Tag Archives: Medtronic

Medtronic and Dexcom in a good light.

June 20, 2013 – 9:40 am

Tuesday’s post covered a couple of potential issues with devices made by Medtronic and Dexcom. And I seem to remember a similar post that included Medtronic a couple of months ago.

Taken just as they are, these posts might give you the impression that I have a problem with Med-T and Dex. Trust me… I do not have an axe to grind. I really do try to be fair and balanced. Not fair and balanced like a certain news organization here in the States that eggs on congress to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (the house voted against it 37 times already), then champions House Speaker John Boehner when he states that “…creating a better environment for jobs has been and will remain our top focus”. But I digress.

What I’d like to do today is talk about the things that I really like about the Medtronic pump I have, and the Dexcom continuous glucose monitor (CGM) I’m using as part of a clinical trial. M’kay?
 
 
First, Medtronic.

The single best thing I can say about my MiniMed Paradigm® Revel™ insulin pump is that it’s reliable. It has never once failed me. Oh, I’ve gotten a motor error or two now and then, but I was always able to overcome that without too much difficulty. By “without too much difficulty”, I mean within five minutes.

I’ve also dropped my pump several times over the last three and a half years. I’ve scratched it. I’ve let it get dirtier than a medical device should ever be, and it still keeps going. It’s been on bike rides and runs and through airport security more than a few times. No problems here… still pumping.

And when it comes right down to it, what I want most out of a medical device designed to help keep me alive is reliability. My pump has that in spades.
 
 
Now, Dexcom.

There’s a lot to like about the Dexcom G4™ continuous glucose monitor. To begin with, the insertion process is simple, smooth, and often completely painless. For the study I’m participating in, I’m required to wear the sensor on my belly only, so I haven’t had a chance to try it anywhere else. But I really like the fact that I can get the sensor in easily, and that once it’s in I almost never feel it.

Since it’s not integrated with my pump, the Dexcom CGM has its own display device. Much has been written about how 21st century and sexy this little thing is. I mean, it is kinda nice, and it looks a lot like other electronic devices we all carry around every day. But I really dig two things about it. One, it holds a charge for a loooong time (and recharges quickly). And two, the range on the device is pretty good. I’ve gotten into the habit of reminding myself to put it in my pocket every time I stand up now, so I don’t leave it on a table or on my desk at work. But if I’m in a meeting in a big conference room, I can leave it on the conference table and get up to walk around the room without worrying about whether I’ll be out of range. At home, I can sit it on the front steps while I mow the front lawn (I have a small yard, but it’s big enough to be out of range for other CGMs).

Finally, I like the Dexcom Studio™ software used to track all of the data from the CGM. Lots of user-friendly, understandable graphs, charts, and other features that help me understand my glucose trends better. I could go into detail, but if you’re really interested in finding out more about it, you should probably check out the information on the Dexcom website.

I haven’t tried a lot of continuous glucose monitors (just Dexcom and Medtronic), but my impression of the Dexcom G4™ is that it’s the Cadillac of CGMs right now. If you disagree, feel free to let me know why by leaving a comment.
 
 
So you see, it’s not all bad. If you think about where we were twenty years ago, there really has been a lot of hard work done and progress made on insulin pumps and CGMs. I hope that in future years, Medtronic and Dexcom will be able to keep the best features of their current products, and improve and enhance the worst. Our lives, and the quality of our lives, depend on it.
 
 
 

By StephenS | Posted in Reviews | Also tagged , , , , | Comments (6)

Pumps and CGMs and being a bear.

June 18, 2013 – 7:09 am

Oh My! There are a couple of things I want to draw your attention to. I wasn’t quite sure how I was going to write about these things, but fortunately, someone else already has.

These both may seem kind of negative, and I don’t really mean to sound that way. Sometimes, I can be a bear when it comes to problems with things that are intended to help keep us alive. But these issues are what they are, so I’m telling you about them now so you’ll know. As a counter to these points, I will promise you, Medtronic, and you, Dexcom, that I’ll write something good about your products before the end of the week.

