Diabetes Musings

Diabetes Tech: A Cure of Sorts?

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It’s no secret that my cure faith is not very strong. I don’t really live my life expecting, or hoping that my diabetes will be cured tomorrow. This post sparked a fair bit of conversation two weeks ago.

For the record, I define a cure as a means to regulate my blood glucose levels without any action from myself. No finger pricks, no carb calculating, no insulin injections, no treating hypos and no thinking about the whole diabetes thing! Long, uninterrupted nights of pure sleep and leisurely days free from the stress of managing diabetes would be very much preferred.

Although I’m hardly a diabetes veteran, technology has only come in leaps and bounds over the years. And I believe that’s what we are going to have to accept as a cure, of sorts, for the time being.

I believe that the right kind of technology could be a cure of sorts. There’s talk in the Diabetes Online Community of “closing the loop” – i.e. insulin pumps and Continuous Glucose Monitors (CGMs) that “talk” to each other. There’s artificial pancreases in development, and there’s always research surrounding insulin producing cells that could one day be a game changer for us all.

Technology will inevitably make diabetes easier to manage, going forward.

Technology is spectacular. Technology means a lot to many who already use it to manage our diabetes, evidenced here. Technology would be life changing to many, evidenced here and here. Technology provides our health with the best of prospects. And I know that I am extremely lucky to be living with diabetes in 2015, rather than 1915.

But technology is damn expensive, too. And that’s the one thing that worries me.

Research and development into new diabetes technology is costly. Then there’s marketing, promotion and distribution costs. And then of course, the business is a business and needs to make a nice profit from their efforts, too.

But where does that leave the humble young adult from suburbia, working his way through life on a less than spectacular wage? Where does that leave the parent of a young child, managing diabetes on top of family and work commitments? Where does that leave the person living in a developing country, unable to access basic healthcare and diabetes supplies? Did I mention these people are all affected by diabetes?

The sad truth is that diabetes technology, and the closest thing we have to a cure, is still out of reach for many of us. I refuse to adopt a CGM, because I can think of a million other things that I’d rather invest my hard earned money into. I count myself lucky that I am in an independent situation where having a CGM is not a necessity for the time being. For many people with diabetes, it certainly is.

Research and development needs to be conducted with an end game in mind – the consumer. These advances in diabetes technology need to be accessible and affordable to the consumer. Otherwise, I fail to see how we are doing anything to help people living with diabetes. Other than making them feel marginalised, deprived and isolated.

I don’t want to place the blame on any one party. Personally, I’d just love to see government, researchers, diabetes tech companies and diabetes organisations come together to find a solution. I know, easier said than done.

The only cure that I would give everything for, is a proper one. A cure with a one time cost that leaves me forever free of diabetes. A cure that is not reliant on devices, consumables, batteries, cable cords and credit cards. Now that, I would happily give all of my life savings for.

Are you on Twitter? Join the Oz Diabetes Online Community for our weekly chat Tonight from 8.30pm AEDT (GMT+11) by following the #OzDOC hashtag on Twitter.

Type One: Breaking Misconceptions With Humour

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I don’t do Wordless Wednesdays, because I feel like I’m ripping you off of a blog post.

However, I feel that today’s entrant is a very worthy contender.

Landis got in touch with me last week and shared her web series, Type One with me. I enjoyed it so much that I felt compelled to share it here today.

Type One is about a young man, Matt, who has type 1 diabetes and is looking for love. Landis and her co-creator, Mike, both have personal connections to type 1 diabetes in their lives. Their web series uses comedy to break the common diabetes misconceptions and stereotypes, and if the first episode is anything to go by, they’ve done a smashing job.

It’s only an eight minute episode, and it’s well worth a watch. Look out for the part where Matt so casually pulls out his meter and insulin pen on a first date – I was hysterical.

Landis and Mike are hoping to raise enough money to film seven more episodes. You can check out their fundraising page here, which also features a Q and A with Landis and Mike.

Tomorrow, Diabetes Will Still Be Here

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Today marks the 30th of November. Today marks the final day of Diabetes Awareness Month. Today, I feel like I should be writing something grand to wrap it all up. Today I feel like I, along with the rest of the Diabetes Online Community, should be applauded for all of the energy put into November.

Tomorrow, as I turn over another page of the calendar, my focus will likely shift.

Tomorrow will mark the first day of Summer. Tomorrow, I will need to seriously get thinking about a birthday gift for my brother. Tomorrow, I will need to begin that dreaded task of Christmas shopping. Tomorrow, I will need to start my long overdue ritual of decking out our patio in Christmas lights. And tomorrow, I will begin dreaming of the beach, the tennis and winding down for the year.

However tomorrow, I will still have diabetes. Tomorrow, you will still have, or will still be affected by diabetes. And tomorrow, many more people will be diagnosed with, and will be newly affected by diabetes.

Tomorrow, I will still need to check my blood sugar level ten times. Tomorrow, I will still need to give more than just the four insulin shots my doctors prescribe. Tomorrow, I will still need to count the carbs in the foods I choose to eat. Tomorrow, I will still need to correct a blood sugar high. Tomorrow, I will still need to treat a blood sugar low. Tomorrow, I will still be frustrated. Tomorrow, I will still be plagued with long term fear. Tomorrow, I will still have to continue to perservere.

Tomorrow, we will still have people all over the world affected by diabetes. Tomorrow, we will still have people who cannot afford insulin and other basic supplies. Tomorrow, we will still have people who cannot access diabetes education and basic healthcare. Tomorrow, we will still have people who are unable to access technology that would make their diabetes management simpler. Tomorrow, we will still have innovations in diabetes care that are out of reach for many.

