Dario

I'm a data geek and taking charge of my diabetes is no different.  The doctor gave me a glucose meter for "free", but it was just the same old dumb meter that required me to keep a paper log or put the data into an app manually.  I'm lazy and I know it so I went looking for a better solution.

My answer was Dario.  The Dario glucose meter is made by an Israeli company and is a major departure from the traditional glucose meter.  In one nicely designed unit, it houses the glucose meter, test strip storage and lancing device.  The white cap on the right in the picture below hides the test strip cartridge which holds 25 strips at a time.  The orange cap holds one lancet and is deployed with the orange button on the bottom.  The meter itself is housed in a spring loaded drawer on the top side.  It then is removed and plugged into the head phone jack on an iPhone (not supported on iPhone 7 yet, but they're working on it).  Once connected and using the Dario app, you place a strip in the meter, prick your finger and get your reading.  The app is integrated with Apple Health so the glucose numbers can be easily fed to other applications.

The Dario with the glucose meter deployed at top.

In my case, my physicians are part of the HSHS Medical Group which uses the Allscripts For My Health app.  This app reads the data and adds my blood glucose readings directly into my electronic health record.  Because of this my doctor can see my readings anytime she wants.  In addition for parents of children with diabetes, they can load the app or a website and see a child's readings at school while they are at work.  

Another nice feature is that if the meter detects a dangerous hypo or hyper glucose scenario it will send your position and an alert to a person you designate so that they can make sure that you're ok.

All in all, for $39.99 this was a great purchase.  Insurance doesn't cover my testing supplies, but at 4 cents per strip, it is cheaper than what my copay and deductibles made it to buy the other supplies through insurance.  The only design change I would make is a way to store the safety cap for the currently loaded lancet and a place for at least one spare lancet.  Due to Apple's removal of the head phone jack, I'm also hoping the device becomes lightening compatible or bluetooth.  Unfortunately FDA approval often slows down innovation so I expect new versions to be limited to Europe for a bit before the US gets the next version.  If you want to learn more, go to www.mydario.com.

Diabetes 0 Ben 1

I had my first visit with the endocrinologist this week.  While at the office they ran my A1C again.  Since the initial diagnosis in November, my A1C has gone from 6.9 to 5.8.  The greatest part of this is that I did this with no medicine.  I must say that Nutrisystem D with exercise and better eating has done the trick.  In addition I've managed to lose around 30lbs.  My endocrinologist is still not happy with my morning fasting blood sugars though so I have to look at other changes.

The first one is to get with my GP about getting the BiPAP machine that my sleep study indicated I needed.  Unfortunately that whole process got sidelined when my foot and diabetes problems started.  Hopefully this will help me sleep better, lose weight easier and lower my blood sugar.  Or at least that's what the endocrinologist thinks. Beyond that she's testing for all sorts of things including thyroid problems.

All in all though, I would say month 1 goes to me. :)