– Medtronic has sent a letter to all of their pump users with detailed descriptions of how to properly remove your insulin reservoir from your vial of insulin. Turns out, there’s a wrong way to do it and you may not know. I didn’t. Not following the proper procedure could have serious consequences. Medtronic has the write-up on this issue right here:
http://www.medtronicdiabetes.com/support/product-updates
 
 
– Also, Sara over at Moments of Wonderful experienced an issue with Dexcom™ CGM audible alarms not going off. This is not an “official” Dexcom™ issue, but in light of going low without hearing an alarm at night a couple of months back, I’m wondering about my own unit right now. Read Sara’s post here:
http://momentsofwonderful.com/2013/06/looks-can-be-deceiving/
 
 
And while we’re talking, don’t forget to vote early and often for your favorite posts from around the #DOC for the June Best of the Betes Blogs! All of the details are here:
http://momentsofwonderful.com/best-of-the-betes-blogs/
 
 
See, I did get something positive in there at the end. Toward the end of the week, the shiny side of the Medtronic and Dexcom coins.
 
 
 

By StephenS | Posted in Diabetes Technology, Like these links | Also tagged , , , , | Comments (0)

Pump Exploration, Part 1.

October 29, 2012 – 9:29 am

I’ve been interested in writing about my pump and its many features for some time. But to be honest, I haven’t been able to find the time lately, since my real job and worries about Hurricane Sandy have been taking up most of it.

I tried going through the pump manual/owner’s guide for a few days in my off hours to get some ideas, but that eventually made me sleepy. Sorry Medtronic… it’s not you, it’s me.

So since I wanted to write something, but I don’t have a lot of time to go in depth yet, instead of breaking down some unique feature of my Minimed Paradigm® Revel™ insulin pump, I’m going to invoke the Same Time, Next Year rule.

This rule is named after The Great Spousal Unit’s favorite movie: Same Time, Next Year starring the great Ellen Burstyn and Alan Alda. In the movie (and the earlier play of the same name), there’s a scene where the characters decide that they’ll each tell one good story and one bad story about their spouses, thereby insuring that they don’t look either too good or too bad to the other. So that’s what I’m going to do here. It’s my blog, I make up the rules.

The good story: Gotta admit, I like the freedom. I held off on pump therapy for a long time because I didn’t want to be tethered to a device for the rest of my life. But as time has gone on (2½ years), I’ve figured out that I can do pretty much anything (except swim) with my pump.

I also like the freedom that comes with being able to adjust my basal rates on the fly. With MDI (multiple daily injections), what I inject is what I get insulin-wise. So I found myself in situations from time to time where I would inject a certain basal amount of Lantus for the day, then have some kind of strenuous exercise that I hadn’t planned on, which could make my BG go dangerously low. With pump therapy, if something like that happens, I have the ability to adjust my basal rate on a temporary basis as a result of the impromptu exercise. I count on that a lot, and it works.

The bad story: I’m not a big fan of the circles. These are the different icons that tell you if your pump is in alert status or in alarm status. Also known as Special Mode and Attention Mode.

Alert icon (Special Mode):

Alarm icon (Attention Mode):

Basically, if your pump is in Special Mode, you’ll still be getting insulin. If your pump is in Attention Mode, insulin delivery has stopped completely. If your reservoir is low, you’ll get a message, then the blank circle icon on your screen that says you’re in Special Mode. Great, but after you clear the low reservoir message, it’s easy to forget that the icon is there.

If your reservoir goes completely empty, or your battery dies, or you have a motor error, you’ll receive an error message and then the Black Circle of Non-Delivery.

Obviously, the big difference here is that the alert icon can be rather innocuous. You’ll get this for a temp basal event. Not a big deal, right? I mean, you should already know if you’re using a temp basal right now.

On the other hand, the alarm icon means that you’d better do something pretty quick. Immediately, if not sooner. While I’m not a fan of ridiculously recurring alarms, I would be totally okay with the pump beeping a bit louder than usual in this case. A loud beep, instead of the quiet one I get, that I can’t hear when I’m out walking on a city street. In this instance, a black circle doesn’t really mean anything to me because I can’t see it on my pump unless I’m looking at the pump for another reason.

Hopefully, the good story here is a good one, and the bad story isn’t too bad. Overall, I’m glad I made the choice to start using an insulin pump. And I hope to get more in depth with it as the months and years go by, and as I get more time. If I do, I’ll pass along a few more pump stories. Maybe before it’s time for a new one.
 
 
 

By StephenS | Posted in Pumps | Also tagged , , , | Comments (2)