SIMCOE COUNTY INSULIN PUMPERS MEETING # 10 May 12, 2003 7:00 pm - 9:30 pm We had a total of 12 people attend. As always there were refreshments and snacks. Thanks once again to Zehr's for their kind use of their Community Room! Member of SCIP lobbying Ontario Government for better coverage! Susan Gates reported on how the Ontario Disability Benefits do not cover pump supplies and that they have a very low cap on test strips. This is a dangerous thing for anyone on the pump and especially anyone who needs to test frequently due to hypoglycemic unawareness. Susan is working with the CDA on this. If you would like to join in this effort, please contact Susan at 321-2249 Feature Speaker: The new Deltec Cozmo Insulin Pump! Gail Thompson of Smiths Medical Canada: 1-800-387-4346 Gail gave us a very informative presentation and Q&A on the new Deltec Cozmo Insulin Pump! for more on this pump see the link on our webpage. Here are some of the main points we learned about the Cozmo: - Smiths Medical Canada is a subsidiary of Smiths Medical in the UK which has been creating and selling infusion pumps since 1983! They have produced over 150,000 pumps world-wide used by over 3 million people. The Cozmo is their first venture into a pump dedicated to insulin and Diabetes Management. - Gail stated that the Cozmo is the culmination of their 20 years' experience building pumps: -it the smallest of all insulin pumps -it has rounded edges and is designed after the shape and size of a modern cell phone -24/7 support and replacement is offered -it can be dropped from at leastv waist height onto a hard surface without damage -it is surface waterproof for an unlimited amount of time and can be submerged at some depth for at least 30 minutes. -the cartridge holds 300 units which is self loading (just drop it in - no buttons ot press to reset things) -it uses the same sets and tubing as all the other pumps (except the Paradigm) -uses one AAA battery -if the battery is removed the pump will keep all memory and settings for 30 days! Unique Features of the Cozmo: -all features are menu driven and communicated by way of long strings of text such forming full, understandable sentences! -The user can modify these messages to make them more understandable etc - you can even assign a name to your pump! -the number of features and type of features available to the user can be as many or as simple or as complex as the user desires. -the Cozmo remembers your carb ratio, correction ratio etc. allowing the user to bolus for meals or bg corrections by entering the carbs and type of bolus desired (ie square wave etc) or in the case of a bg correction the bg measurement. The Cozmo does all the math for you and doses the correct amount of insulin over the appropriate amount of time! Great feature for kids! -when the pump boluses it remembers any previous boluses and accounts for your individual "unused insulin rule"! -the Cozmo remembers when you changed your set and reminds you when to change again (no more notes on calendars)! -all events can be uploaded to your PC and emailed to your endo. All pump settings and software can be modified this way as well - the Cozmo appears to handle all the math involved with carb counting and determining corrections and the amount of unused insulin in one's body form previous boluses! -there are numerous other features, some unique some similar to other pumps on hte market. it appears though that the Cozmo provides by far the most flexible inuslin dosing and user-friendly features of any pump today! -if I made an error in any of the above, I apologize, Gail! Too many features in this little package for me to remember form one night of show and tell! Many thanks to Gail and her assistant, Elizabeth Epp for their kind and fascinating presentation! I think we all walked away from playing with the Cozmo dazzled by this little machine! Further Discussions: - many other topics were discussed in small groups and in larger ones as we said our goodnights. Needless to say, for a small group, we had a lot to discuss! Hope to see you all in June! +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Ideas, topics, issues for future meetings? email me: insulinpumper@sympatico.ca +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Diabetes Advocacy: Paul Beckwith is very active in advocacy. Paul is trying to get the Provincial Government to cover diabetes management supplies including pumps. If so covered this will make life easier for many of us who do not have private healthcare insurance and save the government billions in healthcare costs for diabetes complications down the road In addition please get a copy of his Petition (from our website) and get it signed and returned to him! If you have a few spare hours this year; please contact Paul - he needs your help! Paul: p.c.beckwith@sympatico.ca +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Thanks once again to Zehr's for their kind use of their Community Room! Please feel free to volunteer your own special talent to this growing group! Drop me or Paul an email if you want to help, out for a few minutes a month! Please spread the word about our (your) group! CONTACTS: Paul Beckwith: p.c.beckwith@sympatico.ca Darrin Parker: insulinpumper@sympatico.ca Website: http://homepage.mac.com/dp66/SCIP Note: Simcoe County Insulin Pump Group and it's organizers makes no warranty nor implied warranty for any of the contents and information understood from it's meetings, speakers nor for anything contained within it's correspondence nor opinions expressed herein nor otherwise and does not intend for any information provided by it's presenters or participants at it's meetings and within it's correspondence to supercede in any way any advice from healthcare professionals. Simcoe County Insulin Pump Group does not endorse any brand, model nor manufacturer of Diabetes Management equipment nor supplies.