So since my hip/back sites have been big flops, and I want to give my arms a break, I’m trying my butt. Or “buttock” in formal, Insulet parlance.
I have never worn a pod on my butt. It is weird. In order for this to be successful, should I have already bought GINORMOUS underwear to accommodate my derriere buddy before I committed to this?
Seriously, what wardrobe accommodations do you make for wearing a pod (or other pump) in different places? My only consistent success is on my arms. Love handles have failed in fantastic fashion. Abdomen is too adhesive intolerant even with hacks…and the cannulas bleed after one night of sleeping on them.
Dresses? Ginormous underwear? Skorts? Rompers? What do the women and men do to make these things work? Note: I am not fashionable at all.
I sort of wondered if anyone would be brave enough to comment…but honestly, this could be what’s been holding me back from my Unlimited goals: unlimited fabric for awkward pod placements!
People and their diabetes gadgets seem to wantto convince themselves more and more that the disruption to their lives 100% offsets the incrementally smaller increases in control. I play the other hand that the ultimate goal is control with the absolute minimum disruption.
If I was the kind of person who “wears underwear” I certainly wouldn’t wear “giant” and unattractive underwear just cuz I have diabetes. Life is too short.
So far I haven’t had to make any clothing accommodations for my pods. I wear jeans every day and I also wear my pods on my legs a lot. My jeans are fairly comfortable over my pods, but I guess I would have a problem with really tight super skinny jeans. I have thought about trying my butt, but I keep thinking that it would be difficult to find the right spot without sitting on it or having it rub against my waistband. Also, I feel like my jeans would compress the pod too much when sitting down.
@T1Allison, other than the underwear issue, what type of bottoms (pants, skirt…) did you wear when it was on your butt? and did you have any trouble sitting?
I’m just starting out on my Great Butt Experiment this weekend, so I’ll let you know if the pod stays un-knocked and unobtrusive. I’m going hiking and four-wheeling today so we’ll see. The pod is north of peak Butt and south of my waistline. So I don’t think I’ll sit on it.
@Lisa, When I tried pods on my back near my waistline, I started wearing dresses from Old Navy and Athleta. My work pants and jeans are too tough on pods near my belt line. I also bought stretchy leggings and long tunic tops which are really comfortable and work appropriate.
And @Sam, so. Many. Thoughts. But I’m going to go with @Eric’s cartoon.
Ha, funny @T1Allison. A note from the “other” Lisa here, I’ve been most successful when wearing PODs on my legs, hips, upper back (upper arms are reserved for Dexcom rotation between there and upper calves). This might explain why my clothing preferences lately have been skorts and bike shorts (the shorts hold PODs in place nicely).
I can’t stand sleeping on a device so I carefully plot out site rotations to avoid prime sleeping real estate!
@Millz, that is super helpful! I know local podders who look at me like I’m crazy for not being able to sleep on top of the pod…so it’s nice to see someone in my similar category. Sleeping on pods always leads mine to leak/bleed/etc.
Same here. Sleep position dictates pod placement. In the words of an ex, I used to roll like a tumbleweed while I slept, but now the pod forces me to stay on one side, that being dictated by which side of my abdomen my Dexcom is on. My sensors last 30 to 40 days, so I’ll spend 30 to 40 nights sleeping on the side without the sensor, with pods on the sensor side’s thighs, belly or arms. And then when the sensor dies, everything switches to the other side. When on my back, the only risk is with a pod on the back of my arm, but there’s not a lot of pressure and anyway my brain tells me my pod will leak, so I roll over.
Which is all to say the butt is pretty much a no-go zone. In many ways.
I bought a couple of these a few months ago NOT for carrying my pump, but for extra ‘protection’ for low-riding sensor and cannula sites. I pull it down really low and tuck it into my pants to help prevent waistbands from ripping something out. Works well. There are some lacy ones out there too, not sure of comfort tho.
@DeeM, that’s a great idea! It reminds me of the Bella Band I used for the early growing stages of pregnancy. Unfortunately, I got rid of them because they were my barrier between my clothes and my baby oil soaked pod adhesive back before I discovered bottled Unisolve c/o @ClaudnDaye. Wish I still had the Bella Bands from before I ruined them with a metric boatload of baby oil!
I’ll have to look into these if my butt pod actually makes it through this experiment. Otherwise it may just be relegated to my arms with the best rotation tracking ever. I can get 9 or 10 good sites out of each arm…with careful tracking that gives each spot a 50-60 day rest before re-use.
How do you get so many sites out of your arm? When you change pods do you just move the pod a bit down but cover part of the same area with the adhesive?
@Lisa, I used to overlap adhesive areas…until I got a nasty, crusty, itchy, skin reaction on Christmas Day last year. So I do not overlap adhesive areas until it (1) looks better and (2) has had at least three days of no adhesive on it.
I’m told that each cannula placement needs to be two finger widths away from the last one, minimum. This picture shows my current arm rotation pattern. I use one arm per month, and am trying alternate areas (upper butt, currently) to add sites to the successful rotation list.
Prior to pod placement, I have to use alcohol and Flonase. I use Unisolve for soft removal. I immediately wash the site once the pod is removed and put hydrocortisone on it for a few days until the outline of the adhesive disappears.
Why not do the same thing except swap left-arm & right-arm each time? That would enable you to make sure there is no overlap from adhesive on consecutive pods, and allow you to really scrub the old site in the shower for a few days before another pod is in the area.
@Eric, I find I run into fewer door frames and dryer openings w my pod if I have “left month” and “right month”. Makes it easier to remember how to move in my sleep, also. But it’s a good idea if my skin really flares, for sure!
Yeah, I get that. But I am not smart enough to remember when a month starts and ends, so I always swap left and right. I can remember that pretty easy.
I’ve got about 7 hours left on my inaugural butt pod.
This pod was a great success. I forgot it was there most of the time. I never sat on it. It never tunneled. It was very forgiving the few times I caught clothes on it or slept on top of it. It’s not messing with my dress pants for work or anything, which is really nice.
I will be exploring butt podding further after this favorable initiative.
