Feeling Hopeful

A little over a year ago, I wrote about some Medtronic "hopefuls" that were coming down the pipeline.  I call them "hopefuls" because hearing about ideas and actually seeing them come to fruition are two different things.  I often get my hopes up when I hear of a new direction the hunt for a cure is taking.  I also get my hopes up when I hear of advancements in technology which will improve diabetes management, until that cure is found.  I never lose hope, but sometimes my initial excitement fades over time.

Well, let me tell you why we should never lose hope!  I found an email in my inbox this morning, letting me know that Lorraine had posted a new blog post over at This is Caleb.  She posted a video explaining Medtronic's new mySentry Remote Glucose Monitor.  I only had a couple of seconds to check it out, but after seeing it, became so excited that those seconds turned into hours!  I encourage you to visit This is Caleb and view that video!

This is a piece of Medtronic's news release, describing the mySentry:

mySentry is used in conjunction with the MiniMed Paradigm® REAL-Time Revel™ System, an insulin pump with built-in continuous glucose monitoring. mySentry can be placed in the bedroom or in any room throughout the house so all important information is just a glance away. mySentry provides flexibility and a wide range of uses including displaying all of the alerts and alarms available on the Paradigm Revel insulin pump: predictive alerts, continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) graph, insulin pump battery life, amount of insulin remaining, and time until the next glucose sensor calibration

(Yeah, yeah!  That is a better explanation than the one I gave back in November of 2010, where I called it "something like an alarm clock".)

Why is this new gadget so important to me?  I went back to find this old post I had written, linking to Beta Buddies and a wonderful post written by Reyna about Dead in Bed Syndrome.  I have revisited that post a hundred times in my head.  Reyna said it "out loud", but it is a fear that all DMamas live with on the inside.

Medtronic's news release stated "An estimated 75 percent of all episodes of severe hypoglycemia in children occur at night."

My husband or I wake up a minimum of two times every night to check Ally's blood sugar.  Our biggest fear is that Ally will suffer from a severe low at night while we are sleeping.  We also choose to check overnight blood sugars because we don't want to miss a high blood sugar, letting it go for 11 hours untreated.  This mySentry Remote Glucose Monitor will alarm if Ally drops too low or runs high.  You can even set it to alarm, predicting a low or high blood sugar (if you are using these predictive alarm features on the CGM).

My favorite thing about the mySentry is that it has a volume control!!  There have been one too many nights (including one this week!) where we awoke to check Ally in the night and have heard her CGM alarming low as we approach her room.  A moment of panic!  The alarms on her CGM are just not loud enough to awake her when she is sleeping.  We even have a baby monitor sitting next to her bed and we still can't hear the alarms when we are sleeping. 

I am so excited about the possiblities for safer care for my girl...and maybe even a better night's rest for Mom and Dad!

For more information, visit http://www.medtronicdiabetes.net/mysentry.