Tomorrow, I would love for nothing more than to shove diabetes into a drawer and forget about it until next November.

But while all of these issues are still here, Diabetes Awareness Month will never be over at the 30th of November.

The Reason I Can’t Advocate For The Cure

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I was already in the midst of a transitional period of my life when I was diagnosed with diabetes. It was my first year out of school. I was driving on my own. I was working my first proper job. I had uni assignments that I had spent way too much time procrastinating on in the weeks before I was diagnosed. I can remember sitting in the hospital cafeteria with my accounting book and pencil one afternoon, desperately trying to catch up. I had exams just a few weeks away. I was about to turn 18. And on top of that, I had a shiny new autoimmune disease to manage and hospital appointments to attend.

Needless to say, there wasn’t really any time for me to stop and take it all in. I didn’t really have time to cry about the fact that I would need to have injections for the rest of my life. I didn’t have time to beat myself up over what I had done wrong to deserve diabetes. There was so much going on outside of diabetes at the time, that I really just had to get on with it.

Since then, managing diabetes has quickly become a part of me. Despite the fact that diabetes is still only a relatively small portion of my life, it feels like I’ve been doing it forever. And most of the time, I hardly even think twice about why I’m doing what I’m doing. The insulin injections, the finger pricks, the terrifying night time hypos, the infuriating morning hypers, the carb counting, glycemic index monitoring, the binge eating, the blood, the sweat and the tears that goes into it all. Doing diabetes is like driving a car with the radio turned up. I can sing along to my favourite song, and chat with the person sitting next to me without thinking too much about the actual driving part.

I have never really stopped and told myself, “I’m doing this because I have diabetes. I’m going to have to do this every day for the rest of my life.” And for that reason, I can’t really say that I live my life hoping for, or expecting a cure for my diabetes.

Dad has been reassuring me since the day I left hospital that there will definitely be a cure. Ten, fifteen years away tops. Definitely in my lifetime. Mum is always cutting out stories from the newspaper about the latest breakthroughs in the diabetes world. We always rush to the television whenever we hear a story coming up on the news at dinner time. People who I chat with in the Diabetes Online Community are so damn enthusiastic about a cure, or finding one. Folks who have lived with diabetes for a lot longer than I have.

Boy, I bloody admire their enthusiasm. I really do. I wish I could get excited about it, but I just can’t. I didn’t even realise people dreamed up cure parties in their minds, because I have never once thought of that day ever coming. In some ways, diabetes seems like too much of a “business” now, to be simply cured and over with tomorrow.

Right now, getting my numbers more consistent during the night seems real. Getting back to a happy place with my diabetes management seems real. Getting a little more fit this summer seems real. Cutting back on chocolate seems real (okay, maybe just possible).

I can write. I can speak. I can advocate. I can raise awareness. I can exercise (hardly). I can eat (always). I can live my life, to the best of my ability and be as happy as possible.

But I can’t advocate for a cure.

But I don’t think I need to, either.

All of you seem to do the job a hell of a lot better than I could. You make the impossible seem just a little bit possible.

Advocating Long, and Hard, and Always

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Throughout November, I’ve certainly felt an increased level of energy, and activity in the diabetes community. Over the weekend, this community came together from all over the world for the occasion of World Diabetes Day. To advocate, to speak up, to raise awareness and to share.

One of the “events” to mark that occasion was the World Diabetes Day Chat over on Twitter. For 15 straight hours we shared our experiences, we tackled hard hitting issues, we bounced our advocacy efforts off of one another and we raised our voices. It was a twitterstorm of diabetes talk. It was one of the most inspiring, and empowering moments of advocacy. I feel so much more motivated and focussed towards my own advocacy efforts as a result of that chat.

When I finally put my phone down at 11am on Sunday morning, I felt kind of fizzled. I wouldn’t say that I feel burned out, but I certainly feel as though I could use a breather. And when it was time for our weekly #OzDOC chat on Tuesday night, it seemed that I wasn’t alone.

Advocacy is not easy. Advocacy is not always within our comfort zones. And advocacy does not stop. I kind of feel like Chris when it comes to advocacy.

So while I’m taking a breather here this week, advocacy, or the thought of advocacy, certainly has not stopped.

Following on from my letter to the Australian Health Minister Sussan Ley, I want to get in touch with my local Member of Parliament on Continuous Glucose Monitoring, and broader diabetes issues in general.

I’m still paying attention to the news, and to social media morning, noon and night (inbetween the occasional tweet about The Walking Dead, and my afternoon coffee and cannoli). I am truly invested in the condition that I live with, and that does not ever stop.

Diabetes Daily has offered to syndicate some of my old blog posts, which is an honour. I’m pretty excited to be able to extend the reach of my writing. Getting a professional looking profile photo, and writing a few professional sounding sentences about my purpose in this community is actually a lot harder than you might think!

This afternoon, I’m paying a visit to the Type 1 Diabetes Family Centre in my local area. Hopefully more on this in the next couple of days.

I’m thinking about how I could possibly promote the wonderful Oz Diabetes Online Community a bit more in my local area.

And I’m still thinking about #insulin4all, and how we can make change happen for those who are less fortunate. I’m feeling a bit stumped on this one…

On top of all of this, I’m still living with, and managing my own diabetes (which I don’t feel like I’m doing too well at the moment, to be honest).

In the words of my friend Ally at Very Light, No Sugar, advocacy is keeping the faith. Advocacy is advocating long and hard, and always. And we advocate because #weneedacure (as difficult as that last part is for me to believe).