Diabetes Connections With Stacey Simms | Type 1 Diabetes |

The FreeStyle Libre is a newer way to check blood glucose levels but is not yet available in the United States. The system consists of a sensor, with a wire underneath the skin, like a traditional Continuous Glucose Monitor and a controller. To see blood glucose readings the user holds the controller up to the sensor. Abbott Diabetes Care calls the Libre a Flash Glucose Monitor. Stacey talks to Abbott’s Senior Director of New Product Innovation, Joel Goldsmith. As of this airing, the Libre is available in Europe and is expected to launch in Australia in a few weeks. Stacey also talks about the end of the school year, looking ahead to Middle School for her son with type 1 and advice about 504 plans. 

In early May, United Health Care announced that Medtronic would be its preferred provider of insulin pumps. Adults over the age of 18 who have UHC insurance will not be able to have any other brand of insulin pump covered. This set off lots of discussion within the diabetes community and prompted this special episode of Diabetes Connections. Stacey talks to Christel Aprigliano of Diabetes Patient Advocacy Coalition (DPAC), Gary Scheiner, a diabetes educator with Integrated Diabetes Services, and Mike Hoskins, managing editor of DiabetesMine. This episode was partially recorded on the video platform Blab.

Moira McCarthy Stanford and her husband, Sean Stanford, were recently honored by the New England Chapter of JDRF at the Boston One Night Gala. Moira is an author, speaker, dedicated diabetes advocate, mentor and educator. When her daughter, Lauren, was diagnosed 18 years ago, Moira jumped into the diabetes community and hasn't looked back. Stacey talks to Moira about this honor and about the dress she wore to the Gala. Seamstress (and type 1 mom) Darlene Winn crafted it and hand-embroidered dozens of names into the lining - names of "T1D heroes I love," says Moira. You'll also hear from Moira & Sean's daughters, Lauren and Leigh. They talk about what this honor means to their family and how their parents kept a balance of diabetes management, helping the community and living a full and happy life outside of T1D (Leigh does not have diabetes). Stacey also talks with the JDRF chapter about why they chose Moira and to the director of the JDRF Ride to Cure Diabetes. Moira more recently became involved in that

What’s it like to attend a diabetes conference? What goes on, who can you meet and is it worth it? Stacey traveled to Friends for Life in Falls Church, Virginia this past April to try to give you the sense of being there. She speaks to organizers, speakers, kids and parents who attend, even vendors to find out why they travel to conferences and what they get out of it. Guests include: Children with Diabetes Founder Jeff Hitchcock, Keynote speaker Dr. Kenneth Moritsugu, former acting Surgeon General and diagnosed with type 1 at age 55, Tweens & Teens attending the conference and their parents, Harold Sanco who gets the kids moving with fun exercise and activity programs, Friends for Life Organizer Laura Billetdeaux, Animas Senior Territory Manager Suzanne Hollis, TrialNet's Karen Riley & Falls Church Mayor David Tarter who has a child with type 1 and was excited to find the conference was coming to his town. 

Happy Mother's Day! This week, Stacey looks at motherhood &diabetes from two inspiring perspectives. Karla Reed is the motherof NASCAR driver Ryan Reed, diagnosed with type 1 when he was 17years old. Karla talks about what she's learned in the five yearssince - a time when Ryan moved across the country to start hisNASCAR career, became a spokesperson for the American DiabetesAssociation and got his first big Xfinity win. Ginger Vieira is amom with type 1 diabetes; her little girl Lucy is 18 months old.Ginger shares her experience of a carefully planned and managedpregnancy. She's now teaming up with her diabetes educator, friend,and fellow T1D mom, Jennifer Smith, to help other women with type 1who want to start a family. Stacey also shares a little bit abouthow a decision her mother made nine years ago, influenced the wayshe and her husband care for and think about her son's T1D.

Stacey talks with Dexcom CEO Kevin Sayer to mark the ten year anniversary of the company's first commercial product sale and to discuss improvements to customer service. Sayer talks about the long hold times and other issues customers have noticed recently, and explains why the recent growth of the company, along with a product recall, made those difficulties worse. We find out what Dexcom is doing to improve service and make the overall customer experience better. Sayer also answers questions about Android capability for Share and talks about other improvements coming to the system's receiver and inserter.  .

Howard Look formed Tidepool after his daughter was diagnosed with type 1 in 2011 and, as a self-described "geek-dad" he was frustrated with the lack of access to her diabetes data. Tidepool is a platform for diabetes information and the apps that use it. It includes an uploader to get information off of devices like CGMs and insulin pumps and view them in a clear and accessible way. Look talks about the other features of Tidepool which help you make sense of what you're seeing. He also shares how his family uses Tidepool to make their diabetes management easier.  Tidepool was honored at the White House last year and Howard Look shares his experience of being asked to sit on a panel with President Obama in February. Stacey also talks to a North Carolina father participating in the American Diabetes Association's' Tour de Cure. He got involved because his daughter's best friend has T1D and she wanted her friend to have a sleepover. The family got educated about type 1 and their involvement took off from there. 

Dr. Ed Damiano is the developer of the bionic pancreas, a closed-loop system that uses a pump and a CGM to automate delivery of insulin as well as glucagon currently in clinical trials. Dr. Damiano got the idea for a dual-chambered system when his son was diagnosed with type 1 at the very young age of 11 months. Dr. Damiano talks to Stacey about the system, now called the "iLet" and about the new company formed to help bring it to market. Called Beta Bionics, it's a unique kind of company, perhaps the first of its kind in the diabetes sector. Dr. Damiano explains what a public benefit corporation is and why he felt it was necessary to form one in order to get the iLet from prototype to commercial product. In this episode, Stacey also shares the story of her family's first JDRF Walk almost ten years ago and how her daughter, who doesn't have diabetes, reacted to the idea of raising money for better research. 

