Pod Countdown

Well, it’s official. The nice folks at Insulet got the last of the paperwork put together, and T-Bear’s initial shipment of OmniPod supplies, including the PDA (the computer doohickey that looks sort of like an iPhone and is the brains of the operation) and four-month supply of Pods (the part that sticks to T-Bear’s skin and delivers insulin), goes out today. We should receive it in 3-5 business days. That’s next week. NEXT WEEK we will have William’s Pod right here in our home. And you know I won’t be able to stop myself from fiddling with it.

So, after delivery, we’ll be going to the Pediatric Endocrinologist’s office on May 4th for a “saline start.” That means they program the PDA, teach us how to use it and how to set up the reservoir and get it going, and send us home with saline to run through the Pod for about a week or so. We’ll be increasing the frequency of testing and keeping more precise records, and may also get set up with a 3-day Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM) so the Ped Endo has some hard data with which to determine start-up dosing (it takes a BS level every 5 minutes and records it to be downloaded by the Ped Endo, showing in detail how your BS is responding throughout the day). We will do BS testing using the PDM, and having the PDM calculate meal boluses (insulin to cover carbs eaten during a meal), but the Pod will be delivering saline rather than insulin; we will continue to use syringes to administer insulin (both Lantus and Humalog) during the saline trial. That gives us time to get comfortable with changing and setting up Pod sites and fiddle with the PDA to get good at using it without worrying about overdosing T-Bear (which can be life-threatening disasterous).

Then, on May 13th, we go back to the Ped Endo for the “insulin start.” That’s the biggie. Real live insulin in a real live insulin pump. The real deal. No more shots, baby. Then comes the “adjustment period.” Probably lots of highs, lots of reporting BS to the Endo, and lots of tweeking of the PDA programming, until everything is running smoothly and T-Bear’s BS is brought back into target range. Tighter BS control, fewer highs and lows than we’ve had with shots. I’m hoping it won’t take more than a few weeks to get his Pod humming, in plenty of time before our July trip.

Just as a “sidebar”, I’m not really expecting anyone to recognize the significance of the May 13th insulin start date. But, May 13th is the date that T-Bear was diagnosed with Type 1. I didn’t pick the date for the insulin start, it’s just the date the Ped Endo office had available. So, one year to the day that he was dx’d, T-Bear will start taking insulin through his pump. Don’t really even know what to say about that, except that we’ll be celebrating Rufus’ 1st Birthday with cake, ice cream, and a Pod Bolus.