February 21, 2010

Axle. We don't need no stinking axle.

We had a little issue driving to church today. Apparently this is meant to be one piece not two.

Missed chruch.



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February 17, 2010

K & K2 LYMI

I think in some cases I need to be sure no good deed good unpunished. In one of my more Zen posts I wrote:
I am happy to point out two lovely ladies who helped me get the honoring bit there straight. I trust this is not trite praise.
I have learned that looking at somebody who is struggling and honoring their suffering without giving them some trite formula is often little more than the courage to share my own experience without any expectation of return. I love the people who have showing me how to do that. To a woman and man none claims to be a perfect diabetic or parent. They simply shared their daily triumphs and challenges. They honor each other’s struggles and in doing so are simply human to one another.


Kerri is the Diabetes Online Community’s Queen of sharing the daily joy s of life. She has enriched us all in the process. Be afraid Kerri I have plans. But until I manage to get my maniacal plot hatched I encourage y’all to join her for a webinar on February 24, at 8pm as a way of saying thanks and probably laughing and learning too. The particulars are HERE.

K2 aka Kelly Kunik hit the big 5-0 - Fifty thousand visit to Diabetesaliciousness! She is rightfully proud. While she doesn’t want to sound like a schmuck about it, nobody has ever accused me of dignity. I am happy to shill the living daylights out of her accomplishment. Go to her blog and pass on some congratulation and thanks. She has the grace to honor struggle without trite formulas.

K & K2 Love Ya / Mean It

Backward Ho!

When I was a wee lad, way back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, I traveled across the country in a motor home. Yes it was so long ago they weren’t even called recreational vehicles yet. We were in a group with a few other families. My Uncle Jack aka “the Moose” aka “Uncle Moose” was our fearless leader. He may have been one of the aforementioned dinosaurs. (I mean that in a loving old school rocks kinda way.)

We hit all your name brand National Parks and some lesser scenic venues. When it was time to go The Moose would holler, “Backwarrrrrrrd HoooooOoooooo!” Kids would come running and scrabble into their respective vehicles and the caravan pulled out to new adventures. The call was a satire of the old pioneer wagon train movies’ ‘Forward Ho.’ It was always funny because Uncle Jack sold it and the scramble was a spectacle we reveled in producing with him.

The Moose has been leading motor home caravans to your name brand National Parks and lesser scenic venues of the Great Beyond for decades. Yet his call of Backward Ho seems to have taken hold with the purveyors of connected and mobile medical devices.

Sadly they haven’t figured out Uncle Jack was all about the next adventure and was kidding with the backwards bit.

My feed reader tries to keep track of what is news in the medical mobile wireless connectivity world. I want it to find the Holy Grail of diabetes data management - software that is worth using. It would get all the various diabetes toys to play nice at the scenic overlook and come scrambling sharing information at the first call. Here is the kicker the toys should just do it so we don’t have to. Then make some kind of useful suggestions. No Holler needed.

My feeder gives me tons of articles to read. Blood glucose get mentioned a lot of these articles so does the Continua Health Alliance. Alert YDMV readers may notice I have written about Continua before. This week the news is all about how GSMA (a cell phone innards association) is partnering with Continua.

Sounds like progress right? So what does it have to do with The Moose?

Simple, we are going backwards. You know that Health 2.0 bit where health care consumers have a voice? Amy has written aboutHealth 2.0 saying:


“I’ve spoken and written a lot on Health 2.0 myself, and when people ask me what the term means, I usually give them this simple two-part explanation:

1) Health 2.0 is where new, interactive web technology meets a new, more patient-centered approach to healthcare. It’s giving people access to tools and information they never had before, to empower them.

2) It’s about changing the engagement model with healthcare providers, so that “the medical establishment” treats patients more like partners in their own care.

Sadly this not what my reader is telling me. Patients as partners is not part of the mobile e-patient plan. Backward 1.0!

Development is very much a function of trade associations of Big Honking Companies. I once asked Continua, 'Where do patients fit in?'

They said, in essence, the Big Honking Companies employ a lot of people. They want to take care of those people and that is how consumers get represented. Oh and they want to keep their health cost in check so electronic records are awesome. I may be over simplifying a tad but not much.

To all you Big Honking Companies out there, the Holy Grail is about collecting our data and providing us with actionable information to help self manage. Our use of the stuff you see as brands, franchises and annuity streams from consumables is a function of you partnering with us as we self manage.

