Diabetes Advocacy

YpsoPump: The First Few Weeks (Part One)

4 Comments

I’ve been staring at my chunky old Animas Vibe with its holes in the coating and an interface from the ‘90s, thinking about how I will possibly be able to while away another two years before its warranty is up. I’ve been dreaming up scenarios in my mind where new pump options would arrive on our shores and be rolled out to existing Animas customers sooner rather than later.

But I never, ever, really imagined that I would have one of these exciting new options in my hands so soon.

(This is the part where I tell you that Ypsomed Australia provided me with a YpsoPump and consumables to take home and trial. Followed by the part where I tell you that was no expectation that I would write, or even trial the pump itself. Followed by the part where I remind you that there’s a bias in place and that you should take my enthusiasm with a grain of salt).

I’ve been YpsoPumping for almost four weeks, and I am absolutely loving how sleek and light it is. When I started pumping insulin two years ago, I wanted it purely for the benefit on my blood sugars. I never thought that this sleekness was something that I could ever ask for, or want, in a pump.

It weighs eighty three grams, inclusive of a AAA alkaline battery and filled insulin cartridge. To put that into perspective, It’s about half the size of my wallet and a third of the size of my iPhone. Did I mention that it’s slimmer, too? I hardly notice it in my pocket when I’m lounging on the couch or in bed at night.

It’s also way quieter than my late Animas Vibe. I no longer hear the swish of insulin boluses being delivered. Or that little ‘tick’ every three minutes as the pump infuses basal insulin into my body.

The interface is made of up of predominantly symbols and numbers, rather than words, which definitely took some getting used to.

It also has a touch screen, which can only be switched on by pressing the button on the side of the pump. The main menu also has a three tap access code before you can go in and administer insulin.

Basal rates can be set in increments of 0.01 units per hour, which gives greater customisation than the 0.25 units on my late Animas. The biggest challenge for me is that they can only be set on the hour, rather than the half hour. So when I wake up at 6.30am, I can only set my elevated waking basal rate to run from either 5am or 6am, rather than my ideal time of 5.30am. I’ve been experimenting with some basal tweaks this week, and hopefully I’ll be able to work around this.

I’m also liking the vibrating reminders when my temporary basal rate is finished running. I tend to sleep over middle of the night alarms, but the pump has even woken me up during the night to let me know a temporary basal rate has finished running. It’s a really handy feature to have, reminding me to check my blood sugar and evaluate whether I need to run it for longer.

The biggest difference to my late Animas is that the YpsoPump does not contain a bolus calculator. That is contained in the companion mylife smartphone app. Or any other bolus calculating app, for that matter. So you would need to open your app, work out your bolus, and enter that number into your pump. The app then syncs with the pump via Bluetooth to obtain insulin data. At the launch event, we were told that the pump could eventually be controlled from the app.

I have no problem using a phone app to calculate insulin boluses. I’ve done it before when I’ve taken pump breaks. But I found it frustrating having to wait a good 15 seconds for the app to sync with my pump so that I could do a bolus calculation. I’m so used to being able to quickly glance at my insulin on board during the day before various activities. Not to mention that having my Bluetooth constantly switched on is a drain on both my pump and iPhone battery. As a result, I must say that I’ve been slacking off on bolus calculations.

I expressed to the rep last week that it would be helpful if the bolus calculator worked independently of having to sync with the pump. After suggesting that I could switch my insulin therapy settings to Multiple Daily Injections, I’ve been able to do just that. So long as I’m logging all of my bolus calculations and insulin doses in the app, I’ll be able to see my insulin on board without having to sync the pump via Bluetooth.

The pump can deliver insulin boluses in increments of 0.1 units, which is slightly less than the 0.05 my late Animas allowed. The bolus calculator automatically subtracts insulin on board from a bolus calculation, which might not always be necessary. It also lacks the flexibility to make adjustments to insulin to carb ratios or insulin sensitivity factors for things like physical activity. However, it is working a lot better for me in MDI mode.

I know just how hard a good bolus calculator is to find, and for me a diabetes app without one simply has no value. Ypsomed do appear to see the bigger picture of people who don’t use pumps and CGMs, and I’m confident that the company is working hard to make Multiple Daily Injections and glucose monitoring ‘smarter’ as well.

If you are looking for a bolus calculator, you can search for the ‘mylife app’ in your Google Play or App Store.

Come back tomorrow for part two of my review of the YpsoPump!

Updated: Find part 2 here!

The YpsoPump Launch Event

1 Comment

My first week with the YpsoPump saw me in holiday eat-and-bolus-without-really-thinking-too-much-about-diabetes mode. Not to mention that it was my return to insulin pumping following a month long break. Week two saw me back at home with one of the worst Winter colds I’ve had in years and some of the craziest insulin resistance I’ve seen. It’s now week three and I’m just beginning to return to some sense of normality with the ‘betes.

