MiniMed Paradigm® REAL-Time Revel™ Insulin Pumps I do not yet have the iPhone 4. I do, however, have the diabetic’s version of the Hot New Gadget– the Minimed Revel, Medtronic’s latest insulin pump. I am very happy to be able to try out Revel temporarily, on loan from Minimed through the Paradigm Pathway Program, so that I can compare this new model to the model I actually do own– the Minimed Paradigm 522. If I like the Revel, I can choose to upgrade my 522 for $400. I will be wearing the Revel for a number...

I suppose it’s not the best idea to let a kitten eat the tube connecting you to your mechanical pancreas — but it was so funny, I couldn’t help it. swfobject.embedSWF("http://www.youtube.com/v/WewXATlHoNQ&rel=0&fs=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=0", "vvq-8450-youtube-1", "425", "344", "10", vvqexpressinstall, vvqflashvars, vvqparams, vvqattributes);

I have been wearing a Minimed insulin pump for about 9 years now (the Paradigm 522 at the moment), mostly without problems. But I’ve noticed that in the past year or so, my body has not been reacting in the same ways it used to. I’ve been getting a lot more hematomas — pockets of blood pooling between my insertion sites.  Those are fun. Everyone loves blood pockets — especially on their stomachs. Today, though, I have a new problem. Despite just eating a salad, my blood sugar soared on Sunday afternoon. Fearing...

Here’s something I don’t like: the idea that a piece of technology I rely on to keep me alive could somehow kill me. I’m speaking not of Toyotas, but of insulin pumps — according to this piece in the Wall Street Journal, “the Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday it has seen an increasing number of hardware and software problems with insulin pumps, tiny devices worn by thousands of diabetics to deliver insulin.” And so on Friday, the FDA brought together an advisory panel of outside medical...

I’m still having difficulty accepting Twitter as a source of news, but nonetheless, I was interested by the tweets of Elliott Yamin, the Type 1 diabetic and former American Idol contestant who was in Chile during this weekend’s devastating earthquake. If you’d like to read the full text of some of his tweets, check out Access Hollywood – my 160-character limit doesn’t allow me to fully express his creative use of abbreviations. But what interested me is his perspective on the disaster as a Type 1 diabetic....

It came! My pump arrived, pretty in pink, and, yes, it was like Christmas. I transferred all my settings over, and I am now plugged in and running with the new Medtronic Minimed 522 Insulin Pump. As expected, the biggest difference between this pump and my old 515 is the color. The user interface, shape, buttons, and operations are all almost identical. This is strange when considered from the perspective of the rapid release, continually updating technology world that so many consumer goods operate in; compare, for example, the iPhone,...

To most people, eight days in Hawaii sounds like a dream.  And while I’m not a sit-on-the-beach kind of person at all — in fact, I hate both the sun and salt water — I am currently one of those people.  My husband and I are on Kauai right now, and there are enough activities — from hiking the Na Pali Coast to kayaking the Wailua River — to keep me very well entertained. But bringing diabetes to paradise is challenging. Most of my vacations tend to be in cities — or, if not urban areas, places...

Avatars have been around for years, but I just made one for the first time, in Wii. I selected an oval face, medium brown eyes, straight dark hair, and a tall and lean female body. I put glasses, just like mine, on her face. I named her “Jane.” Although many gamers make an avatar that’s a fantasy version of their selves, I wanted one that represents my identity, or who I know myself to be. I couldn’t find among all the design options, however, the one accessory that is as constant to me as the shape of my...

This morning I was feeling inspired by the interview I did with JDRF’s Aaron Kowalski about the Artificial Pancreas Project,  so I did a little google searching about artificial pancreases.  I was looking for recent news, but instead I came across this article from the New York Times, published on December 7, 1999 — just over 10 years ago. In 1999 I didn’t even have diabetes — I was a college junior, happily eating carbohydrates without fear. But people with Type 1 diabetes might have read this article and...

A $6,000 insulin pump with an on-board computer chip is not alluring. Neither is the white mesh adhesive patch on my naked abdomen or the length of nylon tubing that connects the patch to the pump. There is only illness, and there is no way to make that sexy. After several years as a medical device wearer, I know. Negligees and nudity are impractical, because neither provides much to clip the device to. Clothes and pajamas, on the other hand, have waistbands or pockets, which keep the pump steady during the prelude of kissing and...