[Diabetes-talk] accessible Insulin pumps

Sun Jun 23 22:34:02 UTC 2013

Julie, I do know the current and past Roche pumps quite well. And let me
assure you, filling a cartridge is easy. Before Roche bought the company
which used to be Disetronic, they did have pre-filled cartridges available.
So that alone shouldn't be the determining factor of which pump a blind
person can use. It's the advanced features we're missing. Sighted people
don't do calculations any more. Not at all! Many of the pumps they just
enter the name of the food and the pump figures out the insulin amount
needed. There's just no way for us to scroll through a data base of foods.
And right now, other than the Cozmo, nobody has any software, accessible or
not that sends settings and information to the pump. Everyone is focused on
just uploading your history to your doctor and making pretty graphs. There
may be future possibilities down the road because they're working on the
ability to put apps on a special part of the chip in smart phones so that
there's no chance an app would be corrupted by another app.
And I'm sorry you're getting such a hard time from the medical professionals
about going on a pump. Back when I first wanted a pump, in 1991, I actually
went through 10 different endocrinologists till I found one that would let
me try. I kept arguing that sighted people don't have to prove themselves
ahead of time. They sign up, train, then try it out and it either works out
or doesn't. Almost all pumps have a trial period these days for everyone.
And truthfully, a blind person should have the same right to try something
out and even say something like you know, for my life style, this wasn't the
answer, having nothing to do with blindness at all. That would be my
definition of true equality.
But the best thing to do would be to set up meetings with reps from the
different companies and get your hands on pumps. Only when you sit down and
see what work-arounds are okay with you will you get some idea of what this
whole pump life is all about. But no matter what the future holds, you'll
never get me off of a pump. It truly gave me my life back. Sometimes it's
just not worth waiting for the perfect device to come out. So have fun
snooping and do keep us posted over here. As Bridgit said, you will likely
be able to tell us about any Roche pump because you'll have it years before
we do. <grin> Great discussion as usual.
Veronica

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-----Original Message-----
From: Diabetes-talk [mailto:diabetes-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
Bridgit Pollpeter
Sent: Sunday, June 23, 2013 3:06 PM
To: 'Diabetes Talk for the Blind'
Subject: Re: [Diabetes-talk] accessible Insulin pumps

Yeah, other countries don't have the same regulations the US insist upon
here. I'm not saying it's all bad, but on the flip side of the coin, it
also makes it difficult to push through a lot of good products. So it
may be available in the UK long before, if ever, it will be in the US.

Bridgit

-----Original Message-----
From: Diabetes-talk [mailto:diabetes-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Julie Graham
Sent: Sunday, June 23, 2013 2:00 PM
To: Diabetes Talk for the Blind
Subject: Re: [Diabetes-talk] accessible Insulin pumps

I'm in the Uk, perhaps they have a release date in mind for here and not
in 
the USA?
I won't believe it til I have it in my hand.  a lot of pumps are
controlled 
by the blood machine? or a remote, would be so easy for someone who
knows 
what they are doing to develop an ap for a device which already has
speach 
built into it, like an iphone which can send info via bluetooth and so
on. I'm guessing if an engineer student got their hands on a 2nd hand
pump they 
could  sort something no bother.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bridgit Pollpeter" <bpollpeter at hotmail.com>
To: "'Diabetes Talk for the Blind'" <diabetes-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Sunday, June 23, 2013 7:46 PM
Subject: Re: [Diabetes-talk] accessible Insulin pumps

> One, I've not heard anything about this pump, nor has my nurse 
> educator, who I work closely with on this topic. And two, consider 
> various products created with the blind in mind. Most these products 
> are developed by sighted people without ever involving blind people in

> the creation and development stages. And what a sighted person deems 
> as accessible is usually far from being truly accessible. Prodigy 
> didn't have a completely accessible meter at first; it took a couple 
> of trys before the current version hit the market.
>
> And any products like this will require FDA approval, and this can 
> take years. I wouldn't trust any company claiming a release date 
> unless they state it already has the approval, but even then...
>
> Bridgit
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Diabetes-talk [mailto:diabetes-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On 
> Behalf Of Julie Graham
> Sent: Sunday, June 23, 2013 12:13 PM
> To: Diabetes Talk for the Blind
> Subject: Re: [Diabetes-talk] accessible Insulin pumps
>
>
> Vapor ware?  you don't believe these companies will release a talking 
> or
>
> accessible pump?  i'm not too sure about the prodigy one but i've been

> told about the Roche INSIGHT pump by my DSN and by the Roche rep for 
> this area.
> Perhaps it won't talk but I was told they were working on something to
> be
> released next year which was designed with blind people in mind
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Mike Freeman" <k7uij at panix.com>
> To: "Diabetes Talk for the Blind" <diabetes-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Sunday, June 23, 2013 6:06 PM
> Subject: Re: [Diabetes-talk] accessible Insulin pumps
>
>
>>I consider all the examples you cite below complete vapor ware. More 
>>later.
>>
>> Mike Freeman
>>
>>
>> On Jun 23, 2013, at 7:58, "Julie Graham" <orvil_7 at yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
>>
>>> I've only just joined this mailing list and was wondering if anyone 
>>> had any info on the IQ pump by prodigy?  when it's to be released or

>>> how
> it
>>> works?  Also Roche are to release a new pump in 2014 which has been 
>>> designed with the blind and partially sighted in mind or so i'm 
>>> told.
>>>
>>> Driving me crazy when I get no answer from the companies.
>>>
>>> Any information would be greatly appreciated.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Julie Graham _______________________________________________
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>>> Diabetes-talk at nfbnet.org
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for
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> ix
> .com
>>
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