[Diabetes-talk] This sounds great.

[blindhands at aol.com]

Tom:

Thank you so much for this information.  This has helped me a lot.  Now I
need to rattle them to get moving on getting the pump.

This is what my problem is.  I live basically by myself and I started last
September getting a lot of low blood sugars.  Low enough that my son finds
me passed out on the floor around supper time and the last thing I remember
is 3 hours ago.  I have passed out trying to get to the kitchen for juice
and did not make it and passed out for several hours before coming back so I
can get up off the floor and get some food.

I lost mmy husband 2 years ago and lost my guide dog last year.

I will fight medicare and United Care to purchase this pump as they told me
my insurance will pay in full for the older pump 4.  They won't pay for the
one that has the sensors.  I refused the other pump as I need the  Medtronic
530G, pump and this is the pump and the CGM that my doctor is recommending.

My son use to work at home, but in the last year he works out of the house
and lives on the third floor of our 2 family home.  So as I said I am by
myself most of the time day and night.

Hoping to get an approval or denial by the end of this week.  As I have an
advocate from our state Health Department that will help with the denial, if
that is what I get.  Wemt to the Endo doc today and she has great hopes that
I get approval.

Joyce

-----Original Message-----
From: Diabetes-Talk [mailto:diabetes-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
Tom Ley via Diabetes-Talk
Sent: Tuesday, July 12, 2016 7:12 AM
To: diabetes-talk at nfbnet.org
Cc: TALey at ups.com
Subject: Re: [Diabetes-talk] accessible apt for CGM

Joyce, 

On this list we have been focusing on the Dexcom CGM, the current version is
the Dexcom G5 Mobile system. This system comes with an app that lets you
read the current blood glucose (BG) reading, the current BG trend (for
example, constant, slowly rising, slowly falling, etc.) and lets you start,
stop, calibrate, and enter food, exercise and such accessibly using
voiceover on your iPhone. 

The Dexcom G5 Mobile system is only a CGM; it is not an insulin pump. You
must purchase a pump separately. 

As you mentioned, Medtronic, which makes both pumps and CGM systems, has a
version of a pump that will take the BG from the Medtronic CGM system and if
you are going low, will automatically suspend the pump for up to two hours
so you don't receive any more insulin. It is intended to prevent people from
going low overnight while sleeping, which is a big issue for many. This is
the only pump on the market in the US that will automatically suspend
insulin delivery. 

The system is the Medtronic 530G, the G stands for Guardian, like guardian
angel. It will not prevent 100% of lows, but it is effective. It is for sale
now in the US and if there is anyone on the list who uses it, let us know
your feedback. 

The CGM part of the Medtronic 530G system, by all accounts, is not as
accurate as the CGM system by Dexcom. The Medtronic CGM today is more
accurate than their earlier models, but still lag behind the Dexcom models
in terms of accuracy. 

In addition, the Medtronic 530G system comes with an app that may be used
with voiceover. 
On the plus side, this app provides information about the insulin pump such
as the battery level, the last bolus you took, how much active insulin is in
your system, and what the current basal rate is. No other pump has an app
that will let a blind person independently read this information. You cannot
control the pump with the app on the phone though. 

The Medtronic 530G app also lets you read the current BG reading from the
CGM, but not the BG trend, such as constant, slowly falling, etc. I find
this a big negative because knowing the direction your BG is going is one of
the great advantages of a CGM. I hope Medtronic will update the app soon to
include this info as well. 

Additional negatives for the app for the Medtronic 530G is that it does not
let you start or stop the sensor, calibrate the CGM or enter events like
food eaten, etc. This must be done via the buttons on the pump, and is not
accessible. 

I recently went through the process of purchasing a new pump. I looked hard
at the Medtronic 530G system. In the end, I stayed with the combination of
the Dexcom G5 Mobile system and the Animas Vibe pump because of the superior
accuracy and accessibility of the Dexcom G5 CGM system. But the auto-suspend
of the Medtronic 530G system is a great feature, so it was a hard choice. 

Looking ahead, Medtronic recently received FDA approval to begin final
testing of their not-yet-released 560G system that adds the ability to
automatically give additional insulin to bring your high blood glucose down.
These are exciting advances. 

All of us need to be contacting these companies and asking them what they
plan to do about accessibility of their pumps, CGM systems, and dual
pump/CGM systems. The day of the artificial pancreas is close at hand, and
we need to keep pushing hard for accessibility to be available as part of
the first products available. 

Tom




-----Original Message-----
From: Diabetes-Talk [mailto:diabetes-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
blindhands--- via Diabetes-Talk
Sent: Monday, July 11, 2016 10:44 PM
To: diabetes-talk at nfbnet.org
Cc: blindhands at aol.com
Subject: [Diabetes-talk] accessible apt for CGM

Could you please post the name of the meter that has the accessible apt
again?  Is this the CGM that you can get with the Medtronic insulin pump
that has the sensories and that shuts off for up to 2 hours if your blood
sugars go too low?

Thanks,  Joyce


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