I’m confident you will notice a huge difference. You will be able to correct a little at the very last minute before school e.g. 0.15u and you will be able to correct as soon as you see her after school just by pressing couple of buttons.
Completely separately I am not sure how you are treating lows but I find this combination really useful. It allows a very fast acting treatment that can be very easily judged. e.g. if your daughter is reading 90 before school you might just try 2ml and it might not push her as high. This treatment might allow you to increase the breakfast dose with more confidence.
I have never been interested in the pods. I catch the CGM on things, and therefore assume I would rip the pod off constantly.
However, if I was really on the fence, I’d go with a pump. Assuming that pump supplies and pods are covered by insurance the same way, I think it’s less of a financial risk. I think a tslim costs around $6000, a medtronic around $8000 I believe,and a PDM for pods around $800. Assuming my insurance is going to only cover 1 device every 4 years, it’s on ME to buy a device if I change my mind. There’s been a program for a while now switch from an in warrant pump and get a free pod PDM (link below).
Even if this program is discontinued, I’d rather be in a position to shell out $800 vs over $6000.
I think there are a lot of considerations. The cost is a very valid point and it was something I struggled with ~2 years ago - Medtronic ~$7000 vs Omnipod ~$700.
We have not had a problem with pods being ripped off but in the early stages we did have some pods start to peel off.
Minimed 670G is not approved for peds under 7 - so this rules it out for me. In my opinion this pump is not really suitable for a 3yo for many reasons including frequent alarming and working with Dexcom. The physical system e.g. tubes also ruled it out.
Tandem T:slim x2 might be an option as it is approved for kids 6+ and I have heard good things from Diabetes Educators in general. I looked into it quite a bit but did not see a reason to move from Omnipod system even assuming a zero dollar cost to move.
There is a very good clear and easy to understand comparison here if you want to look - from Feb2019
I ask about the hottub because when we go away on vacation we rent a house with a hottub, we turn the temp down to 100 /101 and my daughter loves going in it for the week. If we wanted to take a week off from the pump and switch back to MDI, is that an easy switch?
its physically easy - you would take off the pod and put on a new one whenever you want.
Or you could rotate the pod high on her arms - the pod works fine upside down and just be aware that once you get over a certain “unexpected” number e.g. 300 that the POD is no longer working.
or you could buy 3 additional pods I suppose and put on after hot tubbing is done for the day
not that I have noticed - having said that I’m in DC metro area and days above 98F are fairly rare.
Audrey wouldn’t really be out on those days. Maybe some else could offer an opinion…
POD uses only fast-acting insulin. I think what’s being recommended is to give yourself enough insulin to hold you over for x amount of time, remove the POD, monitor your BG’s via the CGM during hottubbing and if necessary MDI to cover any deficiencies, then afterward, load up a new POD and put it on. That’s what we would probably do. Best to wait for the end of the 80 hour period though, so that you’re removing the POD anyway for change-out…then do the hot tub, then afterward, put new POD on.
If I was removing the pod for 24 hours I would program the omnipod pod to stop completely at 1am allowing 5 hours for pod insulin to run its course and then go back to the usual MDI - starting with lantus at 6am.
If I had this dilemma I would be try the POD in the 100F water on placed high on the arm upside down and see how it goes. if it didn’t go so well I would really try minimise the time without the pod and would probably just use humalog/humapen (no lantus) during that time.
I definitely wouldn’t remove a POD for a full 24 hours…ever. No need in doing that in my mind. If you plan to use a hot tub, use it, but no need on removing a POD for 24 hours for that (unless you plan on being in the hot tub for 24 hours.) Bolus extra before you get in, remove it when you’re getting in, put a new one on when you get out.
But I think the underlying question you had is…is it easy to just go back to MDI? Sure. You can do a week MDI and then after the vacation, get back on the PODs. Many people take “breaks” from pumping for various reasons.
Regarding hot tubs, has anyone tried just leaving the pod on? The water is at most a few degrees above body temperature. It’s technically above spec, but not by much. There should some safety margin, right?
My daughters DR. mentioned that we need to attend a 3 hour pump class and see the dietitian as our first steps in getting the pump. Did other do the same? What do they go over in a 3 hour pump class?
Thanks
Yes - this is what I would do