FDA Approves Dexcom Mobile App and New Bluetooth Receiver.

Cue the confetti cannons!

From the press release:

"The Dexcom Share receiver uses a secure wireless connection via Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) between a patient’s receiver and an app on the patient’s smartphone to transmit glucose information to apps on the mobile devices of up to five designated recipients, or “followers,” without the need for a dedicated docking cradle. These followers can remotely monitor a patient’s glucose information and receive alert notifications from almost anywhere, initially via their Apple® iPhone® or iPod® touch and in the future on Android devices, giving them peace of mind and reassurance when they are apart. The “Share” and “Follower” apps will be available on the Apple App Store at no charge."

From what I've surmised, but please contact Dexcom directly for better info:

• So there is now a new receiver called Share (which is confusing since the docking station is also called Share) that does the Bluetooth transmitting to Dexcom's apps.
• If you already have a Share docking station, it sounds like you get a free upgrade.
• If you have the G4 Platinum system but no Share docking station, there will be a "small cash upgrade" and they start shipping in March.
• If you have ordered a new G4 Platinum regular receiver since January 1 2015, you get upgraded to the new Share receiver for free.
• The "Follow) app lets the follower set their own alert parameters, ringtones, etc. independent of what the patient has for settings on the physical receiver.
• The Share receiver is available to patients age 2 and up - no waiting for separate pediatric approval. YAY.

Dexcom held a conference call today to explain more about FDA's approval and the new system, and when that transcript is published I'll link to it.

Giveaway: Lilly Diabetes/Disney Books and L.L. Bean Backpacks.

I have some things to give away!

Lilly Diabetes sent me a big ol' box of neon green backpacks filled with their collaborative Lilly/Disney books and publications, and I'm splitting them up between you all and my local JDRF chapter (minus the one that my daughter gets to keep, because books).

From Lilly Diabetes: "The durable, high quality backpacks are specially designed by Lilly Diabetes and L.L.Bean® with a customized  emergency tag sewn inside."

Like so:

And yes, the backpacks are BRIGHT GREEN EVERYONE PLEASE LOOK AT THIS BACKPACK. I think they are these, or at least really really similar to them. They seem enjoyable to wear, or so I was led to believe by this lovely backpack model:

Descriptions of the included books can be found here:  http://www.t1everydaymagic.com/lilly-and-disneys-type-1-diabetes-bookshelf/. 

So, interested? I'll pick 6 winners on Monday morning, so get your entries in before midnight (Central time) Sunday. To enter yourself to win, follow the directions in the Rafflecopter widget below. (Spoiler: you'll need to leave a comment on this blog post.) I can only ship to U.S. addresses, so keep that in mind.

Good luck!




a Rafflecopter giveaway

Low-gic.

If I ignore the buzzing, the arrows will magically change direction. Look at me, laying here in bed defiantly! Ha HA!

Can I wish it away? Like, really, really wish? Or just pretend I didn't hear it? This will totally work this time.

Absolutely, I should eat peanut butter straight out of the jar. And these cookies. And a glass of almond milk. And more cookies. And bread with butter. Is butter a carb?

I can totally finish vacuuming this room, first. Now I'll go... oooo, that spill on the counter. I forgot about that. Gotta wipe that up. Now, where was... the window! It still has smears on it! First things first.

That conversation I half-remember having with my husband earlier today was clearly about how he shouldn't trust my judgement when I'm low, which means that he will obviously wake out of a deep sleep just because my CGM beeped once and will know, without speaking, that he needs to procure some quick-acting carbs for me RIGHT NOW. Wait.. still snoring. NOW. I'll just lay here a bit more. He'll wake up. Didn't we just talk about this? I'm pretty sure it was about me being low. So he'll wake up..... now. 

It's not logic. It's low-gic.

Video: Children Diagnosed With T1D Under 2 Years Old.

We interrupt this not actually scheduled blog break to tell you that there's a new group video today from the You Can Do This Project.

In case you need a reason to watch it, here are a few.

"We went in [to the pediatrician's office] and I told him that I thought my son had diabetes, and they told me that he did not - that children that young don't get diabetes. They checked him for strep and flu and both came back negative. They tried to send me home, telling me that he had just a virus and that the drainage was making him thirsty, but I knew there was something wrong."

"The doctor did a urine test [at her one year Well Child appointment] because she had a history of UTIs. Fortunately there wasn't any bacteria in her urine, but they did find sugar. The doctor thought this was an error, so they did a repeat test and again found sugar. There were really no symptoms."

"He had started breathing kind of funny, so my husband and I took him to the emergency room. We were told he had Bronchitis and he would get better. By Thursday of that week he was not able to stand on his own anymore, and he really could not stay awake. We took him to a children's hospital and he was finally correctly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. His blood sugar was around 500." 



You'll hear from five parents whose children were diagnosed with type 1 diabetes before they turned two years old. My hope is that if you are already a parent of a young child with diabetes, you'll find some comfort in knowing you aren't alone. I hope the road seems less bumpy over time as your fellow travelers point you to the less turbulent parts of it. I hope that feeling of "me, too" relieves even the slightest bit of the anxiety, fear, and discouragement you may know.

