At first glance, I manage my diabetes using an insulin pump from Tandem Diabetes Care, a continuous glucose monitor from Dexcom, Humalog insulin, and either the mySugr meter kit or a Freestyle one. All of these items require prescriptions and $$$ and involvement from my clinicians. But there’s a number of items that are used regularly to manage my diabetes,…
Non-Billable Hours: The Diabetes Stuff That Doesn’t Have Copays
Blood Sugars, Diabetes Advocacy, Diabetes Products, Diabetes Videos, Real Life Diabetes, Robot LifeThis morning, it took me a few extra seconds to forage for my insulin pump, which was stuck in my bra. I was reminded that the holidays are coming, and that I’m always festive, after a fashion. Which made me want to share this way old post about the disco boobs. * * * Over the holidays,…
Trapped by Shipments and Timeouts
Blood Sugars, Diabetes Products, Diabetes Tech, Healthcare, Psychosocial Support, Real Life Diabetes, Robot LifeDay-to-diabetes requires a lot of focus on timing: what time did I take my insulin, what time did I eat, what time will I exercise, what time will I be in a meeting, what time am I planning to go to bed, what time will my insulin and my food seemingly serendipitously meet somewhere in my body, mapping out into…
Garage door opener. Beeper. Control panel? TV remote control. What’s the strangest thing your insulin pump has been mistaken for? (image from @sixuntilme on Instagram) You might also like: Open the Door. That Clip, Though. Guest Post: How the MiniMed 530G Changed My Diabetes Management (Without Ever Even Seeing it in Person) t:slim with a Twist.
An Initial Review of Basal IQ
Dexcom, Diabetes Products, Diabetes Tech, Pumping Insulin, Real Life Diabetes, Robot LifeDisclosure: I have a sponsorship agreement with Tandem Diabetes Care – details are on my disclosure page. This post is written with that bias in place. Tandem did not ask me to write this post. Neither did my pancreas, because that thing doesn’t do much. The hardest part about the Basal IQ update was waiting for my endo to sign…
Weird skin week continues! Welcome back. Sometimes I think that diabetes makes my skin extra weird, extra sensitive, extra … extra. Like the bit with the Dexcom rash. I’ve been writing about my skin’s over-sensitivity to whatever is in the Dexcom adhesive for several years. Here’s a look back at some of the archives: Dexcom Pros and Cons 36 Hours…
A Deep Dive into Tidepool Medtronic Support
Diabetes Community, Diabetes Online Community, Diabetes Tech, Robot LifeEarlier this week, I heard about the big Medtronic update at Tidepool. They’ve been working on making it possible for Medtronic users to manage their data through Tidepool, and that support went live yesterday. President and CEO of Tidepool, Howard Look, stopped by SixUntilMe to talk about this new option from Tidepool and how the diabetes community’s approach to data…
Happy weekend! Be silly. And slightly cyborgy, if that’s your jam. You might also like: Hypoglycemic Blues. Unexpected Advocacy. Whoa! Woe. Inset/Outset.
Some diabetes concerns feel normal – worrying about low blood sugars or diabetes related complications. But worrying graphically and incessantly about my insulin pump being catapulted through me in the event of airbags deploying feels like a bit much. … and then again, it seems kind of normal to worry about weird shit like this. You might also like: Not…
It’s a picnic. I’m wearing a maxi dress with pockets and my infusion set is on my arm, the tubing snaking discreetly into the body of the dress, disappearing. “Hi, nice to meet you.” “Nice to meet you, too!” I don’t know everyone but that’s okay; kids are running everywhere, it’s a beautiful day, sunshine like whoa. “Do you mind…
Dexcom G6: A Few Weeks In
Blood Sugars, Dexcom, Diabetes Products, Diabetes Tech, Real Life Diabetes, Robot LifeIt’s been over a month (by a bit) of using the Dexcom G6, and I have second impressions. (First impressions are here.) REVISITING INSERTION. It doesn’t hurt to go in. I know I mentioned that the first time around but it’s a really big change from all of the other iterations of the Dexcom CGM product. The updated G6 insertion…