I want my Insulin back

Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee…..

My OmniPod has an issue. I grab the PDA and turn it on. Beep Beep it goes and I see the message. OmniPod insulin delivery has stopped, please change pods.

OK, I will change the pod. I put a new pod on and all is good.

Three days later it is time to change the pod, so I go through the normal pod changing process. Shut down the old pod, load the new pod, prime the new pod, attach the new pod, then start the new pod. However, as the pod is priming, about three quarters of the way through: Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee…..
The error message; OmniPod insulin delivery has stopped, please change pods, is displayed.

OK, so I will start over with a new Pod. I just lost 125 units of Insulin that is in the bad pod.

I fill it up with 125 units of Humalog and start the priming process, again. Shortly after starting the priming process: Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee…..
The error message; OmniPod insulin delivery has stopped, please change pods, is displayed.

WTF! Another bad pod and another 125 units of Humalog. Lost.

If I count all three pods with errors, I am now down 375 units of Humalog, almost a whole vial of insulin is wasted. There are 500 units in my Humalog vials.

I grab another pod and fill it up with 125 units and start the priming sequence. This one completes the sequence and is ready to be applied. I peel the backing paper off the tape and apply the pod to a freshly shaven and sterilized spot on my arm.

Is there any way I can recover the lost insulin from the pods?

I took one of the trashed pods and tried to withdraw the insulin inside. My first attempt didn’t work. On the second attempt I injected some air into the pod and then I managed to get a little insulin out of the pod. On the third attempt I inject 125 units of air into the pod and withdrew 100 units of insulin. Excellent, I can recover the lost insulin, or most of it from a pod that has stopped working.

Now, can I recover the lost pods?

I call Insulet’s 800 number and I give them the lot number of the pods. I read the error messages to them from the PDA and they credit my account with 3 pods. Double Excellent.

I can recover the insulin and I can get credit for the pods. Probably some health organization somewhere would not want me to recover the insulin due to contamination in the pod. The pods should be sterile inside the insulin container. It would also be good to only use this process on a newly dysfunctional pod, before it was taped to a body. I wouldn’t want to get an infection and I don’t want to lose a pod because the insulin went bad.