Sanofi Data Design Diabetes Q&A
I was fortunate to be able to ask Michele Polz, Head of Patient Solutions for Sanofi US Diabetes a few questions about Sanofi's Data Design Diabetes Innovation Challenge. The diabetes group at Sanofi has been putting so much good stuff out into the diabetes community since they arrived. When I say 'good stuff' I mean that I've never met a group of people who aren't diabetic that are so dedicated to making a positive difference in the lives of the people who are.
The support that the DOC receives from Discuss Diabetes and Sanofi is immense and they aren't showing any signs of slowing down. I believe that the direction Sanofi has taken when it comes to creating better outcomes for patients is one of the more encouraging things that I've seen in some time. There was a time that if I saw a pharma company getting involved with patients I immediately thought, "hmm, what's their angle... what do they want?". While I can't speak to every pharma or device manufacturer out there, I can tell you that I've met the people at Sanofi and they may be the most dedicated diabetes advocates that I've ever encountered.
After you check out the Q&A take a moment to watch the video and then get your design idea entered! The prizes are substantial! 5 semi-finalists receive, $20,000 for development of the concept prototype, intensive mentorship from industry leaders to hone the concept and participation in a design boot camp. 2 finalists get $10,000 to create a community-based proof-of-concept program and the winner (1) received $100,000 to develop their solution.
1. What is Data Design Diabetes™?
Data Design Diabetes™ is a next-generation challenge that brings together the richness of open data sets, the values of human-centered design, and the leading-edge methodology of the top innovation accelerators, to find the next breakthrough to help millions of Americans living with diabetes.
2. Why is the Data Design Diabetes Innovation Challenge important to Sanofi?
Sanofi is casting a wide net to meet and help accelerate all of the incredible entrepreneurs who seek to improve diabetes care, by providing them with resources, mentorship, and direct insight from people living with diabetes. The Innovation Challenge is an innovative approach, with unique potential to foster the best solutions, while helping entrepreneurs grow scalable businesses that meaningfully impact healthcare.3. Is this year's challenge different than last year's Challenge?
Yes! To kick off this year's Data Design Diabetes Innovation Challenge and help shape the focus of the challenge, we crowdsourced feedback from people living with diabetes in the U.S. We are also adding a four-day Design & Prototyping Bootcamp where the five semi-finalists will learn about human-centered design, user experience, and rapid prototyping from industry experts. In addition, we are partnering with Startup America to connect the semi-finalists with valuable entrepreneurial resources. These new additions will help drive creative solutions to improve diabetes care, while enabling innovators to develop their concepts into businesses
4. How did you choose the theme for this year's Innovation Challenge?
The crowdsourcing phase of this year’s Innovation Challenge represents an exciting change in this year’s approach – a direct dialogue between people living with diabetes and the Innovation Challenge, to help shape the guidelines for innovators. The results are in! Respondents spoke up to ask that this year’s Innovation Challenge address the following criteria:
- Create tools to help us feel in control.
- Understand that diabetes affects families, not just individuals.
- We want to be well.
5. Why should I enter my idea to improve diabetes care?
Whether you’re a designer, a data wizard or a developer, regardless of your background and interests, the work you do on this challenge has the potential to improve the quality of life for millions of Americans. Your idea may spur new approaches that help us change the landscape of diabetes care in the U.S. We urge you to submit an idea to help people living with diabetes and their families.
6. When does the challenge officially open for submissions?
On February 23, 2012, the Innovation Challenge opened for entries. Innovators can submit their concepts now through March 23, 2012, at http://www.datadesigndiabetes.com/enter/.
2012 Data Design Diabetes Innovation Challenge from Data Design Diabetes on Vimeo.
sanofi-aventis U.S. Innovation Challenge: Data Design Diabetes from Data Design Diabetes on Vimeo.
The semi-finalist have been announced, learn more their innovation ideas at the link.
I'm orange
I was only able to attend a few hours of the Children With Diabetes Focus on Technology conference today but it was so worth the trip for three main reasons.
1. I met some wonderful people in the flesh that I only knew virtually prior to today, which was amazing!
2. I heard some great information from the speakers about future technology, management ideas and more.
3. I found out that I'm orange.
I stepped outside during the morning break to watch the sudden driving snowstorm that appeared. A few moments after I got outside a boy came through the door. He looked to be about ten and I said hello when he appeared next to me.
Boy: Wow, look how hard it's snowing.
Me: I know it's crazy.
Boy: Are you green or orange?
Me: It took me a moment to understand and then I said, "orange"
Boy: Is your son or daughter type I?
Me: My daughter...
Boy: Me too... since I was two.
Me: My daughter was diagnosed when she was two.
Boy: Cool!
He told me about his pump and I told him about Arden's, then we said goodbye. If you get the opportunity to attend a gathering like CWD I suggest that you take it, because in a word, it's "cool".
Cured
I remember the two saddest days of my life since Arden's diagnosis very vividly. They came at a very inopportune time. It was six months after Arden's diagnosis which was two months after I fooled myself into thinking that I had mastered type I diabetes. These days began strangely because Arden's blood sugar was eerily steady and a little on the low side. After breakfast her BG got significant low, almost as if she didn't need any insulin. She ate more to stop the BG fall. The food worked but there was no spike at all, which of course was strange. In the moments after I got her BG stabilized I thought, "maybe they were wrong and she doesn't have diabetes".
Having that thought, was the beginning of the longest, saddest two days that I've lived through since Arden's diagnosis. I knew enough about type I to be sure that I was wrong but everything that was happening said that the insulin wasn't necessary and it certainly seemed like she wasn't diabetic anymore. By the end of that day I wasn't giving injections for meals and I had to skip her pre-bedtime Levemir. I didn't sleep much that night, I was waiting up and testing. Waiting because I was sure that her BG was going to suddenly rise - but it never did. It just stayed between 90 and 107 all night.
