Feedback needed from teenage boys with diabetes

My name is Mimi and I am a mother to two daughters with diabetes. My daughters are now 18 and 21 and both are pumpwearers.
I have always wondered how teenage boys managed their diabetes, given that they do not have a place to carry their supplies like girls do with their purses.
About six months ago, I was fortunate enough to work with a 16 year old young man with Type 1. He did not like carrying anything at all, and his life revolved around him being close to home in order to receive his shots and monitor his diabetes. Consequently, he experienced many highs and lows, rarely felt good and he stated he had a pretty bad temper.
Over the last 6 months, I have created a diabetic carrying case for him to wear. It attachs to his ankle. He wears it everyday and as a result his blood sugar has stabilized and his Hbaic has dropped. His mother allows him to be gone for longer periods of time as he now will check his blood and give himself the appropriate shot.
The kit includes a space for a meter, pricker, strips, a tube of glucose tabs, a spot for either two insulin vials or an insulin pen and needles. It is approx 8" x 6.5" and has a patent pending.
I am in the process of devloping a second prototype that will include a spot to keep the insulin cool. The kit is designed to be worn discreetly under the pants or shorts. I am also working with a large hospital in the area who is supporting my efforts.
I am looking for feedback from teenage boys, specifically, as to how they would feel about wearing something like this. I welcome any suggestions, as my goal is to design something that these young men will wear and use and ultimately give them the freedom to go out on their own in the evening without having to worry where they have left their case, or if anyone will comment on what they are carrying. I want these young men to regain their sense of freedom and wellbeing.
Comments please.

That is really nice of you to help people with you design. Iā€™m perhaps way too old but for whatever reason, I stashed my stuff in my briefcase when I was younger. Meter, insulin, works, hammer, fifth oā€™ Jack, it was all pretty handy. I was never sure why briefcases werenā€™t more popular. These days, I uses a messenger bag I got at a street fair thingy in NYC a couple of years ago. Itā€™s small but will easily hold all my junk. I have an Amphipod utility belt I use for running but just use my pockets most of the time. Iā€™m glad your gizmo helped this guy though, thatā€™s awesome!

to start out, i will say that Iā€™m 19 years old and currently in college.

what i do right now is wear either cargo shorts with lots of pockets in the summer or a wool coat with lots of pockets in the winter to carry all my stuff. when i go to work i use a drawstring backpack.

the main problem with this is in the early spring/late fall then its too cold for shorts but too hot for the heavy coat and sometimes that pack is a pain to carry everywhere. i would love to try out something for those in between temperatures

I havent seen your pack yet, so i donā€™t know what it looks like, but as long as it doesnt look like im under house arrest, iā€™d love to try it out. :slight_smile:

Maybe itā€™s just because I live in a city, but guys carry around messanger bags all the time. Nothing big to see a guy carrying around a Timbuk2 bag or some other messanger-style bag thing. That said, I guess teenage boys are different. I think itā€™s really cool what youā€™re doingā€¦even if not just for guys, but for anyone with D. One big challenge of living with D is that you have to carry around SO MUCH CRAP all the time. I have always been a fan of LARGE purses for that reason. Itā€™s also hard to keep things organized, so any product that helps with this is worthwhile IMO.

Hey Mimi, I love the idea, and Iā€™m glad that it worked for this young man, Honestly though when I was a teenager with T1 the reason I had highā€™s and lows had nothing to do with ā€œnot wanting to carry something aroundā€ and more to do with being a stupid teenage boy. I wish you the best of luck but Iā€™m pretty sure that in my case at least this would have been ā€œcoolā€ but uneffective.

I am curious though as to what youā€™re including in the ā€œkitā€ to keep it small enough to be discret and be kept under clothes. I would think if I were a still a teenager that Iā€™d rather have a pump + my CGM but thatā€™s not the discussion here.

As to what I was carrying, I had an old pack that kept my insulin cold and held a few syringes, I kept a tester in my car, my locker, at work, and so forth as they seem to practicaly give them away. Then all I had to do was keep test strips in my insulin case. Again, the key for me and I think this young man wasnā€™t really the ā€œI donā€™t want to be seen carrying stuffā€ it was the ā€œIā€™m going to pretend that nothing is wrong so I can be just like everyone elseā€.

But anything that will give them one less excuse would be a sucess in my book. I wish you the best of luck on this project!

Decaff

This was my stradegy too. Cargo pants and coats can hold a lot of junk (but may not be for everyone). Your product sounds like it might be useful for a diabetic working at a job. Especially, jobs I had in highschool with a dress code that provided poor opportunities to store my supplies.

Iā€™m no longer a teenage boy (those days were 30 years ago!) but I can tell youā€¦ the solution is less, not more. By the time things have gotten to any kind of case, itā€™s a losing proposition.

Reduce the amount of stuff to be carried to a bare minimum and certainly never get to the point where thereā€™s a whole ā€œkitā€ that has to be brought out and assembled. After you get to a bare minimum, it fits in a pants pocket or shirt pocket real easy.