Forward 2.0

February 5, 2010

January 2010 510(k) Clearances

Solo Micro Pump, Finesse Insulin Deliver Patch, Nova Max BG and Ketone Meter, more...

http://www.fda.gov/MedicalDevices/ProductsandMedicalProcedures/DeviceApprovalsandClearances/510kClearances/ucm199999.htm
DEVICE: SOLO MICROPUMP INSULIN DELIVERY SYSTEM
MEDINGO LTD. 510(k) NO: K093364(TRADITIONAL)
ATTN: ARAVA HACOHEN PHONE NO : 972 737 131313
YOQNEAM INDUSTRIAL PARK BLDG.7 3RDSE DECISION MADE: 25-JAN-10
YOQNEAM IS 20692 510(k) SUMMARY AVAILABLE FROM FDA
http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/cdrh_docs/pdf9/K093364.pdf


DEVICE: FINESSE PERSONAL INSULIN DELIVERY PATCH, MODEL FG-2000
CALIBRA MEDICAL, INC. 510(k) NO: K093065(TRADITIONAL)
ATTN: RICHARD J MEADER PHONE NO : 650 298 4740
220 SAGINAW DRIVE SE DECISION MADE: 20-JAN-10
REDWOOD CITY CA 94063 510(k) SUMMARY AVAILABLE FROM FDA
http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/cdrh_docs/pdf9/K093065.pdf

DEVICE: NOVA MAX PLUS BLOOD GLUCOSE AND B-KETONE MONITOR SYSTEM, NOVA MAX PLUS B-KETONE CONTROL SOLUTIONS, NOVA MAX BLOOD GLUCOS
NOVA BIOMEDICAL CORP. 510(k) NO: K091547(TRADITIONAL)
ATTN: PAUL MACDONALD PHONE NO : 781 894 0800
200 PROSPECT ST. SE DECISION MADE: 15-JAN-10
WALTHAM MA 02454 9141 510(k) SUMMARY AVAILABLE FROM FDA

http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/cdrh_docs/pdf9/K091547.pdf
http://www.novacares.com/


DEVICE: EBCARRYON BLOOD GLUCOSE MONITORING SYSTEM
VISGENEER, INC. 510(k) NO: K091765(TRADITIONAL)
ATTN: EVONNE CHEN PHONE NO : 886 351 60111
3F-2, NO. 83, SEC. 2 GONGDAO 5TH RSE DECISION MADE: 19-JAN-10
HSINCHU CITY TW 30070 510(k) SUMMARY AVAILABLE FROM FDA

Diabadass:

Here is another guest post from my teens. This time Kelley wrote some 'tude with her T1 brother Connor. In the light of a recent TV program that added to the T1, T2, you caused this confusion that our good friend Kerri wrote brilliantly about at SixUntilMe some attitude is appropriate.

The ‘Betes has infiltrated our lives. However long the forced cohabitation with The ‘Betes has been for you - years, months, days, hours - it’s been too long. The ‘Betes is too many things: too long, too much, too hard, too confusing, too high, too low, too, too, too. To manage all of this we deal with meters, needles and pricks every day.

But times are a’changing. I mean, we still have to put up with needles and pricks but at least now I can pick the color of my meter!

Among all the baggage The ‘Betes carries with it as it elbows its way into our lives is a word. A horrible word. A label. But before I get into that let’s talk about labels for a second. What is a label? Well, according to dictionary.com (C’mon, you weren’t expecting me to go find an actual book were you?) a label is “a short word or phrase descriptive of a person, group, intellectual movement.”

Got that? A short word or phrase descriptive of a person or group.

The ‘Betes carries with it this label: “diabetic.” There is no worse word in the world. Why? Because of all the confusion, misconceptions and misunderstandings that come along with it. To the world at large it communicates things like “lazy,” “unhealthy,” “fat,” “sugar-free,” and, worst of all, “old.”

It doesn’t describe us with The ‘Betes or our lives. It doesn’t rely to the general public our relationship with The ‘Betes - our trials, triumphs, or, most importantly, our youth. So, I propose a new label, one that communicates it all: “diabadass.” If we could convince the people around us to replace the horribly offensive “diabetic” with the more appropriate “diabadass” we could all live a little easier.

Anyone who won’t is just a prick and we know how to deal with those.

February 4, 2010

Pay No Attention to the Man Behind the Original Post

I found this comment on my post Practice Makes... Seeing as it is WAY better than my OP here is Penny as a Special Guest Star on YDMV. If the bit about "the only thing we asked of her" doesn't tear you up you may need to see the Wizard for a watch.


Penny said...

I try to have Gracie participate in decisions about her Type 1 most of the time. Things like where she gets her shots, when she wants her dose (within limits), what meter she wants, where she would like to test, how much help she wants with the whole process (sometimes she wants A LOT of help as in 'Mommy, can you do it all?' and sometimes she doesn't want me to do a thing.) I think that's OK for a 7 year old.

I remember those early months of diagnosis and waiting, waiting, waiting for Gracie to be calm so we could give her her shot. It was the only thing we asked of her. We asked for literally nothing else but her to be calm. It was enough to ask of her at that time. I felt like if I forced her, I wouldn't like that done to me and she needed some control and decisions about her body. She lost most of that control in the hospital, she was only 6 when diagnosed. The more control I have given her, I think the more thoughtful she has become with her decisions. Who would have thunk it huh?!

