With Omnipod, I’m Free as a Bird!

Look, I can pirouette around the bedroom naked!  I can jump in the pool without a care. I don’t have to buy clothes with pockets.  I don’t have to juggle and hold something between my teeth or under my chin when I use the toilet!

So what am I talking about? My Omnipod insulin pump WITH NO TUBING!

If you are new to pumping, coming from multiple daily injections (MDI), then you might not appreciate my exhilaration, or that of my friends who’ve just switched to Omnipod.  But … if you’ve been using the “traditional” insulin pump, then you KNOW.  No matter where you go, you are tethered by tubing that can get twisted and knotted and caught on doorknobs.

Now, don’t get me wrong … I’m always grateful for the technology that allows me to use an insulin pump. Allowing me freedom from multiple shots, eating to cover the long-acting insulin and watching the clock to stay up and take my nighttime shot.  This is all great stuff!

But … NO TUBING?!  What a quantum leap into freedom and a touch of carefree!

When I shower, I don’t have to disconnect and stop my insulin delivery, remember to reconnect and then try to figure out how much insulin I missed (depending on how long and luxuriating my shower time was). Same goes for swimming…no worries. I just swim and stay connected.  No concerns, no calculating, no missed insulin, no time constraints on my playtime!

And can we talk about sleeping?!  With tubing, you either hide your pump awkwardly in a pajama pocket or safety-pinned to your underwear in a baby sock.  OR … the pump roams around the bed, as you toss and turn, getting all wrapped up in tubing.  And what happens when you make that middle-of-the-night trip to the bathroom? Don’t forget to grab your pump or it goes flying to the end of its tubing length, with the possibility of pulling out the infusion set (which you must then change in the darkness and sleepiness).

But with a pod, no problem!  It’s just happily riding along on your tummy, arm, leg, hip, or wherever you’ve decided to wear it.

Don’t just take it just from me.  From a 45-year T1 veteran, “I’m pleasantly surprised by how flat the Pod is and that it really doesn’t stick out under my clothes.  Honestly I’m still trying to figure out all the places I can stick these things … and NO TUBING!”

Omnipod … not a worry, not a hassle … FREEDOM!

Written by Joanne Milo