The New, The Improved, The Smaller OmniPod!

Update - 1/2011
To read more on the Smaller OmniPod please check out this informative post over at DiabetesMine by clicking here.  

________________________________________________________________________

My next few posts are all about OmniPod - a bit of a continuation on the Parade of Pumps and OmniPod, OmniPod - Oh How I Love Thee!

I am not trying to push the OmniPod ---  just passing along a few facts and a lot of personal stories about our journey on the pod.

I don't know about you but I cannot WAIT until the next version of the OmniPod comes out.  Here are a few of the things that I am SUPER excited about:

* The new pod will be 40% smaller.  That is a huge difference on Nate's little sweet spot!!  

* The minimum amount of insulin required will go from 80 units to 65 units.  Yippeee!  

* The cannula will be BLUE so that you can see it more clearly through the window.  Call me a dork but I am SUPER excited about this feature!  It might be my age but I find it really hard to see that cannula.

* CGM receiver integrated into the PDM (Personal Diabetes Manager or Remote).  It will be the 1st three in one . . . glucometer, CGM and pump remote.

I heard a rumor that the 'Idex' which is the OmniPod PDM and Dexcom receiver was submitted to the FDA 2 weeks ago!!  Woot-Woot!!

I love all of the progress being made by Insulet.  They are truly a 1st class organization.  Everyone that I have met at Insulet Corporation has been kind, compassionate and knowledgeable.   One of the things that touches me personally is that so many of the employees that work for Insulet have first hand knowledge of Type 1.  Many of the employees have type 1, the Chief Operating Officer's wife has T1 and the original Venture Capitalist has a son with T1.  This company is not out to make a quick buck on diabetes.  This is a company that knows and cares about diabetes & knows and cares about the 25,000 patients that trust OmniPod to keep them alive every day.

Update - 1/2011
To read more on the Smaller OmniPod please check out this informative post over at DiabetesMine by clicking here. 

Blogcation

After a great Diabetes Blog Week I need a blogcation!

It was so great to participate and read all of the other D blogs that participated. Thank you to Karen over at Bitter-Sweet for putting it together.

Now . . . for a little blogcation to recharge my brain, clean this crazy, messy house that I neglected last week & catch up on all of the blogs!

Dream a little dream - life after a cure

Sunday 5/16 - Dream a little dream - life after a cure. To wrap up Diabetes Blog Week, let’s pretend a cure has been found. We are all given a tiny little pill to swallow and *poof* our pancreases are back in working order. No side effects. No more insulin resistance. No more diabetes. Tell us what your life is now like. Or take us through your first day celebrating life without the Big D. Blog about how you imagine you would feel if you no longer were a Person With Diabetes.


1st let me start by saying - I am reading, reading, reading all the blog posts and loving them. I've had to start reading them on Google Reader on my phone and I have not figured out a way to leave a comment. So, please forgive my lack of comments this week. This is a lot of blogging and a lot of reading - Holy Guacamole!

Now on to the post at hand . . .

Wow! A Cure? Hmmm . . .

You would think this would be a simple post - right? It's not. I think it is because although I hope and pray for a cure I don't allow myself to actually think that it could happen. Not because I don't want a cure but more because I can't spend my time pining for a cure when I have a busy life to lead taking care of 3 amazing children - - - one of which has diabetes.

BUT . . . if I allow myself to go there for one minute here is what I see:

JOY
PEACE
HEALTH
SLEEP
TEARS
LAUGHTER
FEAR
SLEEP
EXCITEMENT
HOPE
SLEEP
HAPPINESS
LOVE
SLEEP


A LITTLE BOY THAT WILL LIVE A LONG LIFE WITH NO COMPLICATIONS, NO MORE SHOTS, NO MORE FINGER STICKS - - - A LITTLE BOY THAT WILL GROW UP AND LIVE A LONG, HAPPY, HEALTHY LIFE WITH NO MORE WORRY. NO MORE HIGHS. NO MORE LOWS. NO MORE DIABETES.

A HAPPY MOMMY THAT WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER THE DAY HER SON WAS DIAGNOSED BUT FOCUS NOW ON THE DAY HE WAS CURED. OH HAPPY DAY!

