Oh, Mio My – o

Anyone else out there sick of the Minimed Quickset infusion set? I know I am: about 75% of the time, I develop weird doughnut-shaped bubbles underneath the adhesive (conveniently concealed by the plastic) that collect insulin and interstitial fluid and prevent me from absorbing my insulin doses. This has been a problem for quite some time — and every endocrinologist I’ve gone to has proclaimed the Quickset to be their least favorite infusion set. (Two have told me that the first thing they do when they have a pumper trying to get pregnant is to get them off the Quickset — hardly an endorsement of the product!) Anyway, the conversation usually proceeds as follows:

Doctor: I want  you to get off the Quickset.

Me: Me, too.

Doctor: Why don’t you try the Silhouette instead?

Me: Because I wore the Silhouette for five years and the sites kept getting infected. I had so many problems that I switched to the Quickset.

Doctor: Huh.

Occasionally they suggest I try one of the sets that have a steel needle instead of a plastic cannula (the Sure-T), but I’ll be honest: I’ve never been into that option. Having a needle stay in me all the time doesn’t sound comfortable. Since Minimed’s reservoirs only work with their infusion sets, that means I’ve been stuck.

That is, until now. I recently went to a different doctor and found out that there is a new option from Minimed: the Mio. The Mio is exactly the same as the Animas Inset (as in, manufactured by the same company and everything), but has been redesigned to be compatible with Minimed’s reservoir.

I’ve only tried the Mio a few times, but the way I’d describe it is as follows: it has a vertical cannula, like the Quickset, but clips on in a way that’s more similar to the Silhouette. The benefits of this, as I see it, are two-fold. First, it’s very obvious when it’s clipped in — unlike the Quickset, which occasionally can come partially undone without your noticing it and then, whoops, you’ve got high blood sugar and pants that smell like bandaids. Awesome.

Second, the Mio’s footprint, as it were, is less conducive to my dreaded insulin donuts. Whereas the Quickset puts pressure on your skin in a way that encourages liquid to pool, the Mio seems to avoid that problem. I’m not sure how, but one possibility is simply that it leaves a slightly larger triangular footprint on your body (without being noticeably larger than the Quickset) — which allows the insulin to disperse more easily into your tissue.

Third, the Mio is cleverly designed to have a built-in applicator. No more dealing with the Quick-Sert (or whatever that thing is called) or the horrendous Silhouette injector that makes you feel like you’re shooting a harpoon into your stomach. This is entirely self-contained, which makes it really easy to pack extras in your purse or glove compartment without having to order separate injection devices or attempt to jab them in by hand. Much better.

The Mio has been available since March 2010, but seems not to have been well publicized, since I’ve spoken with at least 3 doctors/pump educators since then who weren’t aware of it. Hence this blog post: CHECK OUT THE MIO!!!

Additional features:

-it comes with 6- and 9mm cannulas.

-the tubing comes in 18-, 23-, and 32-inch lengths.

-the part that clips into your body comes in clear, pink or blue plastic. Because nothing says “fun” like colored clips on your insulin pump supplies.

As I said, I’ve just started wearing the Mio, so I can’t yet fully vouch for it. But just the applicator alone makes it better than the Quickset. And if I could exist for a month without those donuts? Heaven.

Catherine Price

Catherine Price (www.catherine-price.com) was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when she was 22 years old. She has written for publications including The Best American Science Catherine Price is a professional journalist who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when she was 22 years old. Her work has been featured in publications including The Best American Science Writing, The New York Times, Popular Science, The Los Angeles Times, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Washington Post Magazine, Salon, Slate, Men’s Journal, Health Magazine, The Oprah Magazine, and Outside, among others. A graduate of Yale and UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism

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Catherine Price

Catherine Price was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when she was 22 years old. She has written for publications including The Best American Science Catherine Price is a professional journalist who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when she was 22 years old. Her work has been featured in publications including The Best American Science Writing, The New York Times, Popular Science, The Los Angeles Times, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Washington Post Magazine, Salon, Slate, Men’s Journal, Health Magazine, The Oprah Magazine, and Outside, among others. A graduate of Yale and UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism