THE best gift OF ALL
Our resident type 1 columnist, Rob Palmer, discusses the gift of a “pancreas” in time for the festive season
It can feel like Groundhog Day coming at you year after year, but I’ve found the lead-in to Christmas this year has far less to do with managing type 1 than it has done in the past.
It’s a welcome change to be able to turn the regular schedule inside out without the threat of a hypo derailing Christmas prep. It’s not just ticking off the decorating, shopping and extended work hours to get the to-do list down to a manageable level, but also the motivation to get the fitness levels up to a satisfactory standard. Not to mention the increased party activity.
A lot of this new-found freedom has arrived thanks to the adjustments I made by using the Medtronic 670G.
I’ve always found the hypos that disappoint the most are the ones that should have been avoided, or that arise out of an error in my own judgement. Like the time I turned a major peak-hour traffic artery into a car park. After a series of errors in management, which began at lunch time when I forgot whether I’d had an insulin injection prior to a counter meal at the pub, I failed to see the rapid descent in my BGLs later in the day until it crippled me on the way home.
I was as busy as I’d ever been and, for just a moment, my attention to diabetes left the building, beginning a chain reaction that saw me being attended to by ambulance officers five hours later.
It wouldn’t happen too often, but getting thrown on your backside, only to fit until you managed to reach the fridge door between convulsions, or received assistance from a shocked passer-by, was something that had to stop.
The first period of pump use was like I’d found a pancreas. HOOOOOORAAAYYYY!!! Control was better, my confidence improved and, most importantly for me, the hypos disappeared. Dead set DIS-A-PPEARED. I reckon it was largely due to the pump having direct contact with a continuous glucose monitor. The machine would actually suspend insulin delivery if my sensor glucose level drifted anywhere near my low range. Then this year came the updated version, the 670G (I should mention I am a Medtronic ambassador). This thing began acting on its own…. more like a pancreas than my faulty pancreas for sure… if that makes sense. The loop of insulin administration is getting so close to a natural occurrence I’m very excited about the advancements to come.
Now, leading into Christmas with a system that follows my behaviour like nothing I’ve known before, it’s a brand new, unseen season, with one less massive consideration to accommodate. I can eat when I have time, sleep in when my kids let me, and push through without lunch on a busy day and not worry about a thing except the finish line ahead. When I get there, there is no more satisfying feeling than seeing my onboard management system give me a thumbs up on my glucose levels and a big “fire when ready” for the party ahead. ■
The first pump was like I’d found a pancreas