This means that it has passed the "novelty" test in my house!!!
As in - the novelty has NOT worn off!!!
BOTH of my kids have now given up their former meters in favour of their iBGStars.
Tim likes the fact that he no longer has to carry around a bulky meter. He's still hot a huge fan of using test strips instead of a cartridge, however, he feels that the rest of the benefits of the iBGStar - size, coolness factor etc, outweigh the nuisance of test strips.
So, Issie and Tim are the only two children at their school who are allowed to have their iPhone/iPod Touch with them at all times!
I like that they don't have to have the iBGStar meter attached to their iPhone/iPod when they're using it.
Most of the time when I'm doing overnight testing I can just use the meter on its own (the kids have passwords on their iPhone/iPod - so having to enter the password before testing if it's attached to the device can be a touch too difficult for the brain to cope with at 3am) - and I'll only plug it into their iPhone/iPod Touch if their BGL is out of range and I need to do a correction or make some other notes that I'm likely to forget by the time the rest of the world wakes up. So, on uneventful nights (although have to say, not too many of those in my house) I can just test on the iBGStar meter then get the kids to plug it into their iPhone/iPod before they go to school.
Another benefit of not having to have it connected to the iPhone/iPod Touch is that it is tiny enough to stick in the inside pocket of your ski jacket when you hit the slopes!
The kids and I attended the Riding On Insulin camp (check out their updated website - pretty cool) at Mt Baw Baw in Victoria about 10 days ago and the tiny size of the iBGStar meter made it very easy to keep it snug and warm inside their jacket pockets with no real issues of the meter getting cold and not working correctly.
Of course we demonstrated the iBGStar to lots of parents and kids at the camp, all of whom were VERY excited about this new meter with the general response, other than the initial, "coooooooool", being, "How do I get one???"
So look out Sanofi - I hope you've got enough stock coming in time for the official launch in Sydney next month!
Just one other thing I wanted to mention - the way you can customise your notes.
I LOVE this function.
Issie, however, thinks I've gone a bit nuts because the list of "regular" notes under each category is now almost as long as her arm (or, would be if it was not on an electronic device).
Let me explain my reason for having so many "regular" notes!
The sleep-deprived brain of a mother of 2 kids with T1D, who is working and studying politics and commercial law at Uni, is not very good at remembering details with respect to what was going on with either child's BGLs at any given time.
So, for me, the ability to be able to just tap on something that will keep a record of all the reasons for a BGL being through the roof or way too low, means that I now don't have to suffer through the inevitable questions from the Diabetes Educator come Clinic Day; "Well, why was her BGL so high/low at this time?", "Did he forget to bolus?", "Did she/he feel that hypo?" and the list goes on!
Now I don't have to remember ANY of those things - the iBGStar does this for me!!!
Here's a list of just SOME of the notes I have saved which can now be accessed just by touching the screen:
- forgot to bolus for dinner
- insulin pump correction
- feeling lower than reading
- feeling angry
- carb free meal
- temp basal increase
- temp basal decrease
- positive ketones
- negative ketones
- tried to steal best friend's fairy floss at the footy
- had just met Hugh Jackman at the footy and was a teensy bit excited...
Okay - well maybe I just made up those last two - although we DID meet Hugh Jackman at the footy!!!
L-R: Issie, HUGH JACKMAN, Tim
at Manly Sea Eagles v Newcastle Knights inaugural
19 August 2012
The iBGStar App is available through the App Store - here's a link for you so you don't have to search for it.
And here are some screenshots of some of the features on the iBGStar App - this App gives you sooooo much information, is really easy to use and really easy to customise!
Check out the BGL reading screen on the left (above) - you can add as many notes as you like,
well, at least so far I have not received any warnings that I've added too many notes,
and believe me, I add LOTS of notes!
These charts are really cool - and, of course, they're interactive! If you move the line onto any of the dots it will then automatically take you to the BGL reading screen for that particular reading,
so you can easily see all the details and any notes you've made.
Oh - there is a way around the inability to be able to SMS single BGL results (say if the kids are at school and have a hypo or hyper and want you to know about it - which Issie so kindly did while I was in the middle of a lecture - which I then had to leave so that I could help her deal with a hypo that wouldn't budge) - just take a "screenshot" of the reading and attach that picture to your text message.
Oops - almost forgot this other thing...
Issie has told me that the readings on the iBGStar more closely reflect how she is feeling than any of her other meters have. I take this as a good thing because she is now more likely to trust a reading on this meter than she has on other meters.
All in all, we're loving the iBGStar, still.
My vacuum cleaner, however, probably isn't. It had become used to a life without test strips. Oh well, you can't please everyone!
Can't wait for the Official iBGStar Launch Party on 6 September in Sydney!
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