April 13, 2008
Daily Care, Insulin Pumps
Question from Monroe, Wisconsin, USA:
My five-year-old daughter lives in a split family. She has been in the 95% plus range for all child measurements her whole life, including weight. She was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes about 11 months ago. It appears that we are still in the “honeymoon” period. I am starting to notice some wide blood sugar counts between the two houses, as well as when at Daycare. I feel some of this is diet related, but that is being addressed. My question is about insulin pumps. My daughter is very active and I have been considering the pump to try and control the blood sugar levels more closely. I have researched several brands and am leaning very heavily towards the OmniPod insulin delivery system because of its size, its remote transmitter, and the fact that there are no catheter lines. Are there any better solutions than the pump? Have there been any negative side effects of this pump? In your opinion, is this a good pump, or are there better options?
Answer:
A pump can be a problem if it falls out or if one is allergic to the adhesive. The lack of ability reliably to download the data from the PDA is not really a side effect but one of the issues with choosing an OmniPod since patients must keep written logbooks or risk losing all blood glucose information. In my opinion, it’s sad that nobody at OmniPod has fixed this problem for several years since it would make their innovative product much more appealing and easier to recommend.
SB
