Blog

SUBJECT: New Insulin Pump Technology

No, I haven't gotten one, but I found the one I would "like" to get next. My current pump is a MiniMed 508 and is roughly six and a half years old. The warranty for most pumps is only four years so at this point if anything goes wrong I'm up a creek, and a not very nice creek at that.
The pump has been great for me despite the fact it really hasn't improved my numbers the way it is designed to. I found that this is mainly due to me not changing the site every three days like I am suppose to. Despite MiniMed suggesting that it be changed that offen I didn't realize or think that it would be that big of a deal. I wasn't alone in this as all the doctors I went to never suggested it either.
So why don't I change it more often? Well the sites cost me $11.00 each and the resivours are about $6.00 each. Being uninsured that adds up to $170 a month, not to mention the cost of insulin.
The newest insulin pump from MiniMed has what I've been looking for. Continuous blood glucose monitoring that communicates with the pump. MiniMed Paradigm® REAL-Time Insulin Pump and Continuous Glucose Monitoring System is the first to offer this. Upon my inital look at it I immidiately noticed that they are not doing this in one package but was willing to over-look the fact that I would need to attach two things to me. The demonstation video shows the system in action and despite the numberous times they still request you to test it allows you to see what your blood sugar is doing throughout the day and night and help you better control your blood sugars.
At this point I was stoked and attempted to contact MiniMed for more infomation despite the fact that I wont have insurance until October. After realizing that their sales number isn't open 24/7 I filled out an online request for more information and went to their online store to view the costs of supplies. To my excitement I found that they use the regluar Paradigm supplies but to my frustration I found that the sites for checking your sugars at $350 for a box of ten. If chaning them like you're suppose to, every three days, this would mean you are paying $350 a month. To add to this MiniMed states that this is NOT covered by insurance. I guess it's back to the drawing board and looking at the other two pumps I was thinking about.
The pumps that I had been looking at include the OmniPod features a cordless system. This is my top pick because the cord between me and the pump gets in a way at times and I don't really have the option of taking it off to much more than taking a shower without my blood sugar shooting through the roof. The other thing I liked was that the interface that you program everything with is also a tester. Granted I not very good at remembering to take my meter with me I think that would change it I couldn't adjust my pump without it. I haven't looked at the OmniPod but I was told my someone that did that the part you attach to yourself is rather large.
The other pump I liked was the CozMore. The CozMore is basically the same as what I have but allows a small tester to attach to it making it an all in one unit. The CozMore is also advertised as waterproof but I found out that the tester is not. Don't know how much that would become a problem since you can detach the tester.