For the past 12 years or so, my diabetes management has been monotonous–test sugar, bolus, change out site, be pissed at canula kink, go high, go low, eat the whole kitchen, etc. It all changes tomorrow. That’s probably a bit dramatic to be honest but who doesn’t like exaggeration?
The newest Minimed 530G with Enlite technology arrives on my doorstep tomorrow. With it comes the ability to know my blood sugar anytime, just by looking at my pump. Before I ramble on about how great this is, I’ll organize the excitement/apprehension into three thoughts:
1) I now own a security system, for the first time.
If I go low at night, the 530G has a function that shuts down the insulin delivery for up to two hours. For example, if my pump knows that my blood sugar is under 60, it now does with the Enlite sensor, the pump automatically kills the insulin. Insulin is a deadly drug. This is a step towards peace of mind.
2) I now have a Garmin for my body.
Let me explain. When I run or bike, I can see my speed, average pace, and miles. This helps me gauge how much energy I’m using to cover 3, 10, 25 miles. Now while running/biking/taking a test, I can track how my blood sugar trends. To elaborate, during a marathon I would never pull over to test my blood sugar. I would go by feel to decide if it was time to have a Clif Bar, Gu, or Heed. Now I can save that internal decision making (and waste of will power) by simply pulling my pump out of my pocket.
3) No more surprises.
I talked about this a few weeks ago here. No more surprise low blood sugars. No more afternoon sluggishness due to highs. It changes the quality of everyday experience.
Will all of this stuff happen? Are my expectations too high? We’ll see. It certainly won’t hurt things.