Author: Frank

Summer Daze.

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After the mad rush of December, frantically attempting to beat the clock in order tie up loose ends for the year, shopping around for Christmas gifts and meeting social obligations of the festive season, January arrives.

The world simply seems to go to sleep in January.

School’s on holidays, some of the lucky ones get to take extended leave from work, and the seemingly endless stretch of sunny 30 degree days just seems to support this quiet, lazy notion in the world.

I’m sitting here at my desk, with a bunch of fresh ideas in my head and seemingly endless time in front of me, plodding along at this slow leisurely pace.

Which might be great for me, but not so great for my diabetes which has decided to hop on my back for the ride.

I don’t exactly have the energy or the enthusiasm at the moment to be pre-bolusing for my peanut butter on toast. I can’t bring myself to correct dropping blood sugars with glucose tabs, when there’s a tin of Shortbread on my bookshelf or chocolates in the fridge. Guesstimates are trumping maths in my insulin dosing more often than not.

It’s harder to get outdoors when it’s hot, and the Australian Open is proving to be a pretty good excuse to crash in front of the TV at 4pm. 

When my FreeStyle Libre is on, I’m motivated to keep those graphs looking pretty. But when it comes off, I can’t see what my blood sugars are doing all the time and I’m not so motivated to keep them between the lines.

I find it harder to accommodate diabetes devices in the warm weather. I’ve briefly contemplated another pump break, but I think my month-long vacation in November was enough to get me over my rut for the time being.

The one symptom that warm weather doesn’t produce for me is hypos. Sure, physical activity without carbs or basal adjustments sends me low. But a hypo just because it’s hot? It simply doesn’t happen.

I’m very much looking forward to this sleepy Summer daze coming to an end, and hopefully finding my diabetes mojo again soon.

Until then, I’ll be spending as much time as I can at the beach.

Implications of the Animas Exit For Australia

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In October, Animas signalled their intention to cease the manufacture and sale of their insulin pumps. While this news was initially limited to the US and Canadian markets only, the view was to eventually exit the market globally.

Yesterday, the news we had all been expecting was finally confirmed, with news that Animas had exited the market globally.

So what does this mean for Australia?

In the US, Animas referred their customers to Medtronic for the supply of consumables for in warranty pumps. Medtronic will continue to supply Animas consumables until September 30, 2019, after which consumers will need to make the switch to another brand of pump. Medtronic, Insulet (makers of the Omnipod tubeless pump), and Tandem (makers of the t-slim pump) have all provided options for Animas customers to make the switch prior to September 2019. More details about the US transition can be found here.

Australian distributor AMSL Diabetes has stated this will not be the case down under. AMSL will continue to supply pump consumables, replace in warranty pumps and provide 24/7 customer service, with further announcements to come. If you are thinking about starting on an Animas pump, there is apparently still some limited stock available.

Most importantly, there’s no need to panic. For the time being, nothing will change and in warranty pumps will still be serviced.

However with the manufacture of Animas pumps now ceased worldwide and limited new stock available, one has to wonder just how equipped AMSL will be to replace an in warranty pump at fault.

With a timeframe of September 2019 to cease the supply of consumables (albeit in the US), one would also be thinking that in-warranty customers will eventually need to be serviced by another brand of pump.

Will we be referred to Medtronic? Are AMSL hoping to acquire a new pump to distribute here in Australia? Will the manufacture of Animas consumables continue beyond September 2019 to service Australia? Time will tell.

My feeling is that someone starting on an Animas insulin pump today won’t be able to get a full four year’s use from it.

(And I’m feeling a little excited at the prospect of not having to wait until May 2020 to get that new pump feeling again).

AMSL’s announcement is here, and indicates that there are more developments to come.

Overnight, Johnson and Johnson (JNJ) have announced their intention to exit the insulin pump market globally. This follows an announcement in October last year that it was withdrawing from the US and Canadian markets. JNJ’s decision to close down its operations has been made for commercial reasons.

AMSL Diabetes will continue to provide the same high level of support our customers currently receive and customers will still receive a replacement if their pump develops a fault while under warranty. Warranty and replacement pumps, as well as consumables, will not be affected by this announcement.

Animas has also announced that in select countries it is working with a partner to transfer customers to another pump brand. Each market is being approached differently and in Australia, AMSL Diabetes will continue to work with Animas directly.

AMSL Diabetes have been proud partners of Animas for 15 years since launching the IR1000. We will continue to offer our leading 24/7 Australian-based customer service, technical support, and offer our full range of Dexcom CGM, Lifescan blood glucose meters, HypoPak fast acting glucose and accessory products.

For more information on how this announcement may affect you, please contact AMSL Diabetes on 1300 851 056 or email diabetes@amsl.com.au.

We will have more updates and information on these latest developments soon. Make sure you follow us on our social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram or Twitter) to stay updated.

Rationality.

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One of the pastimes I am often found guilty of is trawling the interwebs for diabetes gear.

Managing diabetes day in and day out, can feel downright monotonous at times. Anything that helps to make me feel more excited about checking my blood sugar, treating a low, or more effectively delivering my insulin doses are all winners in my book. Being a guy, I’m constantly trying to make things as compact and easy as possible to travel with when I’m on the go.

But I’m also a really sensible person. A practical one as well, while I’m at it. I don’t like spending money on things that I don’t have a use for. I constantly weigh up whether my hard earned dollars could be better spent on things like test strips, pump consumables, paying bills or meeting the financial goals I’m working towards. And damn, diabetes gear can be so bloody expensive.