Safe to say, I feel as though I’ve already been through a lot with this pump in the short time we’ve known each other. I really am enjoying the YpsoPump for its sleekness and light weight nature, and you can also check out my Instagram stories for more insight here. I’ll have some more to share here soon, I just don’t think I can fairly review a pump without using it for a good few weeks.

I had never even heard of the YpsoPump prior to searching the TGA website earlier this year in desperation for any signs of new insulin pump choices following the demise of Animas. I then noticed fellow blogger Ashley of Bittersweet Diagnosis had been trialling the YpsoPump, indicating that an Australian launch was on the horizon. A bit later on, I was fortunate enough to receive my own invitation to a launch event held in Sydney three weeks ago.

We were introduced to a Swiss company called Ypsomed (pronounced “Ipsomed”). As a manufacturer of tailor made insulin injection pens and autoinjectors, the company vision is to make self care simpler and easier. We were told that the company had a long, successful history of insulin pumps in the world, dating back to 1985. The YpsoPump had been designed to fill the gap in a market filled with complex, medical looking devices.

Ypsomed’s portfolio of diabetes products fall under the company’s Mylife Diabetescare brand. Encouragingly, their portfolio extended to people on Multiple Daily Injections and structured blood glucose monitoring. Products included clickfine needles, lancets, injection pens and a new Unio Neva blood glucose monitor using a custom brand of test strips. Not to mention that YpsoPump’s companion ‘Mylife’ smartphone app would also be useful to people not on a pump (it’s a free download from your App or Google Play store).

We were shown a roadmap of future upgrades to the YpsoPump system. This included the addition of the Unio Neva blood glucose meter that would send blood glucose readings to the Mylife smartphone app via Bluetooth. Ypsomed are also in discussions with manufacturers to add CGM integration into the pump. The YpsoPump will eventually be able to be controlled remotely via the smartphone app, but this looks to be at least 12-18 months away.

Ypsomed is also manufacturer of the wildly popular Omnipod tubeless insulin pump, which received TGA approval some time ago but has not yet managed to surface. The NDSS funds insulin pump consumables here in Australia, while private health insurers fund the actual device. Ypsomed have not been able to find a way to fit the funding model here in Australia due to the disposable nature of the Omnipod.

In response, we were told that a smaller ‘YpsoPod’ is currently in development with an expected 2021/22 completion. One half is disposable while one half is durable, meaning that this pump would fit the funding model in Australia.

Everything sounded really encouraging, with Ypsomed assuring us that they are here to stay and committed to the Australian market. This includes a dedicated Australian based customer service team. I’m also looking forward to catching up with a member of the Ypsomed team visiting Perth this week.

At the end of the day, more choice for people with diabetes is always a good thing. A massive thank you to Ypsomed Australia for having people with diabetes there.

Disclosures: Ypsomed Australia covered my travel and accommodation expenses to attend the launch event in Sydney. I was fed and watered across the duration of the event. I also received a YpsoPump and consumables to take home and trial. There was no expectation that I would blog about Ypsomed or the YpsoPump. My opinions and my time, including the annual leave I took from work to attend, are my own.

DX2Sydney 2018

1 Comment

I’m at home today, nursing a sore throat and a cold which was most likely picked up at the end of Abbott’s third annual DX blogger event in Sydney earlier this week.

DX – which stands for Diabetes Exchange – is now into its third year Down Under. Abbott was the first company in the Australian diabetes space, that I’m aware of, who began talking to consumers when the FreeStyle Libre was launched in May 2016. From there we have seen other companies follow suit, providing more platforms for the lived experience to be heard (no doubt with a little push from some of my fellow diabetes advocates).

It was nice to be reminded of my first encounter with this special group of advocates back in May 2016, and how much my voice has grown and evolved since then. This group of oversharers have become somewhat of a close knit family over a short space of time, with a few new faces entering the fold every year.

While we were primarily convened ahead of the launch of the LibreLink app in Australia on June 5, we also had the opportunity to present some feedback to Abbott on the FreeStyle Libre.

My question to both Diabetes Australia CEO Greg Johnson and the Abbott team was around whether partial subsidies for Flash Glucose Monitoring in the form of co payments would be an option, as seen with our test strips and pump consumables. 

I have only ever seen full reimbursement noted by Abbott in official communications, and wondered whether more of a focus on partial reimbursement would help get the FreeStyle Libre subsidised sooner. Bionic Wookiee David also rightly corrected Abbott’s term of ‘reimbursement’ with ‘subsidy,’ given that consumers won’t be reimbursed for anything should the product receive federal government funding.

Professor Johnson told us that co payments were certainly an option as we often see through Medicare, and that Diabetes Australia were surprised by the Federal Government’s last election promise of fully subsidised CGMs for people under the age of 21.

