We went to visit some friends this weekend and one of them was surprised to see me poking my finger to check my blood sugar. He said that he figured that those days were over now that I was on the pump.
It’s a common misconception– that that device that I wear attached to me 24 hours a day deals with my diabetes for me.
No way. The pump is a tool that helps many achieve better control and a more flexible lifestyle. But, if anything, the pump requires MORE work on my part than injections did.
So then came the next question: how hard can it be to ‘close the loop’? (a pump that immediately responds to blood sugar levels– like a fake pancreas)
The answer, I don’t know. I hear that we are always “five years away” from closing the loop. Perhaps it’s too difficult, too risky. Perhaps there are companies that prevent such a technology from becoming available.
This could be a great advancement in diabetes care– still not a cure– but a whole new level. We tend to think that we can accomplish ANYTHING with technology. So what’s the hold up on closing the loop??
July 2, 2008 at 2:04 am
I think insurance companies don’t want to close the loop. I strongly believe DOLLARS are more important than finding a cure. We spend millions and billions…think about how many people WE (diabetic’s) help keep employed!! Diabetic Supplies, Medicine, Doctor Appoint, Endo Appoint, CDE’s aren’t cheap.
Most of the time I don’t worry about a cure for myself…I just want to see the next generation of Diabetic’s be able to have the option of getting a transplant if they need one. I can handle living w/ Diabetes because I figure God gave it to me for a reason and he’ll never but more on us than we can bare…
Just my Thoughts
July 10, 2008 at 2:34 pm
I have to agree with Cherise…since I was diagnosed in 1991, there has been talk about the cure being only a few years away….and yet we never manage to reach that point. Now I am just so happy and thankful for what we have – pumps and CGMS, tiny meters that take only a few seconds and almost no blood…slowly all of the great inventions we have now will be perfected and even if there is never a cure, we will be able to live almost as if there were.
July 26, 2008 at 12:59 am
I used to really think it was the dollars behind the lack of progress. I think as I’ve aged (a lot) and learned (a little), it is a really, really complicated situation to safely “automate”.
Who knows?