Insulin Pumps: Preferred Brand for Children?

In My Humble Opinion
1

No. 2 Simmerson just “celebrated” his first anniversary as a Type 1 Diabetic. He is 8 years old. The “honeymoon phase” is almost over, and at his recent follow-up, it was indicated that he might be ready for a pump soon. Our insurance provider gives us a choice of the following brands:

• Omni Pod
• Animus
• Medtronic
• Tandem

The endocrinologist is reluctant to recommend any specific brand (kickbacks and all that), and is encouraging us to do our own research. Anyone with experience have an opinion on the above? Are they basically all the same? What features, in particular, should I be looking for?

And no, you are not my (or my child’s) doctor. Only looking for opinions. I will be tapping other resources for additional information.

2

My friend’s daughter has the Medtronic Minimed and they absolutely love it. She also says the company has been really great about answering questions and such. She has had it for about two years.

3

How old is she?

4

Medtronic does have excellent customer service through their reps, both for the nurses and the patients. I haven’t worked with any of the others, though. So that’s a “yes” for Medtronic, but not a “no” for the other options.

5

She is 12, she got the pump when she was 10 about 2 yrs after being diagnosed.

6

No, they’re not all the same. The big stand-out is the Omnipod; unlike all the others, it’s tubeless, meaning there is no tubing connecting you and the pump all the time. Instead, it’s a small “pod” that you fill with insulin and stick to your arm, leg, or torso every 3 days, and a cordless PDM-type controller you use to control it. No tubes to snake through clothes, catch on doors, etc.

For me, that was the killer feature. I hear you get used to the tubes, but personally I couldn’t find a reason I’d want to try. The pod is convenient, you can put it on a variety of spots on your body, and the cordless controller works great.

If you’re on Facebook, I know the Omnipod has several different very active groups, including some specifically for parents with kids on the Pod. I’d be surprised if every other pump brand didn’t have the same. It might be useful for you to talk with other parents for first-hand experiences with each pump.

But really, I love the Omnipod. If you have any specific questions, I’d be happy to answer them, albeit from the adult point-of-view.

7

Athena, is the Omnipod readily removable, say, if you want to go swimming or do other active things, or does it just stay in place? (I’m also not clear on the other models in this sense). If you can put it on a variety of spots, do you tend to do so, or do you pick a favorite spot?

I will definitely check out the Facebook groups and inquire there.

8

There’s no need to remove the Omnipod; it’s waterproof. I’ve worn it swimming, in hot tubs, etc. As far as activities, you might have to watch it if someone is really roughhousing, but I think that’s the same with any pump; hit it in the right place, it’s going to get damaged or come off. Actually, one advantage of the Omnipod is that if it does get a direct hit hard enough to damage it, you only lose the pod, not the pump itself. Once you get used to wearing it, you tend to develop a sixth sense over where it is, and it doesn’t come off very often.

But to directly answer your question, no, you don’t take it off. Once you fill a pod with insulin and stick it on you, it’s there until it expires (3 days) or it comes off accidentally for whatever reason.

Some people wrap the pump with elastic tape or bands if they are worried that it will fall during activities. There’s all sorts of info out there about what to do when your kid is playing soccer/wresting/swimming; I don’t gather any pump makes it impossible to do anything a kid wants to do.

From reading posts from kids with Omnipods, the biggest problem I’ve seen is that some people (kids and adults both) have sensitive skin that causes problems with the adhesive, and/or if they get sweaty, the adhesive doesn’t work well. Once again, I gather that is similar with all pumps. When it comes right down to it, every one of them have a bit that sticks to you, and if the adhesive they use irritates you, that particular brand just might not work. I think these are edge cases, though, and most people don’t have issues.

As far as spots where you put it, the Omnipod can go just about anywhere you have a bit of fat on your body. The “official” spots are the top of your thighs, torso, and upper arms. In practice, I’ve seen people put it just about anywhere - calf, back, some women even wear it on the sides of their breasts (ouch!).

I don’t know a lot about tubed pumps, but I gather that most people put the insertion point somewhere on their lower torso or back. Though (I think) you can put it anywhere, you have to account for the fact that you have to thread the tubes through whatever clothes your wearing to the pump that most people wear on their waistband. I’ve heard women complain that wearing dresses is difficult with tubed pumps; with no opening at the waist, you have to be innovative as to how you thread the tubes.

9

Just wanted to add - regardless of what pump you end up with, you are going to love it. It’s so much better than shots! Much easier to stay in control, easier to give tiny corrections, easier all around.

I just remembered something else with the Omnipod. The glucose meter is built into the PDM, so you’re only carrying around one thing. I’m not sure how many of the other pumps have a meter integrated, I think some do, but not all. That’s really handy.

(and once you get used to a pump, consider a CGMS like the Dexcom. Between the pump and the CGMS, life is very, very good.)

10

Great info, Athena, thanks!

CGM sounds great, but from the brief search I just did, not exactly cheap (not that I’m necessarily looking for cheap, but I doubt insurance would cover any of that).

So it sounds like, so far, pump > injections, hands down, no matter what kind. Still going to have to learn more about all this before we make a decision. At least we have some time. We’re very accustomed to injections (pen), and I would like him to learn to inject himself (and count carbs and calculate dosage), pump or no pump, but I am also interested in what will be most comfortable and manageable for him once he does graduate to to the pump.

By the way, we met a guy who had an islet cell transplant, and has been diabetes free since then. The only thing is, he still has to take anti-rejections drugs, but he says that’s pretty painless. So there is hope.

11

My insurance covers my CGMS just fine, so you might want to check. I don’t think that’s at all unusual nowadays, and it really is a great tool. Dexcom’s latest actually works in tandem with an iPhone or iPod touch to transmit blood glucose numbers in real time to the cloud, so if you can keep track of your kid’s blood glucose when he’s at school or sleeping or whatever. I gather that makes a lot of parents very, very happy.

Wow, islet cell replacement! I knew that was in the works, but didn’t realize it was to a point that they were actually doing it yet. That’s pretty cool.

Good luck with whatever you do; sounds like you have a good handle on things.

12

They all have advantages and disadvantages. Medtronic’s customer service and support, as noted up-thread, is excellent - the best in the business. The Medtronic pumps offer the most features out of all the brands. Not every diabetic needs a lot of features, so that’s something to take into consideration.

Omnipod’s big selling point is that it’s tubeless. The disadvantage of the Omnipod is that it’s operated almost solely from a remote, and if you have a child who tends to lose things, and the remote gets lost, you are in a pretty bad spot as far as operating the pump. I might not recommend the Omnipod to a child for that reason, unless they were a bit older and very responsible.

I hear a lot about the Tandem T-slim these days. The young teens seem to like it a lot for it’s easy interface - it looks pretty much just like a smart phone and has a touch screen. It is a very ‘cool’ looking pump and is full-featured and easy to use.

CGM is a wonderful feature and if you can get it paid for, do. It’s worth it.

Hope this info helps -