Abbott’s Regional Director Peter Chalikias told us that reimbursement decisions rested with the Federal Government and the Department of Health, with the company’s priority to get the FreeStyle Libre into the hands of as many people as possible.

Jessica Shi, Abbott’s QA & RA Manager, must have been reading my mind when she addressed the need for call centre staff to better gauge the level of expertise from the person with diabetes reporting an issue over the phone. Nothing is more frustrating than receiving a basic lecture on what interstitial fluid is!

Once again, I cannot express how important it is to get in contact with the call centre should you have any issues with the product. Some of Abbott’s current priorities based on user feedback are cost, adhesion and accuracy. Cost reductions that Abbott are able to make in the manufacture of the FreeStyle Libre get put back into research and development that will potentially help to address these user issues. 

Does that mean we’re likely to see the product shift towards something that more closely resembles a Continuous Glucose Monitor? Would Abbott not prefer customers to be using a more trusted, in house data sharing solution, rather than third party products such as the BluCon Nightrider?

At this stage, it’s understandably not a priority. I personally wouldn’t want to see the FreeStyle Libre change. Providing consumers with choice is important, and the product in its current iteration means that more people will be able to access Continuous Glucose Data.

“Do you feel that you have had any input into the FreeStyle Libre by attending these events?”

My answer to this question I was posed last week was simple. None. 

I don’t have a technical mind. I don’t know anything about all of the research, development and regulatory compliance that goes into making a medical device as such. 

Abbott also know that they don’t need me, or any of the other bloggers in the room to sell their hugely successful product. Yet their continued respect and commitment to hearing what’s important to (highly privileged) people with diabetes through these DX events, is where I hope I am making a very small difference.

Any company operating in the diabetes space that chooses to engage with people with diabetes is a good thing.

It’s been a pleasure to be part of the DX Family.

Disclosures: Abbott covered my travel and accommodation costs to attend the DX event in Sydney. I was also fed and watered through the duration of the event, and received a goodie bag which contained a FreeStyle Libre sensor. There was no expectation that I would blog about anything covered at DX2 Sydney. My opinions and my time, including the annual leave I took from work to be here, are as always my own.

Outside the Bubble.

1 Comment

“Diabetes! Diabetes! This way!”

The lady behind the counter was shouting and gesturing wildly as I entered the rec centre for an evening on exercise and nutrition put together by my fellow Young Adult Diabetes Committee members.

The YADC came to life a year ago and has since grown into a vibrant community of young adults living with diabetes, who are predominantly type 1s. As I found myself explaining to someone in attendance that night, this group really came about to fulfil a need that was currently missing in the Perth community.

As I took a seat and the evening’s proceedings kicked off, I found myself mentally nodding as I heard concepts being explained by our guest speakers that I was all too familiar with.

I looked around the room, glancing at some of the other people with diabetes and their loved ones in attendance. I observed many of them listening attentively, taking in all of the information they were hearing or jotting it down in note form. My own two parents were sitting behind me, and I wondered how easy this information was for them to take in.

They know the concepts behind managing type 1 diabetes quite well. At home, I find myself talking a lot about some of the exciting developments I read about in the DOC, my advocacy activities and diabetes related travel.

However, I’ve always been very independent in the physical management of my condition. I don’t bother them with all the nitty gritty stuff, like trying to figure out the best time to bolus for a high fat high protein pub dinner when my blood sugar is x mmol.

The evening broke off into group sessions, where I found myself chatting with some of my fellow type 1s in the room. It was nice (but also saddening) to hear other experiences in public hospital diabetes care that mirrored mine, while there were also some inquisitive questions asked of the pumpers and CGM users.

I departed this event with a far greater insight from all of the different perspectives I had heard and observed in the room during the course of the evening, and all of the different motivations for attending.

During our committtee meetings, good ideas simply seem to pop among this very bright group of YADC members. I spend my spare time trawling social media, squealing with excitement over the latest device or venting my frustration over the latest coverage of diabetes in the media. I get to catch up with people in the industry and other diabetes bloggers when I’ve received opportunities to travel, who are people just like me.

This event, however, had finally brought me outside of the diabetes bubble that I so often find myself sitting in. I just need to figure out how I can spend some more time here.

Live Beyond.

1 Comment

After sharing my own diagnosis story during Australian National Diabetes Week last year, I agreed to be the face of a new diabetes awareness initiative run by Beyond Type 1.

Targeted at young adults, posters and tri fold leaflets were produced and distributed to colleges in the US who had shown interest (and yes, it’s a big compliment to still be considered ‘college’ age…)

Unfortunately it didn’t progress into a fully blown campaign for the time being, as Beyond Type 1 continue to focus their awareness efforts on paediatrics.

I did get some pretty cool posters to keep, though! Special thanks to Carolyn for sending them all the way from the States.

And now I can’t get that fictional voice out of my head (hey you, yes you, learn the warning signs of type 1 diabetes…)