OmniPod Case review (oh and it's not a good one)

Grace is on the OmniPod insulin pump. For us, for her, it's wonderful. She loves the fact that its tubeless, loves the auto-insertion and loves that she can rotate it all over her body - arms, thighs, belly and bottom. I cannot say enough good things about it. Love the pump, got it?

Hate the carrying case that comes with it. Absolutely, positively, cannot stand it.

Here, let me count the ways:

1. It's black. Totally pitch black. Really good for keeping that insulin cool, right? Yeah, cause there wouldn't even be a place for an ice pack if I would need one. Black says yuck to me. It says "We couldn't think of a color palette to give people a choice of, so everyone gets black."

For little girls who are diabetic, I'll bet not one of them would choose black as their color. Grace doesn't. She has never once chosen black in anything. She wants bright, glitter, pizzazz, and some sparkles. Or at least a rockin' pink or purple. But black, no thanks.

Give us a choice OmniPod! Make a range of color cases. I'll gladly rock the OmniPod logo on the front of a bag that kicks color and is well, more functional, as you will see in the following points...

2. It's too small! It doesn't fit everything a person with diabetes needs to carry! Sure, little battery holder straps are cute, but the one tiny zippered pocket only fits a little tube of glucose tabs, some lancets, a strip or two of HypaFix tape, some SkinTac and TacAway, and a needle or two. And that's me jamming them into the mesh pocket.

There is no room for extra glucose tabs, or some liquid glucose, medical bracelet, extra test strips, extra batteries, extra lancing devices, more tape, more alcohol pads, more SkinTac or TacAway. I have to be limited as to what it can hold and be decisive about what goes into this pocket.

The back of the case has another mesh pocket. It's supposed to hold an extra Pod. Good luck on that folks. I can cram the extra Pod into the pocket and I can close the velcro tab, but it takes some doing, because everything gets caught in the mesh. Then, the case becomes so bulky and unwieldy, with an extra Pod attached to it's back, that it's hard to hold in my hand. I tend to carry the extra Pod separate from the case in my purse, but that's not so handy when Dad takes Grace somewhere is it? Then the extra Pod gets forgotten and we are screwed.

PDM fits into clear strap band with no gel skin on.

PDM with gel skin on it does NOT fit into the clear strap band.

3. The PDM with the gel skin on does NOT fit into the clear see-through tab pocket!  Did anyone test this case out before they manufactured it? I think not, because someone would need to TRY to fit the PDM (remote controller to the Pod) into the clear strap and see that it DOESN'T FIT. Not even a little bit. So, when I open her case, I have to be careful to  open it so the PDM doesn't fall crashing to the ground. Here's where the gel skin saves its life. It is such poor design on so many levels when it comes to this. Here's a great gel-skin that pretties up and protects the PDM, but no, don't try to actually fit it into the case. It's one of the giant errors in design.


So, OmniPod bag that I have carried since her pumping start in April 2010, I have to say goodbye. It's been fun, but not fun enough that I can continue to put up with all this nonsense. Now that Grace can change her pump site herself, she needs to carry everything with her should the need arise for her to do just that. She needs a bag that holds everything and then some, just for emergency and frankly, any day, any hour of the week, can be an emergency.

Here's where the incredible Laura of Houston We Have A Problem blog came in. She posted a video response to 'Submit Your Kit' vlog and I saw a bag that held everything in her video! You can see her video here. Laura even lost her precious diabetes bag and got it back! (You can read about that experience here.) She posted later about her bag, it was a cosmetic case from Murval. I wanted to weep. It had pockets! And bags that zippered! And more than one area to contain things! And it looked like the PDM fit into the pocket with it's gel skin on.

And so I got one. On eBay. For $6.99.
And that will be my next blog post. A diabetes supply bag that works for us!
Stay tuned...