Hi,
I’m a diabetes educator and trying to educate myself more about how kids & teens (and moms & dads too!) are using ipods, etc. to better control their blood sugars. I just bought an itouch and have checked out some of the apps designed for helping w diabetes mgmt. Do they help? Thanks!
I would love an ipods esp Iphone so that I can manage my diabetes because my phone is always with me and that would make life so much easier then having to carry loads of stuff.
Do these patients keep a log? No. Will they keep a log if this is done with a device? Maybe. Will they do it if they are rewarded with a good analysis? Maybe.
It all depends on their will to do that for 24/7. With my free project Glucosurfer.org the data can be managed in full anonymity. I try to motivate people to log their numbers and to use social platforms like TuDiabetes to discuss their glucose control in times of crisis. You can take a look at my diary with the following link. There you can use the mouse to drag from one day to the other. Furthermore there are several diagrams to visualize my glucose control. Some of these diagrams are unique and you will need some time to read them correctly:
http://www.glucosurfer.org/goto?diagram&language=en&user=278&share=3788281
Our project is not an application but an online service. If you want to have an impression how this will look like on the iPhone you can open the following link with your iPod Touch. Please rotate your iPod to landscape view (90° rotation) for the analysis part. On this example page you can enter some values to get an impression. The example is for a patient on MDI with NovoRapid and Lantus. The carb factors are coming from the settings of the user tudiabetes:
http://www.glucosurfer.org/tiny?logon&user=tudiabetes&password=passme&language=en
If this is a valuable tool for kids & teens really depends on their mindset towards D. In my opinion it is a great offer and it has really helped me to log my numbers carefully. When ever I see a negative trend in the diagram proportional trend I try to find the problem. This helps me to stay proactive and to catch a negative trend before it will be visible in my A1c.
Kris…I am currently using the Ipod application “Blood Wise.” This application is great because it records your numbers, shows your history, and gives a graph so that way you can try and keep a tighter control of blood sugar levels. One feature that really attracted me to this application was the fact that you can email your results to your endo, dr, specialist etc. when you see a trend that you think might take some special assitance from an expert.I believe the app is free at least is was when I downloaded it. Might be something to look into…
Good luck with your search!
-Kimberlee
I really like the WaveSense app. I love the graphs and being able to easily email the data to Caleb’s doctor. The only reason I stopped using it is because Caleb started using DexCom and the reports it provides displaced the need.
I have just started to relook at MyCareConnect. I signed Caleb’s school nurse up for it to test drive it. We already have great communication, but I’m wondering if this would make it more seamless, although I’m worried it might be cumbersome. We shall see. They just announced development of an iPhone app I believe called BlueLoop to be available by “late spring”. I can see how something like that could have it’s place when Caleb’s gets a little older and is a little more independent. It also currently has an option to set up regular text messages to say whatever you want like, “did you remember to bolus for lunch?”, or whatever makes sense for you. It’s something I definitely see myself using with Caleb when he’s a little older.
i love the wavesense app, it’s easy on the eyes. But find writing on a piece paper is kinda easier… but the app did help me look at my numbers in a different way.
thanks for the responses and ideas!
I just remembered another one: some people have a twitter account dedicated to bg/dosing information. It doesn’t chart anything, but it would be a very easy way to share info between parent/child and would be more streamlined than email since the account is only used for that purpose. I’ve already fallen off the MyCareConnect wagon after one day. Going to try to get back on today! 
I was wondering about that - I haven’t run across families that do that but it makes sense, thanks!
The communication can be even more crucial when the school nurse is not-so-interested in getting involved, like in our school district. A couple years ago, one mom asked her to go to the MM site to take the "course’ online and she kept putting it off, and then a couple days before the student (a 2nd grader!) was to start pumping, the nurse said she didn’t think she’d get involved in “any of that”. So needless to say, the mom would rather communicate with her daughter directly because she knows more, esp now in 5th grade!