Using technology to kick the butt of type one diabetes
When I switched on my OpenAPS 'artificial pancreas' in May 2018, it was the end of a long wait. A 38 year dream come true. I bounced around like a maniac for months on a high, and my gratitude to the smart, kind people who developed the system knew no bounds. What I wasn't prepared … Continue reading The wave of sadness – unexpected
'What if an insulin pump was like an extension of the human body?' It's always nerve-racking walking into a conference where you don't know anyone. But I was thrilled to be at DiabetesMine's D-Data19 in San Francisco last November, and when I spied a serene looking man a bit younger than me, sitting alone near the … Continue reading Re-thinking insulin pump design
I was invited to give a guest lecture to final year Health IT students at The University of Queensland last month about the DIY artificial pancreas technology I'd been using for the past year and a half. I thought it was important to explain: history of type 1 diabetes therapy 1980-2019 (personal perspective)the impact of … Continue reading My life with T1D in 90 minutes
The federal government of Australia is conducting a survey to determine whether continuous glucose monitoring devices (CGM) should be subsidised under the National Diabetes Supply Scheme (NDSS). The following research and outcomes data shows that yes, CGM should be made affordable for all people living with type 1 diabetes as an urgent priority. Using CGM with an automated insulin … Continue reading Affordable CGM for Australia
First published in Australian Diabetes Educator, 8 July, 2019. Patton, Mary Anne. "One year of DIY looping after 38 years of type 1 diabetes." Australian Diabetes Educator, vol. 22, no. 2, 2019. Introduction One year ago I started do-it-yourself (DIY) looping with the hybrid closed loop system, OpenAPS.[1] I’d been living with type 1 diabetes (T1D) for … Continue reading One year of DIY looping after 38 years of type 1 diabetes
When I started looping with OpenAPS I needed 'head space' and time to learn, to monitor my blood glucose levels closely and adjust my settings. I kept a very close eye on my CGM. When I switched to Loop one year later, there was a whole new learning curve. You do have to be vigilant … Continue reading Caution – before you start looping
I was interviewed as part of an ABC Science Show program on DIY looping which was broadcast last weekend. Wonderful coverage of what it's like to live with Type1 diabetes psychologically, two peoples' experiences of using a DIY system, and why we need to get CGM coverage for adults in Australia ASAP. Jim Matheson, one … Continue reading DIY ‘loopers’ take diabetes into their own hands
People in the DIY artificial pancreas community are talking about sensory changes in the way they experience their diabetes. Some, like Thacher Hussain @Thachert1d, find that DIY looping causes them to regain their hypoglycaemia awareness. "Feeling shaky at 84... means #Loop is keeping me in range enough that my body's own hypo-awareness is readjusting to … Continue reading Sensory recalibration with Looping
The children's ward was a bright and colourful place, and the whole two week experience was actually ok, apart from my first hypo. My memories after 39 years are a little vague, but here is what I do remember... One morning, just after I finished breakfast, in bounced Julie. Julie was young and full of … Continue reading 2 weeks in hospital 1980
It was my second month of high school, 1980. I was 12. My best friend Linda had gone to a different school and I was trying to find my way at a place known by the students who went there as 'Spike's Prison Camp'. I moved away from the surfie crowd pretty quickly and gravitated … Continue reading Probably a virus (not)
My Artificial Pancreas 