Is it just me? Have I been in the game too long? Am I no longer in the loop like I once was?
This year brings our 11th anniversary of living with diabetes. Not nearly as much fun as a wedding anniversary but its better than the anniversary of my son's death. When we first started down this road I was steadily finding something new.
We started on a "new" rapid acting insulin--Humalog. Soon after, there was Novolog (or NovoRapid for those of us north of the US border). After that we saw long lasting, peakless insulins like Lantus and Levemir. We were the first patients that my son's doctor ever prescribed Lantus for and he was pumping at the time (Mom wanted to have some "just in case").
I think things tend to come in waves. Periods of lots of research but not much new for the end user, and then periods where all that research starts being applied. The '80s saw a lot of new technlology—rDNA insulin, glucose meters, etc.—and then there was a period in the '90s where not much changed. I was diagnosed in 1991 and used the same glucose meter and insulin regimen for the first seven or so years of diabetes. Then in the late '90s/early 2000s there was a wave of new technology like new insulins, better glucose meters and pumps, CGMs, etc. Now that’s died off again and nothing much has changed in the late 2000s. I bet a new wave of stuff will come along all at once in the near future, though. I agree with you, it is hard to be patient!
I developed diabetes in 1991, too! But wasn’t diagnosed until later. I remember using R and NPH, and how awful they were! I’m happy with the technology as it is, because I remember the struggle to get an appropriate insulin regimen, but I’m hopeful for a cure, at least for Type 1. Maybe my hope is misplaced, but there it is! And then, there will be no need for more technology!
Danny you are right in that we have come a long way, but if you listen to the words of Banting, he felt we would be a lot further by now…like a cure. I am happy that you can enjoy a DexCom but they are not that “new” anymore (just out of reach for some of us). They are on their second generation at least which is a very good thing especially if they offer the success in diabetes care that you are suggesting.
I am rather pleased, that Apidra insulin is available in Canada since 2010 …it seems to make a significant difference to me and I hope to others as well .
And I am looking forward to receiving the MM Veo pump , which stops delivery of basal , when I am low .
Good point, all the technological progress does little good if only a minority of us can access it. For most, pumping and CGM are out of reach or requires significant financial burden. CGM is amazing–you have to try it and experience the unaccustomed feeling of not worrying about your levels to realize how great it is (and to realize how much peace of mind you’ve lost since diagnosis).
