The Battle of Minimed vs. Animas

Here are my thoughts thus far. I still have yet to make a pump decision and want to decide soon.

MINIMED

• I prefer the Minimed menus to the Animas ones. I find them personally easier to navigate.
• Animas only holds 200u at a time in the reservoir. Minimed can hold either 176 or 300 (with the 7XX models).
• I don't like that with Animas, you have to rewind and re-prime every time you change the battery.
• I like that with Minimed, when you calculate a bolus using carbs, BG, etc. that the result is auto-populated into the recommended amount that you can then tweak rather than having to scroll up to the recommended number like you have to do with Animas.

ANIMAS

• You have more tweaking abilities with the Animas because of the ability to do 0.025 u / hr. basal rates.
• Minimed, you are restricted on which sites you can use (only theirs - unless you want to risk voiding the pump warranty by using the luer-lock adapted ones). Animas, you can use any luer lock pump site.
• I prefer the Dexcom to the Minimed CGMS, and Animas will eventually be integrating with the Dexcom.

Well... so far it looks like Minimed's in the lead by ONE positive aspect. If I'm forgetting anything major that I need to think about with my decision between the 2, please leave me a note in the comments as a friendly reminder. Thanks!

Double Barreled Pumping

Off I go... long story about the Animas trial. Vicki is my Animas lady. She was supposed to be at my house at 5:00pm. I hadn't heard from her at 5:35, so I e-mailed her asking if she really did mean this week, or if she meant to say next week for the trial. While waiting for her response (since I was SO SURE she wasn't coming tonight) I started a pod in me. Then, I got an e-mail saying she was 10 miles away! Oops! Maybe I shouldn't have started the pod just then. I also saw I had a voicemail from her from 5:00 saying she was stuck in traffic. Oops again! In my house, there are areas where one minute you'll have perfect cell reception, and the next minute, NOTHING! Apparently she called during one of those NOTHING times.

So fast forward to about 6:25 or so when Vicki shows up. MAJOR TRAFFIC!!! Anyway, I had to explain to her why my Cozmo pump was sitting on the kitchen table (for settings of course) and why I had a pod on (to try their product of course). We ended up setting me up with saline in the Animas, then when this pod expires, I'll switch to insulin in the Animas and actually try it out for real. I get to ahve the Animas loaner pump for a week give or take.

Right now though... Double Barelled Pumping! WOO!

No worries... I will report back with my super scientific results of the findings when I'm all done.

It's HERE!!!

The OmniPod arrived, and like a little kid, I have it completely set up and ready to go, but not on me yet. I also have the Animas lady coming tomorrow for their pump trial. It's raining pumps!

Patience... GGGRRRRRRR!!!

I really truly try to be a patient person, but in this case, it's not going very well. When I called OmniPod after finding out about their deal for Cozmo users (this past Friday, and the deal is up this Friday) I was told that as long as they got my paperwork and file going before 7/31, I would be okay in still getting that deal. I was also told they would call within 24 hours of receiving my paperwork to confirm the file was started and I could still get the deal pending MD approval. I had my mom fax in the paperwork from me on Monday in the morning. I am going to fax the Statement of Medical Necessity to my endocrinologist tomorrow morning. So... Monday + 24 hours = Tuesday. Today is Wednesday, late in the day. I have still not heard that they received my paperwork. I'm starting to get a bit anxious as the deal is over Friday.

In other news, the Animas people are waiting for a prescription from my endocrinologist so that I can try their pump for a length of time before making my final pump decision. I love my endocrinologist, she truly is great, and her CDE is amazing too, but they are very busy people, and when time is of the essence (I want to have tried all my pump options before my life gets super crazy with nursing school again so at that point, I can just make my decision, get the paperwork going, and just start up with a pump on some random weekend of choice) it gets kind of frustrating waiting around for them to sign a little piece of paper and fax it in.

More good news! When I was down at the Friends for Life conference earlier this month, I snuck into a focus group about Medingo's new Solo Insulin Pump that they are coming out with. The session was intended for parents and children ages 7 - 17. We went up to the room and confirmed this was the place we were looking for. The Medingo Rep at the door welcomed us (me and my roomie who also looks really young) right in, and pointed us in the direction of where the kids were to gather. Apparently I look like I am 17 years old or younger, as did my roommate. BUMMER! When we admitted to the representative that we were actually 23 and 19, she gave an audible gasp. We then proceeded to well... *cough* beg our way into the session raving about how interested we were in their product and how much we would LOVE to learn more about their pump. She smiled and laughed and welcomed us in, again telling us we would probably be better sitting with the kids since we would be the actual pump users. Anyway... where was I? Oh... I'm rambling again... sorry! It was just announced that the Medingo Solo patch / PDM Insulin Pump system has been approved to be marketed in the US. There is still no word on when the pump will be out, but this is definitely a step in the right direction. I know that breaking into the business is very tough to do, afterall... look at what happened with Cozmo (RIP), but I definitely wish Medingo the very best of luck in bringing more pump options to me and all the other PWDs out there.

