Hi everyone- Thanks to all who posted about my son’s teflon allergy, it looks as though we have decided to go back to shots. My son just could not take the itching any longer. I just got some samples of the Sure-T infusion sets from Medtronic’s, they have the steel needle so I thought we would see if that felt any better for him before I start the whole" getting a pump process" again. Can anyone tell me their experience with these or with the minimed in general? I’m not so sure how it will go going from tubeless to a tubed pump or how we will even afford the minimed but I thought these samples would be a good place to start. Oh, the joy’s (sigh)…Thanks!
I’m so sorry he could not use the Omnipod, Lisa. Maybe they will have different needles in the Pod at some point, but things move so slow. My CDE thought that they might be considering doing one with a shorter canula for kids and leaner people that have a lot of occlusions.
A pump with a tube will still give him better control than the shots. Toby Petereson, who plays ice hockey for the Dallas Stars, wears a tubed pump on the ice. He has a special pocket in his uniform. There actually seem to be more belts and things made for the tubed pumps because there is more of a market with the varierty of pumps. You’ll get lots of help here in figuring out all of the specifics. He may even be able to unhook for part of the game and hook back up when he is in the dugout
Hi Lisa -
My daughter uses the sure-t set for the mini med. She also had a reaction to the omnipod. Red and super itchy skin. So she wanted something she could insert without an inserter. She wanted to do it herself. This is the only one I found that could do it. She has had great luck with this. No irritation at all and the insertion is easy for her. She is 10 years old and been on a pump for two years now. She was probably on the OmniPod for a year. It got progressively worse with the itching. The Sure-T has been great for her. And the MiniMed, in my opinion, as a Mom not a user of the device, is great. The download is better. You get alot more information, maybe too much info. I thought the tubing would be a problem because she plays softball and basketball and does dance but it has not been an issue at all. She likes it as much as a kid can. Good luck.
Renee
we love the Minimed pump. Have also had Animas pump. when diagnosed at 8, Omni-pod was advertised but not available. She has been using the pumps with tubing for almost six years now. I ordered a Pod prototype for her to look at and she was completely turned off. Because of the footprint of the pod on the body. Although the pump is still fairly large, the footprint of the set on the body is very small. And you can hide the pump in your clothing or wear it on a spibelt, clip it to your jeans. She felt the pod was too visible. Also the features of the Minimed pump are superior, counting insulin on board, etc. And we feel the Minimed is a more reliable pump than the Omnipod. Have read about all the pod failures, at one point they had a problem manufacturing, which they did fix. So would not try Omnipod.I think… Minimed is coming out with a patch pump but she does not seem interested. Maybe Minimed will give you a deal (they have been known to make arrangements, as has Animas) if you tell them you are switching from another pump. They will often give you a pump at a reduced rate and take over your warranty. Give both pump companies a try. P.S. We have never tried the steel sets but I did see them inserted by two ten year olds at a pump education meeting years ago. Both children felt insertion was comfortable. I would ask them to send you the sets, and try them out to see if your son can tolerate them before buying the pump. He could use EMLA cream if he finds insertion painful. Tubing was only an issue before she started pumping. Tubing has never presented a problem.