Running Naked

Even if I were the type to run without clothes on, I wouldn't be doing so today, as we're in the midst of what passes for a cold spell in Vancouver — bright, sunny days, with temps hovering around the 0 celsius mark, and nights dipping lower than -5.

So, no ... when Freddie and I jog a few blocks or sprint up a hill, I am, if anything, overdressed in my various layers. BUT ... in an important, diabetes-related sense, I am, to quote the Bard, a veritable "bare, forked animal" — no insulin pump clipped to my waist, no infusion set or CGM sensor/
transmitter stuck in/to my belly/butt/thigh/arm, no plastic tubing snaking around under my clothes. I used all this gear for about 7 of my (so far) 26 years with diabetes, but close to a year ago, I ditched it all and went back to old-school injections, sans CGM (continuous glucose monitor).

Here's what I wrote on a Facebook page for Vancouver-area T1 diabetics, in response to a question about my reasons for dumping the pump (not so interesting, maybe, for non-D folk :-)):  

My main reason was that, after 7 years, I was tired of having this (optional*) device attached to me 24/7. I also found that I would agonize over micro-decisions related to dosing (pumping allows for a multitude of such decisions), when, in reality, there was just no knowing whether, say, at a given time, a basal rate of .675 units/hour would be better than a rate of .65 u/hour. It's been close to a year since I "unhooked," and my control has not deteriorated. I miss the way my pump would keep track of dosing and other data for me, but I'm still enjoying the feeling of freedom too much to consider going back. 

*Obviously if insulin delivery didn't involve options, I'd have to make peace with whichever form was available!

As for CGM, I wrote about my ditching of that technology here. 

CGM is a crucial component of the artificial pancreas project, in which frequent glucose readings are interpreted and acted upon by the system (treatment decisions are the missing link in current pump + CGM technology). The artificial pancreas system requires the wearing not only of insulin pump and CGM devices but also an additional glucagon pump — to deliver glucose when necessary. 

I dunno ... two pumps AND a CGM? THREE (probably glitchy) gizmos taking up corporeal real estate, making me feel like a cyborg? The system has been tested out on kids, and many people are excited about it. However ... if anyone asked, I'd make the same case that I made against Google's gluco-testing contact lens. 

By the bye, Sébastien Sasseville, who began his trans-Canada live-well-with-diabetes run on Sunday, is NOT running naked. His slick and technologically-enhanced physique can be tracked in real time (with a few tech glitches, it seems) here.

[Apropros of nothing, orange isn't my favourite colour, but that orange velvet chair is GROOVY.]

 Nature takes over ...

  

 ... or not.

Lines, lines, lines!

Freddie's message boards ...

... but he digs the wordy kind as well. 

Go ahead ... leave your mark! :)