Kuddos to the One Touch Verio IQ

While at the Children With Diabetes Friends For Life conference we had the exciting opportunity to experience the exhibit hall!  I felt a little hypocritical at first.  As a physician I don't interact with pharmaceutical representatives (aka "drug reps".)  In fact the Department of Family and Community Medicine where I work has a policy against meeting with them at our offices or taking any kind of food or monetary gifts from them.  I agree with this overall---there are good studies demonstrating the influence meeting with them can have on physician prescribing patterns.  It is easy to be swept away by their sales pitch and not stick to evidence based, often less expensive medications that work.  In addition, ethically I do not feel physicians should accept meals or gifts from these companies---the money should go towards research or programs to aid the financially disadvantaged with obtaining their medications.  So, it was a bit of guilt that I entered the exhibit hall.  I made the psychological decision I was entering as a mom, not a physician.

I was bombarded by booth after booth and saw many new and exciting products.  I spent at least a half hour drooling over the Tandem T-Slim insulin pump and wishing I had enough money that I could surprise my husband with it.  But, more than that it gave me hope for what is yet to come.  If Jess can have something like this in high school I doubt she will be as bothered carrying an insulin pump.  For those of you that haven't seen it---check it out.  It is smaller than an iPhone and looks almost like one, complete with a touch screen.

And, then I saw it.  The One Touch Verio IQ.  This little meter is amazing.  First of all---it is small and light.  You can barely tell you're carrying anything.  It has this nice color screen as shown above that lights up.  And, it even has a sunshine on it!  How cheerful is that?  Yes- you have to prick your finger now.  And, yes that sucks.  But, look---the sun is shining and it is a happy day.  Subliminal?  Maybe.  But, I find myself feeling a bit more cheery every time I see the screen.  One of my favorite features occurs in the dark of night.  Hundreds of times I have tip toed into my daughter's bedroom and used my cell phone as a flash light to try to see what I am doing to test her blood sugar.  I have missed many a time, accidentally getting blood on her sheets or pajamas instead of the testing strip.  This meter has an amazing light.  I can see everything!  And, that little sunshine is there cheering me up a bit in the dead of night.  But, here's the best part---it tracks the blood sugars and alerts you to possible patterns with a friendly message.  Whoever invented it was smart enough to not come up with messages such as "Hey dumb shit---you've been high every day after breakfast.  Do you think you should change your breakfast I:C ratio?"  No- this meter tells you in a very friendly manner that it is tracking a pattern you might want to be aware of (without reminding you that you really suck at downloading your daughter's meter on a regular basis, and that it often takes days for you to think- "huh- I think she's been high every morning after breakfast.")  This is even more important for low patterns!  I am already seeing tighter control for Jessica.  Its like partially being able to delegate all the analyzing that is involved with managing this disease.  Now- if I could just teach it to cook!

Does it have down sides?  Sure.  For one, it doesn't remotely control her insulin pump.  So, after I check we either manually enter her blood sugar into her remote meter or pump.  So far, even Jess likes the Verio so much that she is only happy to do this.

I hear it downloads to Diasend as well.  We have an endo appointment Monday so I guess I better figure that out this weekend.  And, yes, the last time I downloaded to Diasend?  I think about three months ago before her last endo appointment.  Sigh.