I wrote last month about my diabetes diagnosis this year and my difficult choice to wear a proprietary device (called a CGM) on my arm 24/7 to continuously monitor my glucose levels. Like my friend and colleague, Karen M. Sandler — who previously made a much higher-stakes choice to receive a proprietary implanted defibrillator to keep her safe given her genetic heart condition — I reluctantly chose to attach proprietary hardware and software to my body.
  • burntbacon@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
    29·
    17 hours ago

    My favorite part about the continuous monitors is that they really show the incompetence of the clinics that are supposed to be managing us diabetics. There is a freaking option to share the data with your doctor (this is dexcom’s system thingie), but mine just asks for my account information so they can login with that and get the data. Like, whyyyy?!? You could manage all of us from one account rather than logging in a thousand different times.

    Then we get to the bullshit terms and conditions, where the real hate begins… fucking device maker can go hog wild with all of our data and share it with whomever they want. Can’t use the device, after all, unless you agree to it. HIPAA is basically dead at this point.

    Oh, and I also know from firsthand experience how much the cheaper devices can suck. The tandem pump drives me low just about every day. It absolutely blows balls at using the readings from the continuous monitor, while omni and medtronic do just fine.