And on that note . . . won't you please visit our JDRF Walk for a Cure fund-raising page by clicking here and donate so that we can find cure in Nate's lifetime?

Don't forget to SAVE the DATE to WALK with NATE!

Diabetes Snapshots -

Ok, I am going to have to cheat today -

This week has been crazy busy with things like - - - Sophie's last day of school, Emma's field day, Emma's spring concert and well, just the everyday stuff that comes along with having 3 active children.

So, I am going to post my 'Save the Date to Walk with Nate' video. After all, I am gearing up to start raising money for our JDRF walk . . .

You can always check out our life in pictures by clicking HERE.

Let's get moving!

Friday 5/14 - Let's get moving. Exercise . . . love it or hate it? Do you have a regular exercise routine? Or do you have trouble finding your exercise motivation? How do you manage your insulin and food to avoid bottoming out during your workout? Today is the day to tell us all about your exercise habits, or lack thereof.



Since Nate is only 23 months I don't have just a ton of knowledge on exercise and diabetes. What I do know is Nate is a crazy man! For such a small person he runs REALLY fast. At his gymnastics class they call him the ROADRUNNER. Funny! Anyway, exercise and a lot of physical activity does have a tendency to make Nate drop like a rock so for gymnastics I set a temp basal for 2 hours of -50% and still give him 10-15g of uncovered carbs. It usually works out but I do have to check him at least once during class to make sure he is not going low. Nate loves him some gymnastics. Watch out summer Olympics 2024!!

There are some things I can't prepare for as far as Nate's activity is concerned --- just chasing his sisters around the house can make him drop.

Nate & Sophie playing (please excuse the extremely messy house)

Although I can't prepare for all of Nate's crazy adventures I can check, check and check and carb, carb and carb to keep him from drop, drop dropping too low!

To carb or not to carb . . .

Thursday 5/13 - To carb or not to carb. Today let’s blog about what we eat. And perhaps what we don’t eat. Some believe a low carb diet is important in diabetes management, while others believe carbs are fine as long as they are counted and bolused for. Which side of the fence do you fall on? What kind of things do you eat for meals and snacks? What foods do you deem bolus-worthy? What other foodie wisdom would you like to share?

This will be a short & sweet post - - -

We are just rolling with it over here.  We decided shortly after Nate's diagnosis that we would do our very best to keep Nate's life as normal as possible.  We don't keep a lot of sweets in the house but we don't restrict them either.  There are some things that the girls eat that Nate doesn't get but that will probably change once he gets older.  I don't think the girls ate Pop-Tarts when they were 2 but they sure love them now.

We are all making smarter choices around the Houston household but when we want pizza - we eat pizza and when we want cake - we eat cake. 

D may take a lot of things from us but it will NOT take our pizza or cake!

The End!

Biggest D Supporter

I am really enjoying all of the posts.  Day 1 was so interesting reading about everyone's D day & I loved all of the anti-low ideas from yesterday.  I am totally stocking up on Smarties ASAP!  I'm falling behind on comments but that doesn't mean I don't love you!!  I got nothing but love for all my D bloggy friends.

Today's post subject:

Wednesday 5/12 – Your Biggest Supporter. Sure, our diabetes care is ultimately up to us and us alone. But it’s important to have someone around to encourage you, cheer you, and even help you when you need it. Today it’s time to gush and brag about your biggest supporter. Is it your spouse or significant other? Your best friend, sibling, parent or child? Maybe it’s your endo or a great CDE? Or perhaps it’s another member of the D-OC who is always there for you? Go ahead, tell them just how much they mean to you!

I actually cranked out the posts for day 1 and day 2 on Sunday (finished up on Monday morning) but have to admit I have been dreading this post. I never want to hurt anyone's feelings or leave anyone out when I am giving praise. Now I know what it must be like to win an Academy Award - I would be terrible at giving at acceptance speech!!

 

I started a post last week that is still sitting in the draft folder that I will save for a later date titled "Not all dads do D".  Sadly, my spouse is not my biggest D supporter. He is a great dad but he is in some kind of D denial. He can check Nate's bg and bolus him with the PDM when he has to but most of Nate's care is handled by me.  