FIRST BLOG POST! WOO!

Welcome to my blog. I will warn readers now, I tend to ramble on, so I won't be offended if you get bored... especially since I will likely never know if you are bored reading my blog... or who is reading my blog anyway... well... unless you comment. COMMENTS ARE ALWAYS WELCOME!

So. What got me started blogging? Well... I am an avid reader of many blogs by and about people with diabetes. I am also a person with diabetes, and I kind of honestly felt like a bit of a snoop reading their blogs all the time, and not sharing anything about myself in return. Here I am!

I am currently a Deltec Cozmo insulin pump user. As many of you I am sure know, Smiths Medical has stopped manufacturing all diabetes supplies. This means, I have to go pump shopping. UGH! I generally enjoy shopping. I also most of the time, like reading about new medical technology that can potentially help me and millions of other PWDs out there. Why am I getting so frustrated with the shopping this time? I'm basically stuck with my decision for 4 years before the warranty is up. What if I make the wrong decision? What if I think I made the right decision, but then 2 years in, am not happy with my insulin pump of choice? Honestly, this is stressing me out!

Okay... history. I used a Minimed 508 pump when I first started pumping (6/2000) then moved up to a Minimed Paradigm 500 series model pump when that came out. In June of 2006, I had a major pump fluke happen where the insulin was leaking back from the main reservoir of my pump into the body portion of my pump. This sent me into "mild DKA" because no one believed that I really truly had a pump problem, so my MD and NP kept telling me to correct with an insulin pen until my blood sugar came down, switch out all of my pump site, tubing, reservoir, insulin, etc. and then when my blood sugar was back in line, I could try pumping again and see if I would hold stable. This back and forth went on from 8am until 5pm one day, and then I finally called the MD (endocrinologist) back with a blood sugar of 400+ and said something just was not right with my pump. The NP got back to me and said I needed to go to the ER because she didn't believe it was a pump issue, but we HAD to get my blood sugars back in control. Fine... I went to the ER, they pumped me up with fluids, and insulin, and eventually, around 10pm when I stabilized, they sent me on my merry way. What happened then you ask? Around midnight, my blood sugar was back up in the mid-400 range, and I was cranky as heck. I called the MD back, and the endo. on call said I had to be admitted until they could figure out what was going on. I said fine, but I'm driving myself to the hospital (only 1/2 mile away or so, but in hindsight... DO NOT DRIVE WITH SUPER HIGH BGLs). I drove myself there, and was admitted. I called Minimed the next morning, and we figured out it was in fact a pump problem. They said that they would send me a replacement pump the next day. They did fulfill this request, but I was quite turned off of pumping by that point because I was freaked out by what happened. I talked to my endocrinologist, and we agreed a pump hiatus might be a good plan after all. I started a regimen of Lantus and Humalog. After recovering mentally from my pump breakdown ordeal, I started thinking about pumping again, but I honestly was not in a trusting mood towards Minimed. I decided to trade in my Minimed pump and get a Cozmo pump in November of 2006.
**DISCLAIMER: MINIMED PUMPS ARE WONDERFUL... WHAT HAPPENED TO MINE WAS TRULY A FLUKE, AND IT JUST KIND OF FREAKED ME OUT MAKING ME SWITCH PUMPS**

Fast Forward to about March or so of 2009: Smiths Medical announces that they will no longer be manufacturing diabetes supplies, including the Cozmo pump.

Where am I now you ask? I went to the Children With Diabetes Friends For Life conference in Orlando, FL earlier this month, and was able to see and hold all my pump options. I also had a pod put on me, and the cannula inserted. I even tried the Minimed CGMS for a few days. What have I decided from gathering all that useful information? NOTHING! I am in the process of scheduling a pump trial with Animas, I know the basics of Minimed, so I'm comfortable with their products, and I am signing up for the $50 Cozmo users deal with OmniPod to try their system for a month.

All I can say now is... any advice / thoughts are very welcome, and please wish me luck with my insulin pump decision!