I’m a terrible decision maker, too. I’ll often hover over an item for long enough to be laughed at by my family, deliberating over whether I like it enough and whether it’ll be useful enough for the price tag attached to it. I’ll bring things home, and have a change of heart soon after, thinking about what I could have better put that money towards. I’m not just talking about diabetes gear anymore, either…

Another item I’ve been mulling over during Christmas is a fully fledged CGM. I was actually asked the question just a few days ago, when my rationality began pouring from my mouth. The cost of the transmitters, that send blood glucose data from the sensor to my iPhone or receiver, would be enough to purchase a year’s worth of FreeStyle Libre sensors. That money could also be put towards other essential stuff like health insurance, doctor’s visits, test strips, pump consumables, hypo treatments, batteries and insulin. Ditto to the question of overseas travel.

Yeah, I might be a rational person in nature. Yet still, I believe that living with diabetes is definitely one of the reasons as to why I am so rational. No matter how great a country I live in, how comfortable I am or how secure the roof feels over my head, part of my brain is always thinking about that rainy day that I hope I don’t ever have to face.

Normal Person Sick

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I spent my final days of 2017 feeling under the weather. Which is a mild improvement on last year, when Dad grazed the back of his head on a running ceiling fan while changing a light globe, but that’s a whole other story…

At the time of year where I wanted nothing more than to enjoy leftover cheesecake, munch on Nonna’s biscotti and sip on icy cold percolated coffees, I was devoid of all my appetite. I could feel bloating, wind and a great deal of discomfort in my stomach.

As I thought back to Christmas Day, I honestly felt that I hadn’t done anything extremely out of the ordinary.

Our family brekkie of bacon, eggs and grilled tomato, with Baileys and a few choccies was nothing out of the ordinary. I only picked a few of the more tempting options for dinner at my Uncle’s place, rather than attempting to try everything and then feel the food and high blood sugar coma for the remainder of the night.

There were a few small blips throughout the day, but the highest I could remember my blood sugar peaking at was 13mmol. I was feeling super proud of myself at the conclusion of Christmas Day.

Two days after Christmas, I was left with next to no explanation for my symptoms. I went without dinner, and breakfast the following morning. I had a few water crackers for lunch, before finally feeling able to manage small meals.

I was shit scared to give any insulin until I’d actually stomached anything, for fear I would be forced to finish something I physically couldn’t. I even remember suspending my basal rate to bring myself away from a very minor hypo, because I really did not want to eat a glucose tab.

However when the symptoms still hadn’t passed by the weekend of New Year’s, I began to think about the implications of my diabetes.

The rational side of my brain was telling me that I had been managing my diabetes well, and that I was far too young of a d-baby to be expecting anything more serious. That this was likely normal person stuff, such as indigestion and possibly over-consumption of gas producing foods? That I couldn’t identify any other symptom that would point towards some of the diagnoses that Dr Google had planted in my brain. 

But the irrational side of me was jumping to all sorts of scary conclusions that Dr Google had matched with my symptoms. I was shit scared that I had done something to myself, feeling myself fill up with guilt over everything indulgent that I had put into my mouth in recent weeks.

I was reluctant to visit my GP, feeling that he probably wouldn’t take it too seriously, At best, he might have pointed me to some over the counter stuff that I was already taking. So, I decided to play a game of wait and see over the New Year’s weekend.

After a few days of very minimal food, near perfect blood sugars, a few basal tweaks and no dairy, the hunger pangs finally returned on New Year’s Day.

So, what did I learn from this little ordeal?

My diabetes still bothers me, even when it’s not bothering me.

And I’m still kind of bummed that I missed out the leftover Christmas desserts…

Less Is More?

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The only resolution I set for myself in 2018 was to be more productive.

I want to get more shit done, by spending less time working at it.

(I know what you’re thinking right about now, but just hold up and let me explain for a minute…)

One of my greatest shortcomings is this uncontrollable urge to get anything and everything done in one hit. It’s easy to tell myself that I’ll smash this column out tonight, or that I’ll clear out my e-mail inbox in half an hour and then put my feet up and binge watch another two episodes of The Crown.

But that doesn’t always produce my greatest work.

I’ll tire of the seemingly infinite task at hand, and end up wasting away more time yawning, rubbing my eyes or trawling through social media once again. The longer I sit there, the more I begin to obsess over my work and do more harm to it than good. There are days where I’ll go to bed feeling lousy about myself, failing to remember the last spare moment I had to take some time out for myself.

So, back to my new motto – less is more. I’m learning to set boundaries. Spend an hour writing, or working, or whatever it is that I’m doing, and then stop and come back to it again later. Or even tomorrow.

Walking has been so therapeutic for me over the last few months, and just taking the time out every day to feel the afternoon sun on my face and collect my thoughts makes me feel a bit more human. Which is especially important when I’m living with a condition that involves so many different robot parts and feels monotonous at the worst of times.

I’m also trying to read more. Reading was a pastime I really enjoyed as a child, and I’ve really fallen off the bandwagon in recent years. I’m being realistic and aiming for a book a month. Besides, sleep feels so much more…restful after burying myself in a good book before bed. And, you know, it’s nice to take a break from reading about diabetes once in a while…

So what does all of this have to do with diabetes?

Tending to things like my self care and mental wellbeing helps me to feel better about living with this damned condition. I manage better. I’m not stuck in autopilot mode so often and then swearing at myself over a stupid mistake.

Besides, it feels surprisingly good not to have a resolution directly centred around my diabetes for a change…

What’s on your bucket list this year?