and when he eats out, he can bolus without going to the bathroom to take his insulin. I also find people of ALL ages are so intrigued that they want to know more about the PDM. It has some cool stuff in it. I hope he decides to use it. I think he’ll be much happier. God Bless and good luck.
I agree with everything Janet had to say but I would also add look into the diabetic camps. I was 8 when I was dx’d and I thought there is NO way I am going to put needles in MY body. So my dad did my shots for me the first year. His father and his brother were also diabetic so it was more familar to him than to my mom. I went to camp the next year and saw all the other kids giving themselves shots. If your a kid and you see everyone else doing it you think hey I can do that too. I had gone through all the training in the hospital but I just couldnt make myself do it. They trained me but they didnt actually make me do it while I was in the hospital.
I really feel for what my parents (and you) went through. No parent wants to see their child in tears and terrified of a needle. But camp did more for me than anything else could have. At least for the summer I was surrounded by kids who dealt with the same things. I cant tell you how much I recommend D camp. I went to camp Sweeny here in Texas but there are probably camps all ovrer. Your doctor should be able to help you find one. Or check with your local JDRF and they should be able to help you. If nothing else finding a local group of D kids will help him a lot. I bet if he went to camp he will find other kids on the Omnipod and he will get over the fear and the feeling of being the only one.
Peggy - I, like Janet, do understand a little of your family’s concern. I’ve been a T1 since I was 6. Used needles until 1992 - for 21 years. My first pump had tubing, so I know what it is like to deal with that situation, also. Started on the OmniPod in spring 2008 - and found myself working through some apprehensions myself!
One of my largest hurdles was the idea this “thing” would be inserting the needle/cannula for me. Sounds crazy, I know. Let’s face it, I had quite the extended history with needles by this point in my life. 
Retrospectively, I am sure it was the ‘lack of control’ I had that concerned me. Has your son used a demo pod? If so, there truly is no difference in the feeling of insertion experienced. It’s fast, & I have only had 1 time that was painful, due to pod placement rather than cannula insertion. Again, it’s FAST, & over before you even can worry about it! (Sense the huge relief I experienced?!!)
Second, the cannula is always inserted at the same angle & depth, meaning (for me) 99% of absorption issues are gone. This consistency is simply huge in my control!
Third, I had concern with the size & presence on my body of the pump. this makes me laugh now, but it did not at the beginning. It may look huge when your son sees it in the box/on the table, but I am 5’6", 122 lbs, & have never ever had an issue with the visibility of the pod - from myself or others. I roll around when I sleep, & was afraid it would dislodge - has never happened.
I agree with Janet’'s suggestion to see if your MD or ADA chapter has meetings for people with pumps, or if either has reference people your son could speak with or email/text. Information is sometimes easier to believe from the mouth of someone not related to you. Also - your son & his healthcare provider will establish the parameters the pump operates under. Technically, he will always be telling the pump what to do - there will be no “unmanned” operation of the pump against his wishes/control set parameters. He will control it himself - & can personalize (for example) his list of favorite foods/carb counts/etc.
Do let us know how things go - 14 is a turbulent world, & I know you are well aware of this fact. I will keep you all in my prayers, sending positive thoughts your way for a successful journey. If you have any need to ask me anything, feel free to contact me!
Hi Peggy -
Wow! This is a tough one because he’s 14 and probably feels like he has no control over anything right now. Going into high school and getting diagnosed all in the same year is pretty heavy stuff for a kid. Our child was 15 months old when he was diagnosed and we put him on the OmniPod when he turned 2 and he is now 4 years old. In a way, I almost think it’s easier when they are little because they can’t really object to all the crazy stuff that we do to them. That said, I think I would back off a little and tell your son about the advantages, let him read stuff on this website and get his ok before going forward. There are a lot of people who get great control on shots. We switched to the pump because of the small amount of dosages we could get out of it and for the fact that toddlers like to eat all day long and it really helped having him on a pump. Now, it’s just his way of life.
Regarding the insertion, go to the pharmacy and ask for EMLA cream or Lidocaine - it is a numbing cream. Put that on first, leave it on for 15-20 minutes and then be sure to wash it off with soap and water. You can then put the pump on and the area will be numb so he won’t feel the needle. We’ve never actually used EMLA for our OmniPod, we just use and alcohol wipe infused with Benocaine (you can get them at Walgreens in individual packets - that numbs William up enough so that the needle doesn’t bother him). Tell your son that it’s a quick pinch. I actually used the pod with saline before putting it on my son so he could see that it didn’t bother me and it shouldn’t bother him. It worked great.
Regarding your life, you will discover a new normal. Diabetes will change your entire family dynamic but don’t let that stop you. Will was diagnosed in April 2007 and we had tickets to go to Mexico for July and we went. In retrospect, I think I was a crazy woman for going but I’m really glad I did. I don’t want Will to ever think that we limit his life because of diabetes. We do everything that we would normally do if he didn’t have diabetes. Sometimes, it takes more planning and you have to bring a lot of stuff with you on vacation, but we go anyway and deal with whatever should happen along the way.
