The V-Go Insulin Pump

At the farmers' market this morning I spoke with a customer who had something unusual on her bare arm. I asked her what it was. "A V-Go," she replied. "It's insulin."

I was immediately interested. My father is diabetic, as are many friends of mine. The V-Go is fairly new technology for administering insulin into the patient's body.

You can see it is a plastic rectangle stuck to her upper arm. She prefers it to the old pumps that were in the abdomen and were uncomfortable when sitting or bending over. The V-Go patch is removed, refilled, and reapplied each day. She switches it from arm to arm, adjusting the spots to give the skin a few days to recover.

The V-Go does not test your blood sugar levels for you; you still have to do a finger prick. But this lady has been diabetic for twenty years. She's only 57 now. She was giving herself insulin injections 4 to 5 times daily.

She's been using the V-Go for two years. She's very pleased. She knows how much insulin it injects (via a little needle on the underside, activated by a spring), and she can do the dosage as she wants. In order for the needle to inject, she has to push one button, and then push another button, so the chance of someone bumping your arm and accidentally injecting you with insulin is very slim, if not impossible. She did confess that it made her nervous the first month or so she used it. She's wearing enough insulin on her arm to kill her, with a needle in her skin. But she's never had any trouble with it, and is very pleased with its performance.

I wanted to share this info with anybody out there who hasn't seen this new device, or wanted to hear a report from a user. I'm so glad they're making advances in fighting diabetes!