When M first acquired her Medtronic minimed insulin pump, it came with the niftiest little thing: a meter that communicated M's bg levels to her pump after she tested her blood.
After testing her blood, her pump would vibrate in recognition of the information, and then would propose a course of action, as in :"Hey, your blood sugar is 239 mg/dl, I think you should take a dose of 4 units of insulin to bring it back to range. Shall I go ahead and do that for you?" M would press various buttons to confirm the action, or type in how many carbs she was planning to eat at that time so that the pump could recalculate her dose for her. Either way, it saved her some steps in calculating.
About a year ago, M's bg levels were high (250-300) for a few weeks, despite our best efforts to keep firm control on her levels, frequent checks, etc.
When we visited the endocrinologist, we learned that M's A1c was 6.3, which we found odd, as that is very close to the normal non-diabetic range.
We explained our confusion about the numbers that were being shared with us, and the endocrinologist, without even glancing at any of our devices said, "Oh, her meter is broken. Here's another one."
The one she gave us was a free sample left behind by a representative. It did not communicate with M's pump directly, but she could plug into the pump the numbers that her meter gave her, and the pump would still perform the calculations as before.
I think both M and I agreed that the best part of this meter was that it used nice ultra-thin lancets in the lancing device, One Touch Delica. The thinner lancets would help her to avoid callouses on her fingers, and didn't hurt nearly as much to use. So all was fine.
When M recently visited her new DNE, she asked about M's meter, and whether she typed in the low bg levels that she received on her meter into her pump. M said no, she normally just ate or drank something to bring her bg back up. Short answer, not all of her bg levels were stored in the tiny computer in her pump. The DNE had the meter 's information downloaded separately so that she could get a more accurate picture of M's profile.
She advised us to call the pump company and ask for a new meter, which she implied would likely be sent to us at no charge. But after a moment's thought, she searched in her storage room and found a meter that could communicate with M's pump, and gave it to us.
I had forgotten how convenient having such a meter was. This one is called the Contour Next Link.
One of the things I like about this meter is that the numbers are very bright and large for the first few seconds after you take a reading. This means that we do not have to turn on the light for middle of the night checks, and I can see M's results without peering over her shoulder.
I also like the test strips that go with it. They require a lot less blood than the last ones we used. Furthermore, the strips are packed in cylinders of 50 strips instead of 25 strips, which means there is less waste (As a tree-hugging dirt worshiper, I feel that anything we can do to cut down on the landfill that each diabetic is responsible for creating, the better.)
I am glad that we are hitting the point in our relationship with this disease that we can start to identify personal preferences in products. Anything we can do to make M more comfortable and that makes managing this disease easier is a gift.
A few days after gushing to one of diabetic students about this new meter, I received a flyer about it. Apparently, Bayer 9the new meter's creator) is providing every owner of the Medtronic pump a free replacement meter.
Back up meter, here we come! I guess that whole piece about spending a wad of cash to keep your diabetic child alive pays off when someone is willing to throw you a freebie now and then.
In the meantime, M and I are loving the new gizmos.