This trend lasted through the next morning and then I did something that I knew I shouldn't, but had to do. I needed to tell someone that I thought Arden didn't have diabetes. I called my friend Adam who is also Arden's pediatrician. When Adam got on the phone I said something that I still remember to this day, "I'm about to say something that I know is wrong but I have to say it... I need you to set me straight and then I'll get off of the phone". Bewildered he asked me to proceed.
"Arden doesn't have diabetes. She hasn't needed insulin in over a day... is it possible that she was misdiagnosed?"
I knew that she was most likely experiencing a honeymoon period but I needed someone to tell me. With each moment that passed, I was convincing myself a little more that Arden didn't have diabetes. After a long pause Adam said, "no, she was not misdiagnosed, this is a honeymoon period... Arden has diabetes".
I thanked him, there was some awkward silence and then we said goodbye. I went into the bathroom and cried. The remainder of the day was emotionally excruciating, it felt like a cruel combination of every bad day that I had ever lived through. Later that afternoon we ate dinner and Arden's blood glucose jumped to over 400. I actually felt better when it climbed so far, so fast.
Hand written lyrics to 'Here Comes the Sun'
Today, after so many years of living with type I diabetes, I have seen countless anomalous days. Highs, lows, insulin resistance, sudden drops, more unexpected stuff then I could have ever imagined. I'll never know for sure what happened over those two days. What I can tell you for sure is that it's happened many times since then, including yesterday. Never again to the degree of those days (not needing any insulin) but there have been days when Arden only gets 15% of the insulin that she normally does and her BG never goes above 120.
Last night as we got ready for bed Arden's BG began to jump and then drop, I could see it on her DexCom and finger sticks confirmed what the CGM was saying. Arden's BG was 72 and then 125, then 93 and then 160. It was rolling up and down like a small boat on a very large ocean - this went on all night. The next morning things seemed to be back to normal but sometime around noon they went right back into that tiny boat. Lunch required much less insulin then we thought and then her BG hovered between 70 and 96 all afternoon. Never wanting to waste a day that Arden doesn't need insulin we went to dinner at the Hot Wok Cafe for Chinese. It was there as we looked over the menu that I did something that I've never done before...
I wrote this post to show how something that once seemed so terrible will one day feel very different.
Today, we don't blink an eye when Arden doesn't need much insulin for a day or so. We refer to those days and their events with one word, "cured". Now when the cured days come I don't dream of a misdiagnosis or call Adam and I definitely don't go into a bathroom and cry. I just manage them as best that I can and get Arden a nice meal with a ton of carbs.
In my next blog post, I'll tell you how badly our meal at the Hot Wok Cafe went... I may call that post, 'Whisper Down the Lane' or perhaps 'Confusion at the Hot Wok Cafe'.
The lowest A1c ever
Yesterday was Arden's quarterly endo appointment and it could not have gone any better! At her last appointment her A1c was in range but a bit higher then usual, though still at the high end of acceptable for her age. Arden's A1c is always very stable and in range but never as good as it could be. Our endo likes that it's steady, I am usually unhappy with the number and trying to make it lower.
I don't know about your endo's office but Arden's does her A1c test on site. Today, I was just too on edge to wait for the nurse to bring the news, so I snuck back into the lab just as the test was finishing...
10, 9 ,8, it counted down, 7, 6, 5, I actually said, "c'mon be lower", 3, 2, 1... Test complete. It wasn't just lower then last time, it was .7 lower! Almost a full point! I held in my excitement and made my way back to the exam room (where Arden was blowing up a sterile glove for our now traditional game of VolleyGlove). I told her how far her A1c had fallen, she smiled coyly and offered a high five or three. Then we volleyed that glove like it was our first time.
The NP came in a few minutes later and she began asking the standard questions but I just couldn't wait. I said, "did you see her A1c yet?", she replied, "no". I responded, "Well I have and it's amazing!".
She asked me what it was (I don't share Arden's exact A1c here) when I told her she began clicking furiously on Arden's file and found a list of past test results.
"I thought so" she said... "lowest EVER!", she congratulated Arden and then me. I found myself thinking that my smile must look ridiculous because my face felt like it was about to break. As soon as we got into the car I called Kelly to share the great news and we celebrated all over again.
It's ten hours later and I'm still as excited as I was in that exam room. Even when things are going well with diabetes it can still feel as if they aren't. Yesterday was a much needed and well deserved chance to celebrate and feel accomplished. I hope everyone gets a day like this very soon, it was reinvigorating.
Inserting a DexCom 7+ Sensor
I thought that your children may benifit from seeing how quick and simple it is to insert a DexCom 7+ sensor. Arden and I made this short video to help a friend feel less anxious about using a Continuous Glucose Monitor for the first time and we decided to share it with everyone.
Once you see how quick the process is, all of your concerns about being able to handle the insertion will melt away. When it was finally time for me to insert Arden's first sensor, I had read and heard so much that I felt like I was preparing to launch the space shuttle. As you are about to see... this isn't quite that difficult. I even slowed down a little bit so you could follow along and still the entire process took less then 20 seconds. Don't blink!
The images below are of Arden's SpiBelt, the belt/case she uses to keep her DexCom receiver around her waist.. Clicking on any of the photos will take you to SpiBelt's page for kid's sizes.
SpiBelt is not a sponsor of Arden's Day. We purchased Arden's belts at full price. Arden's Day does not accept any ads or do reviews in exchange for payment or products.
Arden is now using the DexCom G4 but the steps show here are identical to that of the 7+.