Living with Diabetes

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  • Dexcom has good tech support

    Last Sunday, I had a sensor go bad a few days early.  It just started giving wacky readings.  Just about the time I did a full download of it on a new computer.

    Smart thinking — I downloaded the data the next morning.  Called Dexcom tech support when I had time to talk, and was able to remotely access my Dexcom program (through gotomypc), and sent Tech Support data.  Worked with them for two days via email, but the sensor never did straighten out.

    I swapped sensors a day early and the new sensor has been night and day different.  In fact, I am on day 8 now.

    The best news, they sent me a new sensor.

  • Bernard’s Diabetes Blog: FDA Approves Symlin Pen

     

    Amylin has announced today that the FDA has approved two Symlin pen models. The pens should be available by December 2007.

    Source: Bernard’s Diabetes Blog: FDA Approves Symlin Pen

    Another diabetic who is excited!

  • FINALLY — SYMLIN IN A PEN!!!!!!

     From Scott’s Weblog, but it’s blocked by our content filter at school.

    Well, it has been promised for nearly 3 years now, but today, the company revealed that they were in receipt of an approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the SymlinPen 60 and the SymlinPen 120 pen-injector devices for administering SYMLIN (or pramlintide acetate) injection. According to the news release, the pens are expected to be available to patients by December 2007.

    I am SO SO HAPPY.  The vials I have are the last I’m going to own.

  • TI Foundation Fellow?

     From the Dallas Morning News:

    Ten North Texas teachers will be inducted as fellows into Texas Instruments Foundation’s new Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Academy.

    Education notes | Dallas Morning News | News for Dallas, Texas | News: Education

    I’ll find out what this means next week.

  • Well, she meant well

    I’ve been a good patient and have been getting my mammograms at the same place for years — local hospital radiology department.

    On the way out, the xray tech tells me (after seeing my insulin pump), that one of her other patients has lost a ton a weight and gone on oral meds after having lap band surgery.

    ARGH!

    I’m just not in the mood to go into the ways this is so wrong.

  • EzManager for the IR2020

    Whew! It was finally delivered last Wednesday.  Hmmm, I’ve had the pump since May and couldn’t use the software until last week.

    First, the carb counting and the blood sugar is recorded by the pump now and shows up on the reports.  That is what I’ve waited two pump releases for — I certainly would have implemented that in the IR1250 if I had been then.  In fact, I was shocked to see that didn’t occur when I received and downloaded the IR1250.

    The problems….

    All of the existing bugs I could test for are still there. 

    You cannot edit or delete items from the food database using the EzManager PC Software.  All you can do is delete all the favorites.

    You can delete individual items from the food database, but you can not edit them, even though there is a item for edit in the menu.

    One new thing that bothers me, you cannot add injections to the log from the PC version of the program.  However, you can add them via both the Palm version and through the Ultra Smart meter.  In fact, the Ultra Smart is a good way to enter in exercise data too.

    I do wish Animas would clean up and fix EzManager.  It’s a good program but a few small failings hurt it.

    Oh, and I can’t test this one — did they ever fix the Freestyle upload?  It doesn’t handle Freestyle data correctly from October through December if I remember the bug correctly.

  • Dexcom Thoughts

    Not only is the Dexcom doing a great time most of the time (right now I’m wearing an wonky sensor), but it is also does a lot of other good things.

    First, it is an interesting feed back loop.  One thing I’ve noticed, and I’m not the only one, is that the better you manage your diabetes, the better the Dexcom works.  Thus, just by using the Dexcom alone, you tend to manage your blood sugar better.  Someone needs to do a clinical trial and see if we’re right.

    Second, it opens up some interesting conversations.  Mostly on the line of, is your diabetes THAT bad.  No, it isn’t.  I just like to see the data and manage it better.

    Remember, it opened up a conversation between my self and my student I’ve posted about.

  • Update — my student

    I wrote about a little gal in my class I was worried about and I have some good news.

    During “Meet the Teacher” I had a few minutes with momma and I told her that I was worried since her daughter had shared her blood sugar with me.  I told her when I was diagnosed, I felt very ill, was very hard to get along with and was fairly certain that the daughter felt the same way. 

    Well that Friday and the next Monday, my student was absent.  When she came back on Tuesday she let the whole class know she had been in the hospital and knew all about diabetes now and was on insulin.

    Apparently if you are diagnosed Type 2, they put you on insulin probably because they are not real sure what the oral medications will due to teenagers.  She’s the second kid I’ve had from the Parkland Diabetes clinic who was a Type 2 and both were put on insulin.

    I really do think she feels better already.

  • Blog has been broke

    I think it is finally fixed, though I need to upgrade it one more time as it takes forever to rebuild.

    Because school had gotten started and I have much more students than I am used to, it took a while for me to get it fixed.  I just haven’t felt like doing constructive computer stuff since I spend so many more hours on the computer grading.

    Last year, my largest class was 20.  This year, I’m right at 26 in four classes and around 20 in the other two.  As I usually say, my seating charts are full.

    Hopefully I can get back in the blogging mode.

  • Using Sensors instead of Finger Sticks

    Except for today and this sensor, I’ve only been finger sticking with the Dexcom wants a calibration — well, I take that back, the two finger sticks I’ve done today was because Dexcom said he wanted them.

    It will be interesting to see an A1C.  In fact, I am thinking about seeing if I can get an extra A1C before my doctor’s visit. 

    Since before school started I’ve been relying 100% on the Dexcom sensors. 

    And it’s been working well.  It’s caught a few unexpected highs, and a few unexpected lows, but for the most part, I’ve been having very stable blood sugars.