Don’t let the disease rule your life. Take control, be the alpha dog, and make sure your son feels like he has some control in his disease. I refuse to let diabetes rule our life. If you get caught up in how easy your old life was, have a glass of wine and think about what you can do to make your son’s life as normal as possible. He’s at a very difficult age, remember being 14 and how awkward you felt, all you want at that age is to fit in and be liked by everybody. I’m sure he’s feeling different and that probably makes him crazy. Ask him what he would like. Let him have some control because I’m sure he’s feeling like he has none. If he wants to stay on shots, let him. There are enough really great pens out there that can make his life easy. Tell him what his options are and educate him. In 4 short years, he’ll be off to college and you are going to have to prepare him now to take care of himself. There are numerous websites geared to teens that he could go on. He might find some comfort in joining those communities. Go to www.jdrf.org and they have a list of them all.
Good luck - the first year of diagnosis sucks (I won’t lie) but it does get better. You just have to learn a new normal for your family. Hang in there!!
Susan
Peggy -
I couldnt agree more with all the posts here, and I want to say I was dxd’d about the same age as your son. (A little older, I was 19) The time I was dxd’d was AWFUL for me, b/c, of course, at that age little was more important than “what the girls thought of me.” And here I was, having to go off every once in a while to test sugars, take shots, and all that gross stuff. I have lived with this friend for 30 years now, and have run the game on all the complications, I have a website that your son may get some useful uplifting from, check it out with him. (the url is on my page here at TU ) It is safe, clean, and we (my wife and I) are not selling anyting. There is a blog, alot of useful links, and a book/long essay that I wrote about life with the big D, leading all the way up to a brain hemmhorage in 2005. It is NOT a downer, it starts as one, but it witll help to create the mindset that this thing is beatable, not only that, it can be looked at as a gift! (ONe that I probably would have returned, but a gift jnust the same).
Thanks for all the great advice. My son is really good about using his pen needles and checking his bs but I know the omnipod would make things easier. He’s a growing kid and likes to snack a lot. I think we will back off for awhile and revisit the pod in a few months or whenever he seems interested. He has no interest in going to camp. We’ve tried… he has anxiety in some situations so that makes it harder to deal with. We are considering going to one of those big conventions in florida or something. Make it a family event. And we do travel and take vacations so we haven’t make any big concessions. It’s just a really tough age to be diagnosed and we don’t know how hard to push or if we just let him hibernate and deal with this his own way…
My 9 year old also has anxiety, and had no interest in a pump for the first year after he was diagnosed (almost two years ago now - just after his 8th birthday) I pointed out situations when they came up that would be different with a pump, just so I knew he was taking everything into consideration, but we never pushed it. About a month before we went to the Florida FFL conference he actually said a pump might be a good idea. So I asked him if he would like to try one at the convention. I made it clear that it was still his decision and that the deal would just be to try it. He said he would so I made two appointments - one with Animas and one with Insulet. The Animas rep took so long showing us everything that by the time she put one on my son he was dead set against the whole idea. He wore the thing for about 10 minutes and kept saying “take it off, take it off” the whole time. I took him to the insulet people and they had pediatric people over there. I told them my son had anxiety and they basically didn’t show us anything ahead of time. The lady talked to Sam about life, stuck a pod on his arm and hit the button. He didn’t even believe us when we told him it was inserted and he was sold. We haven’t looked back and my son loves the Omnipod. Sometimes he pushes the button, sometimes we do, but we’ve just found that with the anxiety along with everything else - I do whatever he wants, and when he decides to take something on his own we support him. Now I know he isn’t a teen so that will be a whole new ball game, but we’re taking it one step at a time!! Don’t know if that helps at all, but I can say I understand the anxiety issue and I think it’s just a balance of a little gentle pushing at the right time, but still allowing them to feel like they make the decisions.
I know how he feels… kind of. I’m 18, diagnosed at 17, and remember getting the pod for the first time, going in to the office (getting in a car accident on the way there) and freaking out about the whole situation. I, too, was dxd about 7 months earlier and was doing quite well with shots (in just 3 months my A1c was down from 13.8 to 7.5) why fix something that wasn’t broken? I had just finished my first semester in College, was going through about a million changes and didn’t feel like I needed any more. Remember he can always try out the OmniPod and you can return the PDM within the 30-day trial…
I got up my courage and can’t even express how amazingly freeing the OmniPod is for me. I think of it (and have explained it many times here) as sending your body a text message. It is a LOT easier. A LOT more comfortable… Its basically 1 shot every 3 days, and the likelyhood is that nobody will even know it is there.
Hang in there, I know it’s tough right now, and right around the 6-month mark was a rocky spot for me too. It will get easier with time and practice. You both will find a new kind of normal and it will be great.
Let him know that if he wants to talk to omeone closer to his age about it, I’m here. You can private message me if you want to get in touch.
