Tag: closed loop

The Eagle and the Fishing Pole…….and Diabetes, and Us

Posted on | by tomkarlya | Leave a Comment on The Eagle and the Fishing Pole…….and Diabetes, and Us

eagle-and-the-fishing-poleI love to fish.   I mean I LOVE to fish.  On the rare occasion I go for the big fish, we eat some of what we catch. I usually ‘catch and release’ much smaller fish….2-7 pound bass.  When we moved off Long Island and to South Carolina, we moved to a house that has a lake in our back yard, with much woods and forest across the lake.  God’s landscape.  Peaceful.

For me, it’s this side of heaven.  Usually when I finish work, around 7:30ish, but before dark; I spend 30-40 minutes casting outside.  I find it hugely relaxing. HUGELY relaxing.

For the past two weeks I have had company as I fished; a bald Eagle.   The female was with me for a few days and the male joined in.  Majestic, they are; to watch; to observe. Tonight as I was fishing, I realized something.  The Eagle was fishing too.  He sits on a high perch for hours….and hours.  He starts at about 4 pm…and just sits.  I come out at 7:30, and he is still sitting.  Much more patience than I will ever have.

As I cast my fishing line I notice that about every 45 minutes or so; he swoops down closer to the water and then back up on his perch about 60 feet off the top of the water, on a tree limb. We both sit and wait.  He swoops, I cast.  He is observing and I’m looking; both of us at many different angles from where we stand/perch.

The focus for us both are the fish.  But we go about it differently.  Completely differently but we both spend most of our time focusing on our fish.  The trees do not ridicule us because we do things differently, neither do the frogs, nor the grass, nor anything else in the world around us—–we fish and life goes on.

It’s nice that way.

As far as I am concerned……as a community we need to continually bolster any sort of advancement that happens in our world.  Our focus are those living with diabetes; those we love.

If anything makes their life better our community needs to rejoice in it.  I stated a thousand times, the original pumps were the size of astronauts’ back packs. Advancement.  All needs to start someplace and all need support moving forward. Whether management tools, or research advancements…….we need to applaud loudly at what is being done for our loved ones.  Because if we do not….who will?

For over 24 years I have watched so many incredible advancements come and enter our lives; I have seen advancements fail–and break our hearts……but the spirit; THAT SPIRIT that knows we must continue.

Maybe you catch with a simple fishing rod; maybe you catch fish as majestic as an Eagle.  But the important thing IS TO FISH.  Focused on the work you find important with not enough time for negative energy because honestly……..we all have too much important fishing to do on our own.  It would serve this community well to celebrate when anything new and exciting comes along.  Makes fishing a lot easier and a lot more rewarding.

The Eagle and the fishing pole……..think about it.
I am a DiabetesDad.
Please visit my Diabetes Dad FB Page and hit ‘like’.

NEWSBREAK: Medtronic’s Hybrid Closed Loop NOW FDA Approved.

Posted on | by tomkarlya | Leave a Comment on NEWSBREAK: Medtronic’s Hybrid Closed Loop NOW FDA Approved.
medtronic-hybridclosedloopsystemExactly as reported from Med Page today
‘Bionic Pancreas’ OK’d
First-ever approval for a closed loop insulin delivery system
 
·         by John Gever 
Managing Editor, MedPage Today
09.28.2016
WASHINGTON — A closed-loop insulin delivery system, combining a continuous glucose monitoring device with an insulin pump, was approved for U.S. marketing Wednesday, the FDA announced.
Medtronic’s MinMed 670G hybrid system is the first such device to be approved, the agency said. It is indicated for patients age 14 and older with type 1 diabetes requiring at least 8 units of insulin daily.
“This first-of-its-kind technology can provide people with type 1 diabetes greater freedom to live their lives without having to consistently and manually monitor baseline glucose levels and administer insulin,” said Jeffrey Shuren, MD, JD, director of the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health, in a statement announcing the decision.
A required post-marketing study will examine how well the product works in “real-world settings,” the agency noted.
The system delivers basal insulin in amounts adjusted according to blood glucose levels detected with the continuous monitor, with “little or no input from the user,” the FDA said. Glucose levels are measured every 5 minutes.
Patients still need to manually request postprandial insulin doses to cope with carbohydrates eaten at meals, the agency noted.
Data from a trial with 123 participants underpinned the approval. Patients used it for 3 months; no serious adverse events such as severe hypoglycemia or diabetic ketoacidosis were seen.
Nevertheless, hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia can still occur with the device, the FDA said. Skin irritation at the site of the infusion patch is also possible.
Medtronic is currently testing the system in children 7-13 years old with an eye toward securing approval in that age group.
—end article

WOW!!!!!  A new age in management devices has begun……amen and AMEN!!!!
I am a DiabetesDad.
Please visit my Diabetes Dad FB Page and hit ‘like’.