Medical Technology

This morning I took Daughter over to the diabetes clinic to be hooked up to a continuous glucose monitor (CGM). For the next 3 days, this little device will record her blood sugars 24 hours a day. It will give a much clearer picture of her ups and downs, and hopefully enable her doctor to figure out her current insulin needs.
Daughter has been hooked up to a CGM several times in the past. It involved having a sensor inserted in her abdomen and a wire running from it to a little box that she had to carry with her. She had special plastic bags to protect the box when she was in the shower. If the lead came loose from the box, numbers would be lost and we’d have to recalibrate the CGM. Several times a day she was required to enter the number from her meter into the box.

Today Daughter became the first person her endo has had connected to a new, much smaller system (see the photo). She won’t have to enter any blood sugar numbers. The sensor is hooked up to a very small transmitter on her abdomen. There are no wires. I’ll take back it and the loaner meter they provided, and the both will be downloaded into a computer and calibrated and analyzed. It will be much easier.

There was a company rep there to do the insertion and get it started. I took advantage of his time there to quiz him about a number of things. The closed loop system (an insulin pump hooked up to the CGM) is probably about 5 years from market in the U.S. (The next best breakthrough and/or cure has been 5 years away since Daughter was diagnosed 8 years ago). People in the clinical trials love it, but they will be introducing it slowly. Later this year it will be introduced in Europe, though all it will do is cut off the basal insulin when the blood sugar goes low.

Insurance companies and Medicaid pay for the pump without too much trouble. Some insurance companies are beginning to cover the CGM, which studies have shown to be very effective in helping achieve better blood sugar control (which reduces complications).

Then I asked him of his opinion of the endocrinologists in the area. I found his input and insight helpful. There is a new adult endo who is aggressive in his treatment of diabetes and is putting lots of patients on the insulin pump. I’m really beginning to believe that Daughter’s problems will best be addressed by going on an insulin pump. It’s more work, but it might be worth the effort.

As frustrated as I get by the fact that the answer is always 5 years away, I must admit that diabetes care has improved tremendously since Daughter’s diagnosis. When we first started this, she had to take the exact same amount of insulin and eat exact same amount of food at the same exact times every day. On Saturdays, we’d get up and get her breakfast and insulin at 7:00 and then go back to bed. Now she doesn’t have to eat to cover insulin peaks, which gives us much more flexibility with regards to food. As I look back on how far we’ve come, I’m grateful, though occasionally impatient as I wait for the next great breakthrough in medical technology that will improve Daughter’s health.