GOOD LUCK!
Isn’t this the best support group??!!! We’re all so amazing. Love to all of you.
Hi Peggy - My daughter has been on the OmniPod for a little more than one year. She is nine years old, diagnosed about a year and half ago. She does want to switch. She definitley has a control thing. She wants to switch to the medtronic paradigm. She wants something that is smaller on her body as well as a different insertion set. She went to camp and saw a set that can be inserted by hand (Quick Set by Medtronic) That’s the control she wants. She hates the fact that when you activate a new pod it clicks and then takes a varied amount of seconds before inserting. She wants to do it herself. We as parents like the OmniPod because it is super easy, but it’s her body and her decision so we are going to switch. It’s such a big adjustment anyway, then add a pump to it. I’m sure he’ll do just fine, it’s just doing it that first time and seeing how easy life can be and how many more options you can have without have to stop for a shot. The control is great too. Her A1c is about 7.6. Now I’m nervous about switching. Good luck with everyting.
Well, things have done a 180. My son decided to try the Omnipod once we got home from our appointment. It took several pods to get it right (one failed, one stuck into his muscle on his back because he’s very thin, another we waited to long to activate). Finally, I called the rep and she suggested we try the arm or buttock. He put it on his buttock and so far (about 8 hours later) so good! He is liking the PDM and thinks it’s pretty cool. We have to do saline for 2 weeks and who knows if he will change his mind again but as of tonight, he’s liking it. This is such a roller coaster, and I have to learn to just go with what happens… Any suggestions on locations for a really thin kid? He has no body fat at all!
How is the FFL conference? We were thinking about going this year but waited too long to make a decision. Maybe next year. It sounds like fun. Have you been to the one in Marco Island?
Hi -
I’m so glad he gave it a go!! Our son is 4 years old and started when he was 2 years old so don’t worry about him being too thin! The key here is that when you insert, pinch up the skin so that the needle goes in the right place. We use the top of the bum and the back of the arms. Will is anti-tummy so we’ve actually never tried there since he’s so against it. We have used the top of the thighs but it’s pretty hard to keep it on three days in that area - especially in the summer with all the outdoor stuff going on. There is a learning curve - check out my post Tips & Tricks that I posted awhile ago but lots of people have added to it. It will give you lots of ideas on how to keep it on, how to prime, etc…
Good luck!
I was 14 when I first used the pod and I’m also very thin. Did he have much pain when it hit muscle? The times I did it hurt like hell.
I don’t like to pod on my butt because I like to wear tight low cut jeans. About my only sites is my tummy area. I’ve tried the back of my arm but it always bothers me, not pain but I can feel it there and it bugs me.
Thanks. Fortunately, he’s into baggy shorts (like most boys his age!). Yes, it hurt a lot when it hit his muscle. He’s about 5’7" and only about 105 lbs. so no fat anywhere!
No, we’ve only been once, and it was to the one in Florida. It was amazing. Getting to talk to Joe S . . .(really long last name I can never remember) and Gary Scheiner was so worth it. We had a great time, got lots of free stuff - met more amazing people . . . I can’t say enough good things about it! I would especially think it would be good for a parent of a teen (and the teen) since there are so many others there that actually get what you are going through.
Oh, and my son is also really thin, and only wears the pods on the backs of the arms. We can somehow get the dexcom on his back, but I can’t “pinch up” like you are supposed to. I tried, but all I really have in my hands is skin! The backs of the arms for the pod has worked great for him.
It must be very difficult for a recently-diagnosed teenager. Go slowly and he’ll understand that it’s for his own good. I wish him the best.
If he ever wants to talk/email someone his age, my son would be happy to talk with him. My son is now 16 but was diagnosed at 14 as well. He did the shots for 1 1/2 years because his docotor wanted him to understand his diabetes and how to control it before going on a pump. He has been using the omnipod for almost a year now and it has been so much better for him. It has given him the freedom to do so many more things and to be more independent. Good luck to you!!
Have you tries the backs of his arms (way up high, right below the shoulder/armpit)? I’m pretty lean (5’11" and 160lbs) and find that the most comfortable spot. My arms are not “meaty” by anyone’s definition 
I really like the advice someone gave earlier about pointing out situations where having to do injections and carry around insulin and needles would be more troublesome than using the pump. A great everyday example is eating out at restaurants; for 16 years I hated having to go into some potentially dirty restroom to shoot up before dinner. And many times I’d be lazy and just wait until I left the restaurant to inject; needless to say, that was not good for BG control.
There are other, less “everyday” examples of where pump life is better; I have a story on my blog about a day at Disney World that comes to mind. Maybe it will be interesting to you or your son: http://bewarethepenguin.blogspot.com/2009/08/my-experience-with-omnipod.html
As a parent myself, and a person who was diagnoses at age 14, I really sympathize with your situation. I think you were wise to decide to “let it go” for a while and let him think about it, even if it didn’t take very long. Good luck, and come back here often for more advice, stories, and lively discussion.