Friday, April 23, 2010

Pump Parade: Medronic MiniMed Paradigm

After my post, “You Say Tomato, I say Pump”, I planned on another post titled: “You say Potato, I say MiniMed.” (Come on…It’s a little clever, right??) But instead I came up with what I think is a brilliant idea…THE PUMP PARADE!!! I get so many questions about our pump and why we chose it, it came to me that I should post about the many reasons we went the way we did. Information is power baby!

But in the interest of fairness, and honest curiosity, I asked two of my lovely friends if they would post why they chose their pumps. Today Hallie is posting on the Animas Ping and Laura is posting on the OmniPod! For those who are curious…I hope these posts answer questions for you and take the mystery out of pumps and how they work.

Hooray!! A Parade!!

So join me for the fanfare, because I’m ready to march march march!

Many choose the OmniPod because it is tubeless. (Awesomeness!) And many choose Animas Ping because of its remote. (So Cool!) What would compel someone to choose MiniMed?

Four words.

Easy. Peasy. Lemon. Squeezy.

It is just so simple to use. Very few button presses leads to less frustration and days added to your life. In the interest of full disclosure, we had an Animas pump for about 3 years. It was the same pump as the ping, but without the remote. Any pump is brilliant…and I’m not going to go into why we choose MiniMed over Animas…but I will say the most compelling reason for making the full on change to MiniMed, was ease of use.

So without further ado, I’m going to drive my point home and show you two videos featuring two amazing boys that I get to call mine. All my boys could bolus themselves by 5 years old. It is so nice just to tell them what to do…and know they can do it! With added safty features, like the pump always keeping tabs on insulin on board, I don't have to worry too much of the boys stacking insulin.

Now prepare yourself...you are going to hear my voice now...shattering any and all thoughts of normalcy that you have hereto before thought of me. (Who am I kidding, you all know I'm not normal...)





Hello adorableness!! On the front of the pump there are also two big arrows. You can set those arrows to whatever insulin amount you would like. I have B's set to 0.5 units of insulin, and I have L's set at 0.1 units. If we are on the go, and I want to give B a quick unit of insulin before he jumps into his snack all he has to do is push the arrow up twice and press act. It's called an easy bolus, and I LOVE. IT.

One of the questions I get most often is how do my boys bathe with a pump that is not waterproof. (It can get wet…trust me…it can get drenched…but it is not under warranty if it stops working because of damage from water.) SOOOOO we take it off when they shower or bath, or swim. It’s so easy, but since there is a lot of curiosity of how…here you go…my big J…



I love turning the basal down…I love not ALWAYS having to feed the boys in the wee hours of the morning. Each situation is unique, and for sure there are many instances where food is best. But this technique, when appropriate, is quick and easy. (Am I driving home the point that I am all about easy??)

My last two videos are of my sweet husband doing a set change. They showcase the a BIG reason why we love this pump. J has even learned how to do it. He puts it all together, but still prefers my husband to do the actual insertion.



Ok, so I said L's real name in there...let's just pretend you never heard it...and do me a favor and forget it....riiiiiiight now! And NO, you don't need to go back and listen to it again if you missed it...watch the next video instead...



OK...my husband can do this in his sleep. He has done it SO many times it's like brushing his teeth, he doesn't even have to think about it. When you do it for the first time it is going to take you a lot longer because you are going to have to actually think about what you are doing, but in time...it will be just as easy for you.

Another reason we love MiniMed is the Continuous glucose monitor that works with it. It is a separate site insertion…but it is wireless and “speaks” directly to the pumps. Graphs on the pump screen show trends…and arrows show if blood sugars are going up or down. Our CGM has been a dream!

MiniMed has just launched its brand spankin new pump called the Revel. And to my delight…Diabetes Mine has JUST posted a little bit about it! Please follow THIS link to read more about it if you’d like. But the main thing that I think my readers would find most important is that it has the smaller basal rates like the Animas does, AND when connected to the CGM it will now give you predictive alerts…telling you that you will be low soon…or high soon. Really cool!

The last thing I want to tell you all about is the customer service. They are there 24/7 and awesomely fast in responding to our needs! A little example…Last year, on a Friday at 8:00pm, one of the boys pumps stopped working properly. One call and we had a new pump on our doorstep before 11:00am the next morning. What a relief that they had our back! What a relief that I can call for any reason and they act like I am their most important call of the day. (Nope, I haven’t been paid one red cent to write any of this.)

I think I feel so strongly about it because I depend on it to keep my boys alive…and it is doing a dang good job of it. It is reliable…and it has people behind it who care.

And it’s easy to use. (hehehe I had to say it one more time. :)

So I’m going to end now. And remind you to follow the parade over to Hallie…to learn more about the Animas Ping. And over to Laura…to learn more about the OmniPod.

Now go on…get outta here! Learn something! And tell them Meri sent you!

(Reminder: I’m not a doctor, just a D Mom. Please talk to your doctor…or better yet, your Endo, if you would like to try some of the techniques you read about in this post.)

25 comments:

  1. OMG...I LOVE YOU GUYS...the videos are AWESOME. Your voice is so cute!!! It is so funny that many of us haven't "talked" to each other.

    Thanks for the Medtronic info...it was very informative. Although, I am an Animas girl at heart.

    xoxo

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  2. Yup, exactly like we do!! great pump!

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  3. AWESOMENESS! Your voice is cute, your boys are cute and your husband is.. FAST! We need a few lessons - takes us a lot longer! He's got mad insulin filling skills!

    Great Idea, Meri! Thanks for including me! And the Revel sounds Sa-weet!

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  4. I LOVE the videos! You are so right - - - Easy. Peasy. Lemon. Squeezy.