For me that means today, the meter is an AccuChek Compact with self-contained test strip drum and attached lancet device. I can be walking down the street, whip it out, do a bg check in ten seconds, and be done. I donā€™t even slow down or take my eyes off traffic. This is such a huge win.

And for insulin, I either have a pre-filled insulin syringe in my shirt pocket, or vials and syringes located in pockets. Again, itā€™s all about whipping it out and using it and being done.

Again, and I canā€™t emphasize this enough, anything that has to be unzipped, unfolded, rolled out, or just laid out on a flat surface, will never work for me.

I think a teenaged girl wearing jeans could probably use something similar. Maybe if you made two sizes and treated them as unisex? Iā€™m happy for the boy you helped. Adding diabetes to being teenaged must be really difficult for boys or girls.

Thank you for your input. It seems kids donā€™t like to carry anything at all these days.

Thanks. Iā€™ll keep you in mind when I am going through the trial stage, which should be in the next 3 months.

Thank you for responding. My girls have had to downsize their purses depending on the occasion. I have made the case small enough to take care of any emergency or just day to day, without having to go back to car or wherever.

Thanks for the feedback. My goal was for the student to replenish his kit before leaving for the dayā€¦ He would not have to worry about where his stuff was, especially important when out with friends. He would know that all he needed to check and correct his bg was in one place, and he could go about being a kid the rest of the time. My focus for these boys is not to be healthy but I want to emphasize how they relate to their peers and how their relationships are in general when they have v high or low bg. The case includes spaces for a meter, pricker, strips, glucose tabs, insulin vials or pen and needles. I appreciate that you would prefer a pump, some people cannot afford one even with dscounts, and others simply do not like it.I will probably make a smaller case for someone who has a pump, as they still need backup supplies as they are not 100% all of the time.

Thanks for your input. Iā€™ll take that into account. As I mentioned previously, everything is in one place for any kind of emergency. I did forgot to mention that it comes with a small mesh bag that detaches. Someone could leave the larger one
at home if they werent going to be gone long. and use the small mesh bag which would hold the bascis, The mesh bag could easily fit into a pocket. The larger case, even though it is not that big, is designed for someone who wants to be gone about a day, without replenishing anything

Thanks. I sent out surveys to a cross section of teenage boys, and even the diehard kids who would not carry anything were interested.I have considered a case for girls and I plan on testing the next prototypes on at least two so that should be interesting.

And this will be worn on the ankle? Sorry, kinda got confusedā€¦

My son is 15 (diagnosed at 14) and we have had several conversations about him having a bag for his insulin kit - at the moment he uses a pencil case which lives in his school bag or my hand bag - but he needs something small he can carry his stuff in to go out in the evenings/weekend when me and my hand bag arenā€™t with him. At the moment he ā€˜managesā€™ by only bringing sugar and not eating - so heā€™s limited how long heā€™s out for or he brings everything in his pockets which Iā€™m sure it uncomfortable and awkward - your idea of a strapped on kit sounds gr8 - the inconspicuous nature would definitely appeal to his age group as they really donā€™t do ā€˜bagsā€™.

Hello Trilby,
I now have a companyā€¦grown inadvertently from the young man I helped. I have a bunch of new designs that I think your son would like. I also have a brand new one that fits a glucagon and has an insulated pocket.
If nothing else, he could use the detachable mesh bag. The mesh bag fits all of the essentials. Meter, syringes, insulin, pricker, etc yet itā€™s flexible enough to be folded and put in a pocket.
I remember the young man I designed the case for did the same as your son. Would not eat or treat his diabetes, until he got home. Once he started using my case, he was able to hang out with his friends after school as he was treating and could check if they went out to eat. Total transformation. He was soooo happy.
Anyway, my site is outofsightcases.com. Good luck. Mary

1 Like

Erm,

Just bung everything in a small sort of rock climbing chalk bag and that goes in a rucksack or bag, Iā€™ve never not gone anywhere without a bag of some description since my early teens, Iā€™d have used a rucksack if I wasnā€™t diabetic due to all the other bits and bobs I carry.

Every guy I know and see always has a bag on him, maybe itā€™s a UK thing I donā€™t know.

Not meaning to be a negative nancy, but Iā€™d find an ankle holder much more irritating than a standard eastpak or messenger style bag. Seems to be complicating an issue where there is no need.

An ankle bag has weirdness connotations attached to it that some may associate with criminality, as a teen the last thing I would want is something that would help me to stand out.

1 Like

Hi Buckley,
Thanks for your comments. The kids who helped me design it thought it was cool that it was hidden from view, so no one can see it. The straps are medical grade velstretch, so very soft. Works best with bootcut pants/jeans. Mind you most people just use it like a regular diabetes case. Itā€™s pretty small, so it can fit in a jacket pocket. They are always surprised that everything fits and is organized. It has kinda evolved from why I originally designed for the kid to a more universal use. And, btw I am from the UK too. Jersey. I understand the medical system is very different in the UK, and in my experience Jersey. Both of my daughters use the pump and have CGMā€™s. I was very surprised that the doctors in Jersey do not prescribe the pump very often.