 

Daddy & Nate

My parents are great and always willing to help out in a pinch but I know that D still scares them and is still pretty confusing for them.  Don't get me wrong my parents support me in A LOT of ways but they cannot be my biggest D supporter when they do not fully understand what it takes to keep the little man alive. They are my biggest supporters for everything else. Best. Parents. Ever.  

GaGa, Poppa and Nate

I love my friends.  What would a girl do without her friends?  Are they cheering me on?  Yes.  Are they always there for me?  Yes.  Are they awesome?  Yes.  Do they fully understand diabetes?  No.  Do I want them to?  NO!   I don't think you can fully understand what it is to live with D unless you live with D.  That being said I am glad that my friends are not my biggest D supporters because I do not want any of them to ever know what it is like to live with D.

  Friends

So, who is my biggest D supporter? You are! 

If you read this blog and leave supportive comments - you are my biggest D supporter.  If you have been reading it from the beginning and made it through all of the negative posts then YOU are my biggest supporter.  If you are a D-Mom or a D-Dad and you are awake with me at all hours of the night then you are my biggest supporter!  If you know sleepless nights, worry, highs, lows, insulin on board and no insulin on board, can chat about basals and bolusing & love a person with D, are a person with D then YOU are my biggest D supporter.

I would like to thank everyone for all of the love and support I have received over the past 8 months from all of my family - - - especially my parents, my old friends, my new friends and the diabetic online community.

Thanks Y'all - - - I know I could not have done it with out each of you.

Making the low go . . .

Depending on the situation and the low we treat with different things.  Our typical daytime 'low' snack is a banana. Nate loves bananas and peanut butter. We give him 10g - 15g of banana and a spoonful of peanut butter and it's all good.

Of course, super lows are a different story.  We keep an ample supply of Juicy Juice (15g) juice boxes on hand & we are not afraid to use them!

At night . . . depending on the low we may use the little Danonino yogurts with 7g of carbs, a drinkable yogurt with 15g of carbs or if we're not messing around we always have the Costco supply of Juicy Juice in the pantry to combat the low lows.

And that is how we make the low go . . .

A day in the life . . . with ducking fiabetes

I know eventually it will get old but right now it is my new favorite swear word of choice!

Today has been a real duck fiabetes kind of day.  It's mother's day but D did not want to take the day off.  In fact it decided to play mean and dirty and this mother's day I am feeling sad and defeated.  So, again I say duck fiabetes.

My day always starts here:

12:00 AM - iPhone alarm goes off.  I throw the covers back and try not to wake the 2 little sleeping princesses that thought they should sleep with mommy for mother's day eve.  Stumbling through the house I find my way to the kitchen to find Nate's OmniPod PDM, insert test strip and cock the lancet. I turn on the hallway light outside of Nate's room and creep into his room. I prick his finger, fumble with the PDM and then sneak back towards the door.  Look down at the PDM and WHAT THE . . . 303?
I correct using the PDM's correction factor and head back to bed making sure the iPhone alarm is set for my next check.

3:00 AM - repeat of above except the PDM says 158 this time.  Nice.  Back to bed.

7:00 AM - Nate wakes up late which is ok by me.  We normally rise and shine around 6:30 AM around here.  I check his bg (which is 180) before I get him out of his crib so that I can bolus for breakfast before he starts screaming for food.

7:30 AM - prepare breakfast (yes,even on mother's day). Nate's breakfast includes: 1 Leggo blueberry waffle (15g), 1 drinkable yogurt (15g) and 1 cheesy scrambled egg.

9:30 AM - Snack time.  Check Nate's blood sugar.  BG = HIGH.  Are you kidding me?  I haven't seen that less than friendly greeting since the 1st week of pumping.  CORRECT with pump. Trace ketones.

Today is Pod change day so I go ahead and prepare the new pod & get ready for a battle.  A BG of 500+ and a pod change is not really my idea of fun.  Apparently, Nate agrees with me.  He was less than thrilled but we got it done.

At this point I get myself and the girls ready for church.  We've decided that Jim and Nate will stay home today.