I am hoping that I am teaching her good diabetic care and realistic diabetic care at the same time. Mommy doesn't change the lancet each time she tests (oh no I can hear the diabetic police coming right now!). Gracie is allowed to give herself shots through her shirts and pants. (Oh I am probably going to he$$ for that one.) So, I try to balance both. I try to teach her good decisions based on 'fair care' (I like your phrase!).

I would love for Gracie to grow up and independently and smartly care for her Type 1, with a dose of reality thrown in. Not everything in life is perfect. Not everything in life is fair. We do the best with what we have. We continue on. I hope that I am teaching her, by having her participate in decision making about her diabetes, that she is smart, capable and gonna make it through it all.

Enough rambling for one night...

February 3, 2010

Practice Makes...

I believe there is tremendous long term value in tweens making decisions for their diabetes care. Little decisions lead to big ones.

They want a different meter? Fine.

They want to eat and bolus vs. pre bolus so they can carb count what they ate, they want the CGM off for a while, the set someplace else or a shot in the arm - I am all for trying it. What ever as long as it is in bounds of fair care. The daily numbers maybe a mess. I am OK with that as long as it is a learning experience. Decision making is a skill that takes practice.

Perfect diabetes numbers are not obtainable, good self management is.

I look at good with a long term view. Good is my kids effectively managing their diabetes and me supporting them in the ways that work for them. Variations in routine for a few days or even months are not as significant as developing the decision skills that support independently managing diabetes.

How do you support decision making?

FTNW: JDRF Medical Director goes to Implantable CGM Co., Home Diagnostics Acquired by Nippro

JDRF Doc goes to Sensors for Medicine and Science, Inc.
Sensors for Medicine and Science, Inc., (http://www.s4ms.com) a clinical-stage, medical device company pioneering breakthrough technology that could dramatically improve glucose monitoring for people with diabetes, today announced the appointment of Dr. Paul Strumph as the company's Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Strumph was most recently Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sensors-for-medicine-and-science-inc-names-dr-paul-strumph-as-chief-medical-officer-83352752.html


Home Diagnostics Acquired:

The folks who make the meter in the strip can cap are being bought out at a big premium.

Diabetes testing products maker Home Diagnostics Inc (HDIX.O) said it agreed to be acquired by Japanese medical devices company Nipro Corp (8086.T) for about $215 million, or $11.50 per share. The offer represents a 90 percent premium to Home Diagnostics' Tuesday close.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSSGE6120GT20100203

February 2, 2010

Dear K2

Here is a screen entering a blog post. See that camera icon in the upper right. Click that and ad a picture. So now we expect updates with pictures.

LYMI







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On The DOC: Great interview with T1 Olympian

by our good friend Bernard go enjoy it.

News Flash: Diabetes Does NOT Vary

I read a post over at CWD from a mom with a second DX who was frustrated with her dad and care for a T1 at the mall. It made me think about the one thing that doesn't vary with T1 parents. What Hunter S. Thompson calls, "The Fear." This is my slightly edited reply to her thread:

I feel for you. That second DX hurts just as much as the first. I have been there. It is a flood. I wrote about my diabetes flood here. The second dx is no less stressful because you have some t1 experience. It may even be more stressful because you have a clearer idea of the path ahead.

No two kids with diabetes are the same. YDMV. I know. I coined the phrase.

Each kids has deferent responses to the same things: different I:C, different correction factors, different responses to exercise and different skills. Each has their own emotional response. So do you. So does your dad.

It perfectly understandable to be stressed out. It is a very lot to deal with.

It is hard to teach while you are still learning all those differences and dealing with your own sense of grief. It is hard to reverse the parent child relationship and teach a parent. It could be that you dad feels unsecure, concerned and to some extent afraid of doing the wrong thing. Maybe why he keeps asking the same things is The Fear.

I know others who have found a need in their family to step the stress down a notch. That can be done. Start with the basics.

Your kids clearly have a loving grand parent that wants to help. See that. Appreciate that.

Build from that. If you can, by all means go to Friends for Life. All of you. FFL has grand parents’ sessions. I am sure they are as good as all the rest of the program there. Build on the strength of your family's love. Don't let the diabetes isolate you. Don't let it breing The Fear.

Give away the stress of teaching your dad. If you can't make FFL this year, the ADA's wisdom kits are great. So is this the CWD online community. Maybe you dad would be willing to join up there. There is a grandparents section and there are lots of folks here who are happy to answer the same question over and over again. If not there find some other place in the diabetes online community. If he wants I will give him my private email. Find what works to help you give away some stress.

I am the Official King of YDMV and as such I know that in one way diabetes does not vary. It tries to puts The Fear in each of us. The question we individually face the most is, "I am afraid my family can't do this." Look around at the DOC support group and you will see the we always say is same thing, "If we can do it, you can too. We are here to help you find your families way." The question and answer get phrased a thousand different ways. It gets put in the context of friends, neighbors, food police, family, schools and a partridge in a pear tree. But it is the same question.

You heard it here first: The Fear of diabetes inadequacy doesn't vary.

Don't buy it. You are going to be OK. We are here to help.