What treatment were you using before the OmniPod? Why did you decide to change?
Over the past 10 years I have worn both the MiniMed and Animas pumps. The MiniMed 507 was the first series of pumps I started on Ð life changing. I cringe when I think of what I did before that from the late 1980s to the mid 1990s. I was on a fixed dose for most of that time, mainly NPH and regular. I was in and out of the emergency room for hypoglycemia at least once a year. I got to know the paramedics and I can still vividly feel what it was like to wake up in the ambulance. It always felt the same -- "Oh NO, not this again" Ð and I would close my eyes and hope I was in a dream. But I never was.

I was working on Wall Street in the mid-1990s when I had to develop an opinion for investors on MiniMed as a small public company. I had been very against pump therapy - probably I was just against really thinking actively about my diabetes. My A1c at the time was 7% or so, and my doctors always assured me below 8 was "very good" Ð that of course was before all the published findings about the importance of tight control in dramatically reducing long-term complications had apparently been widely spread! Anyway, once I basically had to go on the pump to sort out whether MiniMed was a positive investment, I said I would go on for a week. I got to go to the company and meet Al Mann and Terry Gregg and Kevin Sayer and Freddie Frederickson, the leaders of MiniMed. I learned an enormous amount about the benefits of physiologic therapy Ð i.e., about the greater benefits of care the more you can mimic an actual pancreas. All of a sudden, the four shots a day seemed like a very blunt way to treat diabetes, given that there was a way to mimic insulin going into my body minute by minute.

Still, the body-image stuff really bugged me. I didn't want a constant reminder of my diabetes anywhere, much less on my belt.

So I never would have pursued it, but it was my job so I got trained and viola! Inside two days I vowed never to go off pump therapy. I felt SO much better on it, almost immediately. I also loved the idea that life could be more flexible, that I could exercise without the hypo fears, that I could eat more (and take less insulin overall as it turned out) and that I could give a "shot" just by pushing a few buttons.

Not all was rosy. I found the once-every-few-days "shots" more painful than the 4x/day shots, and I hated when my infusion set pulled out accidentally. I also had a love/hate relationship with explaining my pump when people asked about it. I had my trademark enthusiasm for it most of the time, but not always. Yes it changed my life in that I felt SO much better, my control improved dramatically, I was less tired, my glucose variability was less, and best of all, I could start saying to people, "Well, yesssss, actually I CAN eat that!" without pulling out a syringe! But there were times I just wanted to be regular and not talk about it.

Sorry! I have gotten away from the original question! So I wore MiniMed until I started having trouble with the customer service after Medtronic bought them. There have been dramatic improvements as I understand it since then, but this was around the time I started trying the CGMS physician-glucose monitor and was on hold too much! I stumbled onto Animas at a conference and decided to try it, and I loved all my Animas pumps - I used them through the 1200 series. I thought they were sleek and worked very well - this was the first "smart pump" I used and in particular I loved the "insulin on board" feature. At this time, I really felt like Animas - and all the companies really- were prompting a lot of innovation - faster than had been seen in years.

SO why the move to another pump!? I was very intrigued by the "no tubing" concept of Insulet's though I didn't believe it could possibly do everything my smart pump could do. I was at a conference where they were asking for volunteers for a clinical trial - I love clinical trials! So I said yes though again I didn't think there was anything that could prompt me to change permanently. But the trial was with the famous team of Drs. Lois Jovanovic and Howard Zisser in Santa Barbara. To my surprise (because I thought the requirement of leaving it on for three days would be a deal breaker), I loved it - I really feel like I have improved my quality of life with the OmniPod because for me (and that is so key - FOR ME, not for everyone!), the more discreet nature of the pump was really something I liked. I just found it super easy, and swapping reservoirs, etc., was faster and simpler. No tubing was a concept I loved - I hadn't minded it so much before but I liked the fact that I could show my pump or not based on what I wanted to do. Finally, the software really did allow it to be as smart as my older pump. It was a good time for me to change - I had a new baby who had pulled out my infusion set a couple of times - nothing I couldn't get over, but the injections for infusion sets were what I disliked the most about traditional pump therapy, and I just didn't have the pain with the auto-injection of the OmniPod. That is probably partly in my mind and partly because the injection was not manual (you just press a button). Now I know there are some fabulous new injection sets so there has been progress on both fronts.

