Wondering about being in a study and pump 522/722

Jenny says:

Many people have asked me why Tommy is not part of a study. And the answer is that I did not find any studies to participate in. I asked at the University Hospital in Wisconsin and they said that there were not any there. (I think that is the most important, your endo has to be one that does research.) I asked our local Medtronics rep., and she said that it is up to the clinic and that there isn't really any motivation for the UW to do a study since it is already FDA approved and marketed. I also called Abbott to see if there were any opportunities to get on board for a Navigator trial, and there were not any trials in our area.

Well, we got our Guardian RT workbook today. Both my sons looked at it and examined the photos. They asked a few questions and then didn't give it another thought all day. ( Except there was a small discussion about how much Tommy would go for on e-bay once he was hooked up to his Guardian GT, his insulin pump, and had his braces on. ) :)

Our rep said that our product shipped. So it will be here soon.

Sandra Miller posted a comment on this blog on Feb. 1 about the next Medtronic Pump. It is going to utilize the Guardian RT technology, so that the pump and the monitor communicate with each other. She said that the new pump is already available in Canada. That news was a little alarming to us considering that we just spent money on the main component of the new pump. I called Medtronic and they said that the FDA slows things like that down in the U.S. I talked to my local Medtronic rep. and she said that the "522/722" insulin pump has been in front of the FDA since October, so she guessed that the earliest we would hear about it would be between October and January. That means that it wouldn't be marketed until January 2007 at the earliest. (I'm kind of hoping we will have a cure by then!! I know wishful thinking.) She also explained that when the new pump comes out, we will be using the same transmitter, so hopping on board with the Guardian RT now will not put us out any more money when it comes to buying the new pump in a few years. We may even be able to buy the software that enables Tommy's current pump to talk to the Guardian RT without having to purchase any additional hardware.