"The Human Trial" is a documentary in process about a potential new treatment for type 1 diabetes. Stacey talks to director Lisa Hepner about her life with type 1 and why she wanted to share this story.  The movie features ViaCyte, a California biotech firm testing a stem cell treatment for T1D. They have FDA approval to test only the fourth embryonic stem cell-derived product in the world in people. As those human trials progress, Hepner and her crew are there to film the process. They hope to use the documentary to spread awareness and education about type 1 and about the encapsulation method.  In this episode, we learn what ViaCyte is, all about encapsulation and why so many researchers and scientists are excited about these latest trials. 

Sam Talbot shot to fame as a finalist on Bravo's Top Chef, then helped found the new diabetes advocacy group, Beyond Type 1. Diagnosed with type 1 when he was 11, Sam shares his love of healthy food, clean eating and managing diabetes despite a very busy schedule & lots of travel. Our Community Connection this week is health coach Daniele Hargenrader, better known at Diabetes Dominator. She's overcome her own health and life challenges with gusto and now helps others succeed. 

A few years back, Scott Hanselman wrote a post some have called a seminal moment in the diabetes community. Called "The Sad State of Diabetes Technology in 2012," it sparked action, particularly in what's now known as the #WeAreNotWaiting movement. We talk to Scott about what he thinks about diabetes technology today, how he manages his own T1D and why a cross-country airplane trip is a perfect diabetes analogy. Community Connection this week is all about programs for adults with type 1. Camp Nejeda in New Jersey will host a weekend session in May. Information about that "Survive and Thrive Boot Camp," and ideas about how to begin something like that where you live. (Note: due to some technical issues, "helpful links" for this episode may not appear until 24 hours after the episode goes live. Apologies for the delay)

Stefany Shaheen says she was skeptical when her family decided to try a Diabetes Alert Dog for their daughter, Elle. She shares their story and explains what to ask before deciding whether an alert dog is right for you. Shaheen's book, "Elle & Coach: Diabetes, The Fight for My Daughter's Life and the Dog Who Changed Everything" comes out in paperback this month. Stacey also talks to Dexcom Research and Development Senior Vice President Jake Leach about the new G5 mobile app for the Apple Watch and much more.   

Roddy Riddle says, "Rule diabetes. Don't let it rule you." Diagnosed with type 1 at the age of 40, Roddy was already an international cyclist and didn't see any reason to slow down. He completed the grueling Marathon de Sables ("The Toughest Footrace on Earth") and is competing right now in the 6633 Ultra, a 350 mile race that touches the Arctic Circle. Marina Tsaplina is just as tough, but in a very different way. She wants us to think about diabetes, and about all of health care, as a very human story. We talk to Marina about her organization The Betes, what puppets have to do with diabetes, and about "The Patient Voice" event.

This month, Pediatric Endocrinologist Dr. Stephen Ponder marks 50 years since his own diagnosis with type 1 diabetes. His book and method "Sugar Surfing" use CGM technology to practice dynamic diabetes management, anticipating where blood sugar numbers will be rather than reacting to where they've been. Dr. Ponder also answers questions from parents about independence, A1Cs and fear.

Ryan Reed started racing at age 4, but when he was diagnosed in 2011, he was told those days were over. Instead, Ryan found another doctor and surrounded himself with a "diabetes pit crew" of support. 5 years later, we talk about NASCAR, type 1 management and his Drive to Stop Diabetes partnership with the ADA. Stacey also talks about whether to celebrate "diaversaries" and brings up important information about a Dexcom alarm notification. 

"My Diabetes Secret" is a place to share thoughts, frustrations and experiences online while staying anonymous. Creator Christopher Snider is also behind #DayOfDiabetes on Twitter and hosts the podcast "Just Talking. Diagnosed with type 1 in college, Snider shares why social media is important to his diabetes management and why he'd like to help other health communities with the "My Disease Secret" platform. Stacey also shares some advice she's been given for dealing with Dexcom-related skin issues. 

Sam Fuld returns for his tenth season of Major League Baseball this year, now with the Oakland A's. He was diagnosed at age 10 and found inspiration in established Major League players who had type 1. Now Fuld holds a yearly sports camp for kids with diabetes where all the coaches have T1D as well. Stacey also talks with Yoga instructor Rachel Zinman, who was misdiagnosed for six years! She says it was a relief to finally find out she had type 1 diabetes. 

In 2013, Bryan Mazlish created a home-made artificial pancreas system for use by his wife and son, both of whom have type 1 diabetes. Because Mazlish preferred to stay anonymous, a reporter dubbed him "Bigfoot." In 2015, Mazlish went public and partnered with two others to create Bigfoot Biomedical. Their goal is to bring this technology & other products to market in order to improve the lives of people with T1D. In our Community Connection, Stacey finds out about Hockey Fights T1D, a new JDRF fundraiser in upstate NY sparked by a two year old's diagnosis.

Three of the advocates behind the Spare a Rose charity campaign explain how it helps children with diabetes in the developing world. Kerri Sparling, Scott Johnson & Bennet Dunlap also play a few diabetes-news games with listeners. This episode is our contribution to Diabetes Podcast Week, a first of its kind effort organized by Stacey.

Julie Allred was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age 10, a generation ago. Told she wouldn't live past 30 and would never have children, Julie proved her doctors wrong but eventually had so many low blood sugars that she couldn't drive or leave her house unaccompanied. Two islet cell transplants as part of a clinical trial have changed her life. Julie is also a school nurse; she shares advice for parents on working with school staff.