Thread just for us old Type-1 diabetic insulin pump wearing Spyder Ryders

[Bob Denman]

[OverHillAndDale]

just a note that the iphone can be set to never auto lock or screen save if that's what you want

You're correct, and that is a more effective solution than the awkward one I'd devised. Thanks.


Between the two of us; we've had 102 years of this...

Bob - your story and mine, which we've discussed in pieces before, seem to be incredibly parallel. Someday we definitely need to meet.

[Bob Denman]

[blitzkreig]

I am very sensitive to blood glucose levels and treat any Hypo early whether on or off my bike ...

I use an Animas "Ping" insulin pump. My special "OneTouch" glucose meter communicates wireless to my Ping Pump. So any adjustment is as simple as testing and sending the results wirelessly to my Ping Pump (which at times is tucked three or four layers down).

When it gets really warm (desert heat) I put my pump into a specially designed "Frio" hung from my belt. The Frio is a evaporative cooling pouch built for the purpose ...

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...BL._SY450_.jpg

[OverHillAndDale]

The idea of keeping the pump cool (or extra insulin) while ryding is appealing. We don't have the desert heat here in Alabama, just humid heat. I may purchase one of these for long trips.

I had one-touch meters that broadcast my BS to the pump, and now I use a Bayer Contour Next that also broadcasts. It's a small thing, but it is convenient not to have to put that reading into the pump manually to let it calculate boluses.

[Bob Denman]

Even though the Bayer BG tester uses a much smaller blood sample; I still miss the One-Touch monitors...

[blitzkreig]

The Frio insulin cooler has never let me down. It comes in all sorts of sizes ...

http://www.amazon.com/FRIO-Duo-Insul...284047&sr=1-19

I think the hottest longest ride I had with a Frio was Death Valley at about 110 degrees ... and my insulin made it

[tobor9]

Even though the Bayer BG tester uses a much smaller blood sample; I still miss the One-Touch monitors...

When i got my first pump(MM-722) it came with a one touch ultra-link then four years later i got a new pump(MM-723)it came with a Bayer link meter but when i got on medicare they would not cover there strips so i went back to my one touch,in all these years i think i only changed the batteries twice and that was only because i thought i should every so often not 'cause it said i should(i've had to call for a new case twice as i wore them out and need a new one now.)

[purplepig]

http://www.diabetesforecast.org/2014...life-list.html

Sorry they didn't print pictures of Spyder! Since the article, I have shipped my Spyder to California and ridden home solo and ridden down to Tail of The Dragon with a friend on his bike. When I got my pump, i figured out I had taken over 32,000 shots in my life. Dan

[Bob Denman]

What a great story!

[Bob Denman]

Something that I have learned in the past two days:
The 670G DOES take over a whole lot of the decision-making...
When setting up a bolus with prior pumps: you could make the decision to have either a Normal, Square-Wave, or Dual-Wave delivery.
(For those non-diabetics who are still reading
A bolus is just a delivery of insulin. You decide how much you want (Based upon your caloric intake and/or blood glucose level, and have the pump deliver it.
A Normal delivery simply pumps in the amount of insulin that you have asked for
A Square-Wave will take that amount of insulin, and delivers it over a period of time that you specify.
This can be up to eight hours. I normally never went much beyond a three hour square-wave
Dual-Wave deliveries are really cool! You take the amount of insulin that you want, and break it down into a n amount that you want delivered "Normally", and the rest of it is then delivered in the Square-Wave manner.

Anyway: When you're in Auto-Mode with the 670: you can only bolus in the Normal manner.
Since the pump is handling the basal deliveries: it just watches your BG levels, and will add extra insulin, as your BG rises...
In effect: it has taken over the Square-Wave delivery feature of prior pumps!

What I have found; is that it doesn't seem quite capable of keeping up with my meals. I sort of have to "trick" it into giving me extra insulin, by telling it that I'm taking in more food.
So far: so good!

[OverHillAndDale]

What I have found; is that it doesn't seem quite capable of keeping up with my meals. I sort of have to "trick" it into giving me extra insulin, by telling it that I'm taking in more food.
So far: so good!

Bob - I just want to make sure that I'm following you as I not yet blessed with the new pump.

Are you saying that you can't bolus for a meal, OR that it doesn't do a good job of quickly adjusting if you DON'T bolus?

[Bob Denman]

Bob - I just want to make sure that I'm following you as I not yet blessed with the new pump.

Are you saying that you can't bolus for a meal, OR that it doesn't do a good job of quickly adjusting if you DON'T bolus?

What I think that I'm trying to say, is that the pump's algorithms seem to be aiming for blood sugars that are high enough to keep us safe.
I have mine set in "Auto-Mode"
(So Dr. Daystrom has programmed the Enterprise to pilot itself! )
When I want to bolus for a meal: I get to the bolus screen, and it asks me for a BG reading, and a carb count. It will then figure out how much of a bolus is needed. (based upon insulin sensitivity, active insulin time, and carb ratio)
It doesn't use the dual, or square wave bolus feature in Auto-Mode: it just seems to be constantly inputting tiny correction boluses. (.05, to .15 units at a time). This "sort of" keeps me close... I just need to add in some extra boluses, to aim for my much lower BG targets.
I've got a call in to Medtronic Support right now, to discuss some of this. I'll let you know what I learn!