"Not having something hanging off
me is really liberating... I put it on
and almost forget it is there."

 

Lisa Seaman thinks nothing of rising before dawn, strapping 40 lbs. of camera equipment on her back and a pair of skis on her feet, and setting off to document a back-country ski trip. She needs an insulin delivery system that adjusts to her schedule—because there is no way her schedule can adjust to it. The OmniPod System has been a great answer. For Lisa, OmniPod has additional advantages: Because OmniPod is tubing free, she doesn’t worry about frozen insulin, which she encountered with the tubing in traditional pumps. On the back of her arm, the Pod is out of sight, and out of mind—a situation Lisa finds as liberating as the mountains where she spends her days.

 

 

When I was sophomore at the University of the Pacific in California, I got sick and started losing weight. I was 20, so I thought the weight loss was great, but I was sick for months. At Christmas break I went to my family doctor. That was when I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.

The diagnosis was a shock. I didn't know anything about diabetes. I’d never known anyone who had had it. And my doctor was very dramatic about the whole thing. He told me I shouldn’t go back to college. That probably worked in my favor. I’m a pretty stubborn person—if someone tells me I can’t do something, I am going to show them that I can—so I went back to college and started figuring out how to live with diabetes.

That was 12 years ago, and there was quite a lot of misinformation back then. My initial patient education was poor, but I did a lot of research on my own, and found a doctor in San Francisco who taught me how to manage my diabetes more intensively.

Today, I am a professional photographer and an avid athlete and outdoors-person. My life doesn’t allow for interruptions. My schedule is quite varied day to day—there is nothing the same, ever. Some days I meet the daybreak with 40 lbs. of camera gear to shoot a back-country ski trip or a river trip; I am on my feet for 8, 10, 12 hours. Some days I sit in my office all day and edit pictures. The biggest constant in my life is exercising at least 5 to 7 times a week. In maintenance mode, I am just running for an hour; in training mode I am out for 8 hours a day.

Either way, it is pretty much a requirement for my insulin delivery system to adjust to my schedule; I can’t have to adjust my schedule to it. OmniPod absolutely works with me.

I was introduced to the OmniPod about a year ago, through a research study. I am always eager to try new technology; the advances are amazing. But to be honest, I wasn’t super-interested in the OmniPod until I tried it; I didn’t see the benefit. But as soon as I tried it, I loved it. I loved not having the tubing.

I got my first insulin pump about seven years ago, around the time I joined a mountaineering expedition to climb Aconcagua, the highest mountain in the western hemisphere. The pump itself worked well for me, but my lifestyle definitely created some issues with a traditional pump. For instance, with a traditional pump, when you change elevation from 14,000 to 18,000 feet you develop an inch-long air bubble in the tubing, so for four units you think you are getting insulin, but you are just getting air. The OmniPod simply doesn’t have all that tubing.

Another of my favorite things about OmniPod is that because it is worn directly on your body, the insulin doesn’t freeze. That is an issue when you are at –30° for 3 days in a row. With my old pump we devised a little chest furnace and a fleece lining to go around the tubing. But still, I can’t tell you the number of times that my tubing flipped out and the insulin froze.

I also like the PDM. Maybe I have an advantage over an 80-year old—I have grown up in a technological world—but the menu is quite user-friendly. With my other pump, there were times that if my meter wasn’t in my hand I might not check my blood sugar; I would just dial up however much insulin I thought I needed. With the PDM, my meter is right there, so I tend to check my blood sugar more often. And it’s great having all my data in one spot.

The reality is, at the end of the day I still have diabetes. There are always going to be ups and downs and ins and outs. But at least I have an insulin delivery system that fits my lifestyle. The logistics are great for me and it works psychologically, too; not having something hanging off me is really liberating. Whether I am at the beach or at my house, I put it on and almost forget it is there. I wear the Pod on the back of my arm, and I don’t see it. It is out of my sight, and out of my mind.