CGMS

Tonight was the monthly gathering of our local PWD group. The speaker, himself a T1 of 27 years, was none other than our own Minimed rep, sporting a Guardian RT. Not coincidently, it was the subject of the presentation. Many of us who followed Wil's blog got a very indepth day by day review of the subject and I don't think I can add anything to what Wil has already extolled.

However, a couple of interesting points were made tonight that I wanted to pass on to the OC.

1. If your considering the Guardian RT, hold off, better things are coming. While I don't have specifics, the indication was that the external unit will be smaller and the whole unit will be more refined. I have to admit that the external unit is a little bulky and smaller is usually better when it comes to these devices that imbed themselves into the most intimate happenings of our day to day lives. I don't have further information on what exactly 'refined' means. My guess is that Minimed has learned several things from their limited release and are incorporating these lessons into the production release. The rep indicated the new Guardian would probably be available next year.



2. The new pump/sensor combination unit should be available in the US in the next 12-18 months. It is already available in Europe. For those of you who are following this story closely this is probably just a reconfirmation of what you already know. Since I'm currently in no position to purchase (read: no health insurance) I'm following both these stories from an informational perspective. (I think this situation will rectify itself shortly so that I won't be just a window shopper.)

I'm becoming a believer that this is the next step in my personal diabetes management. Due to my years of experience in software development, I'm always leary of the infamous 1.0 releases which are typically bug laden. I think the new Guardian unit, I'll dub it the 2.0, when released will be a good jumping off point.

Our area rep, has a personal endo visit tomorrow. He indicates his A1c typically runs about 6.7. With the additional information provided by the Guardian. he's expecting something in the 5's. I'll let you know how he does.