My other hope is that conversations like this one help spread the word on what the symptoms of type 1 diabetes are. As these parents explain, babies can't tell you how they're feeling. It becomes very, very important to know the signs - it could save a child's life. If a child you know is experiencing any combination of the list below, please consult with a doctor immediately.

• excessive thirst
• frequent urination; soaked diapers
• drowsiness and lethargy
• increased appetite
• sudden weight loss
• fruity, sweet odor to breath
• heavy, labored breathing       from JDRF.org

A Minute.

Oh. Hey. Right. Blogging.

Things have been quiet around here (and by here, I mean "me on social media") lately, for a few reasons.

This is one:




Because when you say things on a stage that you had tucked away so deep inside yourself and had planned to just let collect dust; when you are so honest and earnest on that stage that moments after leaving it you have to escape the conference for a safe place to cry and shake and vibrate and then somehow collect yourself to finish out the day; when you invite the world into your head and your heart and know that it will live on the internet forever and ever...

you need a minute.

I'm taking several.

Exasperation Station.

Some days I really love my medical devices.

Can we talk about how terrifyingly Riddler-like that face is?

Today is not one of those days.

While my basal has been delivering just fine (I was shocked to see a mostly-straight line from overnight, hovering around 95), my bolusing ability has been stunted by some fault within my insulin pump's lineup. Ever since putting this cartridge in on Wedneday night, my pump has not been able to fully deliver a single bolus. Not of 10 units, not of 5 units, not of 2 units. No boluses.

WHY CAN'T YOU JUST WORK YOU EXPENSIVE LITTLE MACHINE.

I called Tandem's tech support, and their troubleshooting protocol asks me to disconnect at the leur lock to see if insulin is delivering before it gets to the tubing.

Here's the kicker: I see why they want to know this, but if I do this process I lose not only the 23 units of insulin in my tubing (I use the really long tubing), but also will have to prime all of those airbubbles that will be introduced into the tubing again, out. That's easily 53 units of insulin I'll be wasting, and I feel very uncomfortable with that thought. I don't like wasting such a precious resource. 53 units is more than a day's worth of insulin for a lot of people.

If the design of your medical device requires me to squander my limited supply of the only drug that can keep me alive, you may want to rethink that design.

So I guess I'll be over here injecting for each meal and snack until this cartridge runs out.

Hashtag first world problem.

UPDATE: According to the customer service rep I've been working with, Tandem Diabetes Care is sending me a new "goodwill" box of cartridges and a prepaid shipping label so I can mail back the faulty cartridge for "investigation purposes". Good on ya, Tandem. Let's hope these work.

Lightning Speed.

Just a wee little update on the wee little Rabbit:

Who in the span of a few days has become more "kid" than "baby", to my eyes.

(Also, please ignore all of the stuff on my kitchen counter. Cleaning hasn't been a priority.)

Medicine X 2014: People.

I spent four days on the Stanford University campus in Palo Alto, CA for the Medicine X conference, and what, now I'm just supposed to go back to "real life"?

Emotions, energy, and spirits ran as high as my blood sugar. The #MedXHangover is real.

Every conference. Every time.

So much to say, so little time to blog.

What stands out to me most, in this moment of reflection:

• The swift manner in which handshakes gave way to hugs
• A purposeful and welcome focus this year on mental health
• The epitome of a "powerful patient story", this Ignite talk from epatient and fellow T1D Erin Gilmer - seriously some of the most gut-wrenching three minutes of the conference, and she wasn't even there in person which speaks to how much weight her words had/have
• How grateful I was to see Scott Strange in the hallway immediately after I left the stage to bolt to a safe place to "come down", and for the huge bear hug he gave me before I erupted in tears
• My ah-may-zing roommate Carly, who is a large part of the reason I had such a positive experience
• Finally meeting super-human Susannah Fox in person
• Seeing our diabetes community represented so well in sessions like Dana's (and Scott's) #DIYPS and Doug's Databetes project
• How truly valuable the ePatient Advisory Board was to the ePatient delegates/scholars, and how generous they were with their time, their hearts, and their energy (to the point that I'm concerned that they all need a week-long debrief/spa vacation/nap to recover properly)

The common denominator that made this year's MedX so great? People. Their stories. The way "diabetes patient" and "arthritis patient" and "crohn's patient" all just became "patients" in one community. The way patients and physicians and students alike voiced their concerns, thoughts, questions, and visions. I saw so much respect; so much curiosity; so much drive.

I'm still processing it all, but this Just Talking podcast does a great job of capturing some ePatients' thoughts on the conference in a more crowdsourced kind of way.

What Diabetes Awareness Month Feels Like to a PWD.

Also answers to "American Diabetes Month", "National Diabetes Month", "National Diabetes Awareness Month", and "November".

Diabetes Stigma on Mashable.

When I think about what we can do to improve the psychosocial health of people living with diabetes it always comes back to this, for me: share your story. Even when it feels like you're saying the same things again and again, keep sharing. Keep talking. Keep showing. Keep living. Don't give up.

This is how we change the world for the better.

http://mashable.com/2014/08/27/diabetes-stigma/