Off to church.  A lovely Mother's Day sermon, listen to 2 of my aunts & my cousin sing a lovely song, sit next to my mom and grandmother in church but cannot stop thinking of that HIGH.  I remember that Nate grabbed his ear this morning while he was still in bed and kept saying "ear, ear, ear".  Ear infection?

Once home I check the PDM and find that Jim checked Nate at 11:20 am for lunch.  BG = 265
Suggested Bolus: 0.55, Meal: 0.85, Correction: 0.35, Minus IOB: 0.65
Nate had 30g of something for lunch (I didn't dare ask) - they are both napping.

2:30 PM - Nate wakes up from his nap.  Snack Time. I check his BG - - - 406. AWESOME! Correct AGAIN. How about a carb free snack?  String Cheese?  You betcha.  Trace ketones.

4:30 PM - Start thinking about dinner.  Check Nate.  BG = 86.  Bolus for 30g of carbs for dinner.

5:00 PM - Dinner.  Weigh Nate's chicken nuggets, corn and apple sauce.  Chow time.

7:30 PM - BED TIME.  Check Nate's BG.  138 - Nice. He asks for some drinkable yoyo (yogurt) so I bolus for 15g and grant his wish.  He drinks the yogurt in 1 big gulp and then it is lights out.

9:30 PM - This is normally a 10p check but I cannot keep my eyes open 1 more minute.  BG = 124. Probably too low but I am going to keep my fingers crossed.

11:30 PM - Since the 9:30 PM check was a little low and Nate always drops at night I set the alarm for 11:30 instead of midnight.  His BG is 70.  I treat the low with 15g of combo drinkable yogurt & apple juice.  If there is a liver lining in a low at night it is that I get to rock Nate.  I pick him up out of his crib and we move over to the rocker.  I rock, he drinks and I think how blessed I am to have such an amazingly cute little boy in my life.  He will be 2 next month and doesn't have much time for mom to rock him these days so I treasure this little midnight rock!! I head back to bed, setting my alarm for 20 minutes because I know I cannot stay awake ---- not even for 20 minutes.

Diabetes Blog Week

 Karen over at Bitter-Sweet Diabetes has an awesome idea:

The following is from Karen's post:

Participation is easy.  Below I've listed seven blog topics for next week - just in case you want to start drafting your posts in advance.  Use these topics as a starting point for your post each day and see where it takes you.  Write as much or as little as you like.  There are no right or wrong answers - just read over the topic and start blogging!  I've also included a wild card topic - use that if you find a day when you just can't think of anything to write about the chosen topic.

Monday 5/10 - A day in the life . . . with diabetes. Take us through a quick rundown of an average day and all the ways in which diabetes touches it. Blood tests, site changes, high and low blood sugars, meal planning, anything that comes along. This can be a log of an actual day, or a fictional compilation of pieces from many days.

Tuesday 5/11 – Making the low go. Tell us about your favorite way to treat a low. Juice? Glucose tabs? Secret candy stash? What’s your favorite thing to indulge in when you are low? What do you find brings your blood sugar up fast without spiking it too high?

Wednesday 5/12 – Your Biggest Supporter. Sure, our diabetes care is ultimately up to us and us alone. But it’s important to have someone around to encourage you, cheer you, and even help you when you need it. Today it’s time to gush and brag about your biggest supporter. Is it your spouse or significant other? Your best friend, sibling, parent or child? Maybe it’s your endo or a great CDE? Or perhaps it’s another member of the D-OC who is always there for you? Go ahead, tell them just how much they mean to you!

Thursday 5/13 - To carb or not to carb. Today let’s blog about what we eat. And perhaps what we don’t eat. Some believe a low carb diet is important in diabetes management, while others believe carbs are fine as long as they are counted and bolused for. Which side of the fence do you fall on? What kind of things do you eat for meals and snacks? What foods do you deem bolus-worthy? What other foodie wisdom would you like to share?

Friday 5/14 - Let's get moving. Exercise . . . love it or hate it? Do you have a regular exercise routine? Or do you have trouble finding your exercise motivation? How do you manage your insulin and food to avoid bottoming out during your workout? Today is the day to tell us all about your exercise habits, or lack thereof.

