Ruby was five, in overalls and fairy wings, legs swinging fast beneath the chair that was too high for her. “Would it be ok for Ruby to touch your Dexcom?” her father asked. “Sure,” I said, and shimmied over to where Ruby was sitting.

She reached over and traced the Dexcom bump through my sleeve.

I asked her if it was ok for me to touch her Libre. She said “yep!”

I touched her Libre/Miao Miao through the pink rock tape that was wrapped in a band around her upper arm. Then I turned sideways and we chinked our devices together. “Shazzan!”

I told Ruby we shared the same special super power. She looked up at me, right into my eyes and beamed.

I smiled back at her.

Biggest smiles ever.

Addendum

Ruby’s father told us that no one had mentioned closed loop as an option for diabetes when his daughter was diagnosed less than a year ago. But he figured something “had to be out there” and did an internet search. Ruby’s family are currently investigating DIY looping solutions for her.

TickleFLEX

In the meantime, Ruby gets her insulin through an insulin pen with this nifty spider-like device collared around the needle tip. It was designed by an engineer with type 1 diabetes. Ruby’s parents explained that it hides the needle, distracts her, and stabilises the pen on her body during injections.

Just another example of clever patient innovation.