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Comment Re:They went to Slashdot... (Score 2) 117

Yeah - just noticed. Slashdot has gone all out on forcing ads on the page this week, and breaking the site if you block them. Clever! I'm more clever. I'm taking Slashdot off my RSS feed and.... adieu. They can kiss my 20+ year account and "good karma" goodbye. Now where will I get my most my regurgitated tech news and cranky troll-like discussions?

Comment Re:Evaluated as safety critical (Score 2) 40

One huge issue - and I know 'cause I'm a user of the pump/app - you *do not* get a warning as the battery drains too quickly. Alternatively, you may get a warning but the battery drains too fast to react. If everything works as it should, once you get the first warning of low charge, you have around 36 hours to deal with it. Not minutes.

Comment Re: Device that your life may depend on vs. "App" (Score 2) 40

It has a Bluetooth connection to the pump, and the pump communicates back info like your current bG. The app can be used to deliver a bolus (extra insulin for a meal). However! The app is only a convenience and isnâ(TM)t nec asset. This issue is an edge case where the app crashes, restarts, pulls data from the pump, crashes again, repeat. This causes the pump battery to drain quickly and shut down. That's the issue. Make sense?

Comment Iâ(TM)m an expert on this topic. If you have (Score 5, Informative) 40

Man. Canâ(TM)t remember the last time I commented on slashdot. I have this pump and app. Issue is directly related to unpredictable battery drain on the pump. A charge will usually last 10 days(ish) and once you hit 25% remaining, you knew you had at least 36 hours to top it off. Instead, the app as silently crashing - you might Inuit that it happens because your bG history is empty and it takes a few moments to download the data again. Anyway, the app keeps crashing and forcing a repeated sync with the pump which drains the pump battery really quickly. So, at 25% it could go down to 5% or zero in just an hour. You might not even get a low battery warning I know because it happened to me a few times and no alarm was logged. If the pump shuts down, it means you donâ(TM)t get the hourly base amount of insulin which can eventually lead to DKA. 2.7.1 didnâ(TM)t completely fix the issue but it hasnâ(TM)t happened as often. Which sucks cause I just had it happen yesterday buy at least it was during daylight hours. Deleted the app until they fix it.

Comment Re: Cell phones used as CGMS devices (Score 2) 294

I asked Yondr again. They replied immediately this time: We have a special wristband for ADA requests that allows guests to keep their phones unlocked. A Yondr representative can issue these wristbands at the venue. So... there you go. And thanks for reminding me why I long ago stopped participating in Slashdot discussions.

Comment Cell phones used as CGMS devices (Score 2) 294

If you use your phone to monitor your blood glucose, but the venue forces your phone to be locked into a Yondr bag, are there ADA repercussions? Seems that the answer would be "yes".

For example, an ADA-related consent order: https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.io?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ada.gov%2Fsfxinc.htm6%2F, and this line specifically: "Clear Channel Entertainment agrees not to discriminate against any guest with diabetes with regard to their bringing diabetes related medical equipment or diabetes related food into a concert venue.â

I sent a brief, polite message to Yondr 1.5 years ago asking if there is a protocol for this situation. https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.io?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.overyondr.com%2Fcontact%2F

No response.

Obviously, there are back-up strategies like bringing the stand-alone G5 receiver, use a meter, exit the concert to check your Bg, or not to go to the concert at all, but all should be unnecessary as having a phone at your side for monitoring blood glucose is a reasonable accommodation.

Comment Continuous glucose monitoring on your smart phone (Score 1) 482

More info here: http://integrateddiabetes.com/dexcom-g5-not-just-a-matter-of-convenience/

The Yondr bag will definitely cause issues if someone uses their phone and a CGMS transmitter to monitor, and react to, their blood glucose. There are work-arounds, like bringing a separate non-phone receiver, bringing a separate meter, leaving the concert to have security let you check your Bg, or not going to the concert at all.

I'm certain there are some ADA concerns here that nobody has touched on yet. Also certain that the security people who enforce putting your phone in a bag do not have a protocol for this situation.

Comment Re:Flawed? (Score 3, Funny) 187

Define old. At my son's school, across the street from our house we had a classroom in a portable. And not just *any* portable: Built in 1941 for the army, and installed at the school in 1943 to temporarily help with overcrowding in the regular classrooms. Our neighbor, who is 95, lived here when it was installed and her kids (who are now great grandparents!) attended class in it. My son, now 13, also enjoyed this classroom. This "temporary" portable, literally spitting distance from the Hayward fault, wasn't even anchored to the ground - elevated by four feet of stacked blocks of wood . Even crazier... the thing was riddled with asbestos tiles, and had a mold problem. The portable went away last year - 70 years after it was installed. I'd like to think that the paperwork I submitted to the city and state to have the portable declared a historical landmark worthy of preservation had something to do with it.

Comment No. This is not an artificial pancreas. (Score 2) 119

We've had insulin pumps for decades, and continuous glucose monitoring systems for many years. This is just a small iteration on top of that. The new thing? If the CGMS thinks your blood glucose is low, the pump is instructed to stop giving insulin.

This ain't an artificial pancreas by any measure - even the manufacturer says as much.

Comment The future is now! (Score 2) 210

Quark! A series from 1978 predicted all of this:

The show was set on the United Galaxies Sanitation Patrol Cruiser, an interstellar garbage scow operating out of United Galaxies Space Station Perma One in the year 2222. Adam Quark, the main character, works to clean up trash in space by collecting "space baggies" - unfortunately for Quark, while circumstances frequently dropped adventure into his lap, he was always ordered back to collecting garbage when the action was over.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quark_(TV_series)

Comment Re:Temporary solution? (Score 1) 148

Not to mention that with the pump you HAVE to eat when it's time - or else.

I'm a Type 1, and have been on an insulin pump for 13 years. Pumps afford the exact opposite of what you say here. The basal rates you program into the pump should allow you, when done correctly, to NOT eat at all - if you ignore plain old hunger. If you're having to ingest carbs to counteract your basal dosages, you're doing it wrong - and I can't state this strongly enough. Bolus dosages - e.g. the ones you take when you eat - work exactly like your eat/shot strategy you describe. A type 1's blood sugar will rise - in the absence of both food and insulin - and I'd be really surprised if this wasn't the case for you.

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