Thursday, January 3, 2013

You stick, Omnipod!

For some people, the only thing they need to do to prep their pod site is an alcohol wipe.
I think of these people as the lucky ones.
Perhaps Ella has more oil glands than others, but we've always had issues with making the pod stick.
So we've come up with a method.
It's evolved over time...and right now the current method is working well for the winter months.
I'm sure we'll have to switch it up when summer rolls around & she's swimming for 6 hours a day.
But until then, this works for us.
And since several of you have asked, here it is:
 

Cast of Characters

 
 
1. Omnipod & Insulin - for obvious reasons.
2. Goo Gone or De-Solv-It - for the removal of the old pod & sticky stuff. Smells better than Uni-solve & won't remove your furniture finish or nail polish. Plus you can pick it up at your local hardware store for less than $5.00. LOVE IT. Also has a million & one uses around the house.
3. Triamcinolone Acetonide Cream - the newest member of our cast. We love her. Ella used to develop nasty, itchy rashes under her pod and we tried EVERYTHING. Bard's Barrier Wipes, hydrocortisone cream, cortaid spray, hibacleanse... Nothing worked. As soon as we took the pod off, she would itch until she bled. No more with this little lady around. And for some reason it's helped the pod stick. So she gets bonus points. Ask your doctor if you want more information on it.
4. Buzzy - for pain distraction. Does it really work? Who knows. But we use it & she likes it.
5. Alcohol Wipes - to clean/prep site
6. A variety of sticky barriers - We use Skin-prep, Skin-Tac or Cavilon. Whatever works for you.
7. Hypafix tape - for reinforcement. Also useful when you run out of scotch tape & have to wrap a gift in a jiffy.
 

Steps

1. Alcohol wipe new site
2. Rub a small amount of triamcinolone acetonide cream to new site
3. Let cream soak in for 15 minutes. During this time, I usually deactive & remove (using Goo Gone or De-Solv-It) the old pod and prime the new pod.
4. Blot sticky barrier wipe on new site & let dry
5. Stick pod on new site, apply Buzzy and let 'er rip
6. Put a piece o Hypafix across entire pod to reinforce
 
The final product ends up looking likes this:
 
 
We're also big fans of arm or leg bands. You can order them through Bands4Life or Tallygear. We usually throw these on if she's not wearing something tight around her pod like leggings or a tight long-sleeve shirt. Ella says it makes it feel more secure. They come in all types of colors & patterns and are custom-made to fit. Here's a photo of Ella rocking a pink arm band to match her pink dress. Check out Livie's awesome pose.
 
 
 
In the summer months when she's in the water a lot, we use Flexible Sports Tape around the pod. It comes in all sorts of nifty colors so we can match it to her bathing suit. She doesn't like wearing this all the time because it's not as soft as the leg/arm bands. So we only use these when we need to. Here she is at a water park rockin' the purple Sports Tape.
 
 
Hope this helps. Happy sticking!



12 comments:

  1. Glad you have found something that works for you guys. It's funny how it really is an evolution, isn't it?

    Thanks for sharing - this will surely help many folks out there.

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    1. Serious evolution. And what seemed to work 6 month ago doesn't work at all anymore. Haha. By the way - glad to hear you are A-OK. No more passing out in the future, K? :)

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  2. Sorry to hear that you're going through this but I'm happy you took time to share this to the world. Praying for you and the babies :)

    Click here to learn about Actos

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  3. I need more info on the anti-itch cream... Elise also gets terrible rashes, both from the pod and the dex. Right now we use steroid cream after removal, but I hate using it too much.

    Does it matter if the cannula gets inserted where you put the cream on? I know with the dex anything you apply to the skin before insertion, you have to make sue you leave a clean spot on the skin where the sensor goes through.

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    1. It's a synthetic steroid cream which doesn't thrill me, but neither did her arms looking like a battle zone. Hopefully as she gets older her skin will toughen up and we'll have to use this less. For now, it's an answer althought not a perfect one by any means. I insert pod canula AND dex right through treated skin. The cream is all soaked into the skin anyhow. I haven't seen any issues with Dex since we've been applying the cream. The cream is at least worth asking your doctor about if you've already tried hydrocortisone with no luck.

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    2. Want to hear something funny? That's the cream I've been using on Elise... We just put it on after we take the pod/sensor off. I never thought to put it on first. So it really prevents the rash? D you get any redness at all?

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    3. She used to complain on day 2 about itching & when we would take it off she would scratch until she bled. We haven't had this happen since using the cream. Maybe a small amount of redness but not at all like it used to be.

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    4. Blergh... tired it today and the pod fell off after a few hours. I'm guessing I didn't wait long enough between application and putting the pod on. We don't do any of the other stuff to make it stick (we never have a stickiness problem), but I'm wondering if we need to if we use the cream.

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  4. We have an RX for Triancimalone cream for psoriasis or eczema--I forget which. Maybe it's for both! We call it Try and Sin Alone.

    We were warned that overuse makes the skin THINNER, not tougher. So glad I read this. I mean, I promise not to take it as medical advice, but...glad to know this different view on the cream.

    AND WOW! What a system.

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    1. I'm actually quite concerned about overuse of it. Hoping that because we rotate leg, leg, arm, arm, that each skin area will only get hit with a small amount of cream Q12D. But honestly I was so desperate to find something that worked I asked for the script first and figure I will ask questions about it later. Plan on asking both her pediatrician & endo a lot of questions about it in the future. For now I'm living in ignorant bliss as her skin continues to mend.

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  5. You can try RockTape, it works wonders and sticks for up to 5 days... primarily used by athletes with muscle / tendon issues but it is really flexible and easy to wear. here is the link. www.rocktape.com

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    1. Picked some up today and am testing it out! Thanks for the tip.

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