It took me years to use an insulin pump. Actual years. I was on multiple daily injections for 17 years before deciding to take the cyborg plunge, and honestly, it’s one of the best decisions I’ve made in terms of making sense of my diabetes. I use an insulin pump because it keeps me from having blood sugar bumps in…
“Could I please have a medium iced hazelnut coffee with extra ice and some half and half?” BEEEEEEP BEEEEEEP The barista stopped keying in my coffee order and looked behind her. “I’ve never heard them make that noise before,” she said, tipping her head towards the wall of brewing coffee machines. Shrugging, she continues with my order. BEEEEEEP BEEEEEEP “Okay,…
[DISCLOSURE – PLEASE READ: The team at Abbott reached out to me and asked if I’d like to trial the Freestyle Libre system. I said yes. After my doctor approved a prescription for the device, Abbott sent out the 14 day system to me, which included a scanner and three sensors. This whole review needs that bias lens in place. Good?…
Poking around in that box that’s been hiding in every iteration of “home” for the better part of a decade, I found another writing sample from what looks like third grade. (No date on the piece of paper, but third grade is where we learned cursive, so this is either the end of third grade/fourth grade time of my life….
I’m at a loss. In cleaning out the diabetes cupboard (aka the shelves dedicated to diabetes stuff in my pantry), I found over a decade’s worth of Dexcom receivers. And old glucose meters. And the exciting-at-the-time-yet-now-obsolete Dexcom Share dock. What’s a girl to do with all this old diabetes tech? Instagram friends recommended bringing the stuff to Best Buy (they…
Clinical Trials of the Diabetes Kind: A Guest Post
Dexcom, Diabetes Products, Diabetes Tech, Psychosocial Support, Pumping Insulin, Robot LifeI’m very excited for the future of diabetes technology, and today’s guest post is a glimpse into what the Tandem Diabetes Care’s Control IQ experience might be like once it’s released into the wild. Big thanks to Celia for reaching out to excitedly share her experiences as part of a clinical trial for Control IQ. This post is to…
Is There Another Way to Open These Boxes?
Diabetes Products, Diabetes Tech, Pumping Insulin, Real Life DiabetesI tend to be very organized when it comes to my diabetes supplies, but there are marked exceptions: For some reason I always tear into a new box of reservoirs or infusion sets like a caffeinated squirrel. I mean, is there another way to open these boxes? You might also like: Open the Door. I Heart Insurance. Open Windows An…
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…
Non-Medical Switching
Diabetes Advocacy, Diabetes Online Community, Diabetes Tech, Diabetes Videos, Pumping Insulin, Real Life Diabetes“From the Alliance for Patient Access YouTube page: People with diabetes describe non-medical switching, where an insurer has pushed them to change insulin, pumps, meters or other medical necessities.” Being told to switch medications because the insurance company says so, not because the medical team recommends the switch, is a messed up situation. Clinicians and patients should be making those…
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.
mySugr Sponsored Post AND Giveaway
Blood Sugars, Diabetes Community, Diabetes Online Community, Diabetes Products, Diabetes Tech, Real Life DiabetesThis is a sponsored post. I am using my social media platforms to share this information with my readers because I believe in spreading useful information to people with diabetes. And I am doing this as a favor to Scott Johnson, who works for mySugr, because he is a friend and I like to support friends, especially when they’re aiming…
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…
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…
So yeah, I tried to restart the Dexcom G6 sensor. And it didn’t work. No offense, Dexcom. I respect your work and I love, love the data from this device. My health is, without fail, better for the introduction of a CGM into my life. But this shit is expensive, and cost is often a deterrent for folks trying to…