Ultimately what I have learned since working in diabetes full time is that there is no average patient and generalizing is not useful. So I would never say this is right for everyone. But it is innovative, and I think Insulet can drive faster innovation in the industry, just like the first smart pumps did as long as all goes well on their manufacturing side and the supply increases Ð right now, they arenÕt yet available in all states Ð theyÕre still starting up. But, we are in the best era for diabetes ever, I am certain of that, and the tools are getting better all the time -- the OmniPod is a prime example of this innovation.

How does it work?
There are two pieces. One is a personal diabetes manager (PDM), kind of like a Palm Pilot, which is both a blood glucose monitor as well as a pump Ð it takes the FreeStyle strips, a top meter. You test your BG, the score goes in, and since you have already input basal rates, target glucose, insulin to carb ratio, insulin sensitivity, etc., it spits back the bolus you should take - you hit "go" and a wireless signal is sent to the pod, which is the other half. In putting it all together, you fill the pod with insulin, which takes about 30 seconds, then you take off adhesive from the back of the pod, put pod you put on your stomach, back of arm, leg Ð plenty of flexibility because you aren't constrained by tubing. You wear it 24/7 for three days, then swap it - swapping to another pod takes about 90 seconds, super fast and easy.

What did you like about the OmniPod compared to the other pumps available?
No tubing, easy switches, lots of flexibility about where I wear it, two pieces so the on-body part is smaller, fewer random questions.

Have you had any issues with it?
Yes, I've had the batteries wear out quickly. It takes AAA batteries and I live within four blocks of two 24-hour pharmacies, so not a big deal, but the batteries sometimes don't last as long. Also, the backlight doesn't stay on long, because I think it's trying to preserve battery power. Also, if your batteries wear out, you have to change pods, which I don't like - although you do get a warning on battery life, so it's usually not an issue. Last, there is no recycling, and I would feel better if there were because you throw it away every three days.

What do you do with it when you swim or shower?
It's waterproof, so there's no issue. In hot tubs, it has been said you can have problems - I never have though. I don't go in hot tubs every day (again to my husband's disappointment). Actually now if I know I'll be going in one, I just wear it on the back of my upper arm. Technically, there's some rule that it can only be immersed 10 feet for 30 minutes or something like that. That may be some legal requirement, because I've never had any issue with it.

What about sports? Can you suspend it?
I would love to pretend I'm a hyper-athlete and this is constantly an issue, but I really am not, although I walk a lot and I always suspend it half an hour before my walk. If I don't, my BG drops 50 points minimum - but that is predictable for me, and the same with any pump.

What are the pros and cons to being on the OmniPod?
I love the no tubing, the auto-insertion (less pain, super fast), the user interface on the PDM (awesome), the food database on the PDM, the reminders, the sound of the alarm (quiet), the flexibility (manifested in smaller size, the fact that I can wear it nearly anywhere, the fact that it is two pieces, etc.) The cons are that if you don't want to wear it for the four S's - what are they again?! - sex, swimming, and two others, which, as you can tell, arenÕt that important to me Ð I canÕt remember them! I haven't ever had any issues with any of the S's -- it's just on my body all the time, and initially as I noted I thought I would find that a hassle, but I actually don't notice it. I guess that's all about comfort level. I also have an incredibly supportive partner who loves anything that makes diabetes easier for me. I guess if I were not in that position, I might not be as comfortable. Overall, for me, Omnipod has been a breakthrough product, kind of like what the first blood glucose monitor in the late 1970s must have been, like the first pump in the 1980s was, like the first insulin analog Humalog in 1996 was, like the first smart pumps in the late 1990s were, like the next generation of continuous monitors will be. Onward Ð the next step is just to make it so that it can be available to many more patients!