Mock Pod On The k2

A few weeks ago when I heard Joe Eldridge speak, I received an Omni Pod sample. Or what I like to call, the“Mock Pod” from my local Insulet rep. Insulet had been one been one of the sponsors for the event, and they were giving out said "Mock Pods" to any and all who were interested.

I’m in the market for a new pump, my Minimed is over 4.5 years old and I know that it's more than time to choose a new pump, I'm considering Minimed again, but I've also been thinking a lot about both the Animas and the Omni Pod as of late and have been doing my research on both. HEY, I'M ALL ABOUT CHOICES.

The Mock Pod looked cute in a small and compact, modern, in 1/2 a hard boiled egg type of way. And it was much slimmer than I expected. It didn’t have an infusion set –so it was indeed a "mock – pod".
It looked exactly the same in form as a real Omni Pod. But it was not functional in the sense that thee was no insulin or Personal Diabetes Manager - the hand held remote to the Pod.

I brought the Mock Pod home; put it on my desk and promptly forgot all about it.

Tuesday night, as I was going through my bills, there sat the Mock Pod box.
I stared at it for a good minute, and then I open the box, removed the sticker peel from the back of the MP and slapped that baby on my belly.

It felt kind of weird, heavy at first, but you couldn’t see it through my shirt at all.
An hour later, I completely forgot I had it on. The perceived feeling of heaviness was gone (and has never come back) and I went about my daily business, double fisted, or "doubled pumped" if you want get technical.

As far as spacial issues- I didn't seem to have any, which is always a good thing. I think those of us with pumps and CGMs have our spacial boundaries thrown out of kilter every time we put on our hardware, and it takes a bit for us to get used to our new dimensions.

I looked at my stomach in the mirror and I felt like a cowboy whose holster around her waist contained insulin pumps, not guns. I kept comparing my Minimed to the mock pod and just couldn't decide which one felt more like, well,...like me.

I tried taking pics of my stomach – but I gotta tell you folks, I’m just NOT ready to flash my belly for all of dBlogville to see! At least not with out a filtered lens or massive amounts of Photo Shop!

The next morning I showered with the MP. It felt which felt strange because in my head, water and insulin pumps, well - you know the drill – never the two shall meet so to speak.

Me being a lover of all things water related, I started to immediately think about swimming in the ocean with the Pod. I imagined myself surfing, body surfing, and waverunning with a pod. I loved the thought of being free from any worries of damaging the pump's mechanics due to water. And the thought of having "no strings" definitely crossed my brain - A LOT. “Hmmmm, interesting. “ I thought.

I was only aware of the Mock Pod when my hands brushed up my waist/stomach. Then,
I ‘d tap the mock pod through my shirt. It reminded me of armor and I felt like my constant tapping was somewhat subliminal, like I was trying to put a chink in my armor, except nothing happened. It was solid and it didn’t move. I found myself tapping my Mock Pod to the tune of "Clang Clang, Clang Went the Trolley" thanks to Lora's post from yesterday.

I wish when I was given my Mock Pod, I’d also been a mock Personal Diabetes Manager ( the hand held portion) as well. Then, I could see what PDM’s pump options look like.

Personally, I would really like to know if I could get used to the operating functions of the Personal Diabetes Manager. Could I live with it? I want to know how much room it would take up in my Hand-bag. Change is scary and I wondered if I was just to stuck in my current insulin pumps ways to even consider a change.

As diabetics we are so used to our personal diabetes routines, sometimes we stick to them, even when we’ve out grown them for years, just because we fear change.

For instance, it took years of convincing for me to actually go on an insulin pump,
I thought I knew what I was doing, and I thought I was used to the day to day issues of my diabetes.

But once I actually went on my insulin pump and got through the first week (what I like to call hell week because it required round the clock glucose testing and extremely tight carb counting to get an accurate basal rate) I knew that I would never again take shots daily.

I also realized that diabetes is a technology based disease, and in order to be healthy,
I, (we) have to go with the flow as far as technology is concerned.

Our lives literally depend on this technology.

So, the Mock Pod has been on the k2 for whole 2 days now. Tomorrow morning, I’ll toss it.

I have to say, I like being wireless – even if it’s only pretend. But I’ve only experienced part of the package and I’m very curious to see what the other part is like.

Also, I’m literally a "delicate flower". No really, I am. My skin is REALLY sensitive regarding pretty much EVERYTHING. I worry about skin issues, not necessarily pump site infections. Though, that'd always in the back of my mind regardless of the pump brand.

But what if by switching from my familiar infusion set stick um, I run into a sticking problem or skin irritation like Amy encountered? Amy's sensitivity was not Omni Pod specific (more like wheat specific) and my skin issues are not just diabetes centric - I mean, I get all rash-e if you look at me wrong. Again, could I change my routine, or would I stick with it just because I was afraid of mixing it up and going with something new?

Then I thought: "What is it with you and the dreaded WHAT IF'S Kelly? What IF your site gets all irritated ? It's not like that hasn't happened to you before. You had a site issue three weeks ago because you'd reached "Infusion Set Nirvana and didn't change your site for 5 days. And there seems to be many a solution according to Amy’s article regarding the stickiness, so why worry? Skin irritation happens. Be it because of insulin pumps, CGMs, perfumed laundry detergents, scratchy sheets, sub par make-up, etc. You'll figure it out, you always do. Why worry before it even happens?"

For now, I’ll continue to research my options and choose the best pump that works for me. But, the Omni Pod is definitely on my short list of new pump options.


12/5/2008 MockPOD Update: I removed the MockPod this morning after showering and guess what? MY skin, much like Mary Poppins, is "practically perfect in every way!" Damn the torpedoes and damn the dreaded "What Ifs!"