1. Living with Diabetes Presentation Overview: Diagnosis
By: Blake Lamkin & Jenny Rodriguez
Presentation Overview:
Diagnosis
Injections Vs. Pump
Data, Tech and Software
Final thoughts & Questions

2. Diagnosis Diagnosed at 19 Diagnosed at 20 DKA
Didn’t know anything about diabetes
An overwhelming experience!
B.S. Dietetics CSU Chico
Currently in my Dietetic Internship
Diagnosed at 20
DKA
a1C 19
1st year of college
Journalism-> Nutrition
BS Nutrition and Food Science
Mom of 3 kids
Dietetic Intern CSU Chico
MPH

3. Injections VS The pump
Advantages of Insulin Pump Therapy
Disadvantages of Insulin Pump Therapy
Convenience
Better blood sugars
More flexibility
Dose calculations
Precise dosing (.025U)
Easy adjustments for real life (basal, square wave)
Less Hypoglycemia
Data analysis
Learning curve
Pump supplies
Technical difficulties
Set changes
Kinked sites/tubing
Inconvenience of always connected
Price
JMT (packing all my gear to the minimal amount) fitting Pump supplies in pack
Tough Mudder (monitor glucose during workouts and when to prevent lows) Exercising (High intensity compared to moderate exercise long distance running)
Skydiving
Traveling

4. CGM Continuous Glucose Monitor
Pros &
Information
Management
Confidence and security
Cons
Accuracy
Over-reliance
Another device attached to you
Information – You do your blood sugar measurements, you know your body, and you think you have a pretty good idea of what your sugars are up to between measurements. Well, you are most likely wrong. At least, I got a big surprise when I started seeing how my blood sugar actually varied throughout the day, not to mention during the night when I usually don’t test. And that’s why CGM is such an awesome tool, for that in between measurement information.
All of a sudden, I could see how certain foods and activities affected my sugars over the next several hours. That information is golden! Also, being able to catch low sugars before they actually happen has significantly reduced my number of lows, not to mention reduced my consumption of glucose tablets and juice.
Management – What to do with all this new information? Well, it has not only helped me limit hypo events, I also managed to reduce my A1C level to around 6%. I have always been pretty well regulated, but have never been this stable before.
Of course, just slapping on a CGM won’t manage your diabetes, but the insight from it can.
I learned that if I sleep to any later than 8 am before taking my morning insulin, I’ll be battling high sugars at least until noon. I’ve learned what kind of activities will make my sugars drop FAST (that would be walking), my true insulin sensitivities throughout the day, and that I always need a minimum of ½ unit of active insulin on board before a workout.
Confidence and security – My CGM has enabled me to understand my diabetes better. It has given me more confidence in the way I manage my diabetes and has helped me achieve tangible results.
It’s also comforting to know how my sugars are trending. I will even venture out sometimes without bringing all my diabetes gear (!). I also stopped testing times a day because I didn’t need to — the info was right there on the screen in front of me.
It enabled me to go for a walk or a hardcore gym session without fearing lows and to reach both my fitness and diabetes health goals more efficiently.

5. Software Collects data and presents it in a user friendly way
Easy to set up
Compatible with most devices.

6. Patterns and Trends
Tidepool lets you see your hourly, daily and weekly patterns so you can learn from them using interactive graphs.
It allows everyone you invite to see the same thing and add notes to your data

7. What has made the biggest impact for me?
My Network
Camp!
Support groups

8. Conclusion & Questions?
Grateful to be living in this time of technology.
Lots of tech, tools out there to use to help with Diabetes care.
Diabetes can be a challenging condition, Plug into a network/support group!
Thank you