    I love all of the pumps so much - wish we could combine all of the great features into one custom pump for each kid.

    Thanks for setting this up!

    PS - love you super cute voice!

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  5. Thank you so much for making these video's! Its so neat to learn about all of the pump options out there.

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  6. What a good idea! Great way to educate others! What cute little boys too! We have minimed and I agree about the easiness! Oakley infact has two meters that read right to her pump so we can have one at home and one at school! Easy, peasy, lemon, squeezy is right!!

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  7. LOVE the videos...love your voice...now when I read your blog, I'll be able to "hear" you in my head!!! :)
    We're going minimed....THANKS for the videos!! Going to show Jeff later! Jada watched them with me...HUGE eyes the entire time!! I was so glad that the insertion didn't hurt with her watching!!!! :D

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  8. I was thinking we would just look at the Animas and the Omnipod. Now after reading your post and watching your videos, I'm thinking we'll look at the MiniMed, too. Thanks so much for the pump parade!!!

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  9. Perfect timimg Meri! We go collect A's Pump(A blue Minimed!) on Thursday then a week Monday we go into the hospital for 3 days to get it all up and running.I have a feeling we will be back to watch these again a few times!

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  10. Well I guess all of us not normal moms can form a group LOL !! call us over the cliff moms . Who are we kidding we are super moms cause we do stupendous things in the name of the big d . Oh well loved the post dear .

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  11. Nice job Meri! Your family (and voice) are all gorgeous!!!

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  12. AWESOME!!! Your boys are adorable! Thank them for sharing with us. I only wish that I was as fast as your hubby...and I think I want to switch to that inserter and infusion set. Thanks for doing this!

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  13. Meri, All of your posts are fanstastic! What a brilliant idea. It is very helpful to anyone who is considering a pump. How in the world do you do all you do plus have time to make such a long post WITH videos? You are truly a superwoman! I agree with Laura..I wish we could roll all three into one custom pump that has the best of everything! We are moving forward with the Animas Ping. I still love the omnipod but for Addison..the comfort of the animas plus the very small basal settings made the animas the winner. I am still not sure I can get used to those one touch strips though!!

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  14. Hello. I am 22 and from the UK and I have been diabetic since age 9. I don't usually comment but I had to thank you.

    Here in the UK, it is hard to get a pump. The guidelines from NICE (the UK's FDA) basically make them an absolute LAST RESORT, because heaven forbid the NHS should have to pay any more than absolutely necessary to keep you alive. You can only get one if injections don't work.

    I have finally convinced my doc I need one and it will probably be a MiniMed. There are very few pumps available here and you basically have the choice of MiniMed or 2020 from Animas. There's no Ping and no Pod :( I would still love a pod more than anything in the world but now I don't feel so bad about the MiniMed. I was only going to consider the 2020 before.

    Thanks, and your kids are lovely

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  15. Oh Meri you have such a cute voice and I mean that in the best way! Your kids are just freakin' adorable and your husband is a pro at insertion. Honest, he could have a 2nd job at it - send him places to do insertions and earn some extra money he is that good! Thank you for posting your review of the MiniMed, it's great to hear about different pumps. I figure all of our kids will grow up and may or may not choose the pump we originally choose for them, so it's all good to know all of this. Knowledge is power huh?!

    I love how you love your MiniMed and I just popped over to Laura's site and read her love for her OmniPod. We go live with ours this Monday. Somehow I wish I could combine features that I love within each pump system into one glorious pump with CGM built in. Hey a girl can hope, can't she?! Thanks for a great pump parade post, I think it's marvelous!

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  16. Your boys are ADORABLE. But in a super cool boy kind of way. :) Lest anyone be offended.

    Awesome idea for a post, and who doesn't love a parade? Yay! This was so informative.

    I just wanted to say that I love insulin pumps PERIOD.

    :)

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  17. Great post Meri!!! Thank you for all of this wonderful information, it will definately help me when the time comes to get Miss E and Lil Miss C on a pump :)

    I love that you all are doing this Pump Parade! What a great idea.

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  18. That is AWESOME! Thank you!

    I'll admit, I still have some misgivings (mostly due to issues I've heard about with tube failures and site infections), but you've really opened my eyes to the brighter side of pumping and how it could benefit our J. Thank you for taking the time to put this out there for all of us!

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  19. did I say thanks for this already and forget? Isaac and I watched the videos and he proclaimed, "they're like me." And my older one was just excited that there were 'bros' that all had pumps like his 'bro'.
    So, THANK YOU! I enjoy being able to help my son see how he's not alone and has a world of people around him that understand what he is and will be going through.
    And we like our medtronic pump, too :)

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  20. Sniff sniff...I'm really missing Syd's minimed pump right about now! Can't wait to hook Daisy back up! Great post! Great vids! LOVE IT!

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  21. So fun to see your cute family in action!

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  22. (long-time reader, first-time commenter)

    Thanks so much for this post. My daughter started on the MiniMed about a month ago, and we LOVE it. We were completely blown away by how quickly your husband changed the infusion set. I mean, we had to watch it a couple of times because we couldn't believe he had actually gone through all the steps. He is a superstar in our eyes! As are the rest of your family! Thanks so much for sharing your stories. My 10-year-old daughter, who was diagnosed 8 months ago, loved seeing the videos of your boys.

    (apologies in advance for the flood of comments your inbox is about to receive, as I catch up on your recent posts)

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  23. I just read Hallie's post followed it to you and now moving on to Laura's. Have I told you how much you rock my world!!

    Oh and I LOVED seeing and hearing your family!!

    Much LOVE

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  24. Thanks so much for this pump parade. We're in the thick of making the big pump decision right now. I'm loving all the information and will reread and watch tonight with my hubby and daughter. Thanks again!

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