Saturday 5/15 - Diabetes snapshots. Inspired by the Diabetes 365 project, let’s snap a few d-related pictures to share today. Post as many or as few as you’d like. Be creative! Feel free to blog your thoughts on or explanations of your pictures. Or leave out the written words and let the pictures speak for themselves.

Sunday 5/16 - Dream a little dream - life after a cure. To wrap up Diabetes Blog Week, let’s pretend a cure has been found. We are all given a tiny little pill to swallow and *poof* our pancreases are back in working order. No side effects. No more insulin resistance. No more diabetes. Tell us what your life is now like. Or take us through your first day celebrating life without the Big D. Blog about how you imagine you would feel if you no longer were a Person With Diabetes.

Wild card - Blood Sugar Nirvana or Moronic Moment.  (inspired by the lovely Kelly Kunik) Blog about the time you ate a meal that tends to spike you to the moon, but your perfectly calculated and timed bolus kept your blood sugar happy. Or tell us about that time your brain had a little diabetes-blip and you did something you think is “stupid”. (Because chances are, we’ve done it too!!) Go ahead, brag about your triumph or commiserate about your d-blooper. 

The key to making Diabetes Blog Week a success is YOU!!

It's not too late to participate.  Head on over to Karen's blog and sign up!!

JDRF Gala

My little reason for attending:

Rainne Brandt with OmniPod invited Jessica and I to attend the JDRF Gala on Saturday night.  We were both very honored and pleased to be able to attend.  There was an amazing turn out, good food, a great silent auction, plus a very exciting live auction but then the most amazing part of the evening (in my opinion) was the Fund a Cure.  They started the Fund a Cure with an open invitation to donate $100,000 & someone raised their auction card and did it.  Just like that.  Easy Peasy.  Then it was $50,000, $25,000, 15,000, $10,000, $5,000 and so on and on.  I was personally in awe watching these people donate such large funds to the cause that has become so near and dear to my heart.  A M A Z I N G!

Here is a picture of Jessica, Rainne and me . . . 

and then another picture once we started rocking to Kool and the Gang . . . 

It was an amazing experience filled with laughter, tears and hope.  Thank you, Rainne and OmniPod for a great evening with wonderful people raising money for a fabulous cause.

Podders Night Out - OmniPod Social

OmniPod hosted a great night out at Main Event last week.  I was lucky enough to be able to take all 3 kids with a little help from my mom, dad and one friend!  It was a gathering of podders, soon-to-be podders and those interesting in podding.  My fellow D-Mom, Jessica and family were there and we met several other wonderful D-Mommas with children the same age as our kiddos.

It was also a great opportunity to hear about the up and coming things that Omnipod has in the pipeline.  Luis Malave the Chief Operating Officer of Insulet was on hand to give us the run down on what to expect with future releases and to answer our questions.

And . . . why yes, the subject of Insulin On Board (IOB) did come up!  I knew you were wondering.  I may have been the only one with my hand up, squirming in my chair, yelling PICK ME - PICK ME but I knew others really wanted to know!!  I asked Mr. Malave about the response that a dear D-Mom blogger (Ms. Wendy) received and blogged about here.  I for one LOVE the OmniPod and actually really like the way that the pod handles IOB.  It is what I know - it was I am used to and I do not have any problems with it.  Further more, I do NOT like change and after the past year of my life being full of change I may have begged him not to change it?!?!    He did agree that is is certainly a hot spot with their competitors and some issues by consumers have been noted.   The FDA does not have any policy in place that directs pump companies how to calculate IOB so at this time OmniPod is looking at different options but no final decision has been made.  From what I understood they are looking at maybe being able to set it one way or the other (I'm down with that) so that everyone would be happy.  I am not anticipating seeing any changes anytime soon but I am sure I will be pleased with whatever solution they decide upon.

My lovely friend, Jessica asked about smaller basal rate increments and I am sure Mr. Luis answered but Nate was running amuck and needing a bg check about that time so maybe Jessica can provide some insight on that one.  Jess??

We also got to see the new smaller version of the pod which I LOVE!!  I WANT one NOW!  I am hoping to have one of these on Nate's 'sweet spot' in 2010!

Here is my own (somewhat warped) version of the smaller pod:

Nice!

Happy Podding Y'all!