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2024-09-18

Welcome to News from Loop and Learn

Master Your DIY Closed-Loop Insulin Delivery System

Published on 18 September 2024.

In this edition:

Upcoming Zoom Sessions

Loop and Learn: Informal Discussion (Open Mic) zoom meetings are scheduled on the second Thursday of each month.

Zoom Sessions use this link:

Topic Recorded? Time Date
Loop and Learn: Informal Discussion
Open Mic		 no 18:00 UTC 10 October 2024

Time Zone Converter

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Fuel the Future: Support Hack 2024

Thank you to our generous community for your support helping to bring our developers together to collaborate in person. Our group is entirely run by volunteers. We help the community because Open Source Automated Insulin Delivery systems have changed each of our lives and we want to share that joy with as many people as we can. When we need financial support, we turn to the Nightscout Foundation, and they have been an amazing partner.

Our team is helping to organize the upcoming Hack 2024 because we strongly believe in the value of bringing developers and other volunteers together to brainstorm what our future should look like. This will require significant financial resources and many of you have expressed a desire to give back and pay it forward, so we are asking for your support. If you haven’t yet had the opportunity to make a small donation and would like to contribute to the community’s future, we would so appreciate your doing so by clicking on the link below:

Advocacy at the DNC

The Democratic National Convention (DNC) was held in Chicago, IL (United States) 19-22 August 2024.

Looper and patient advocate Gail DeVore spoke at the DNC advocating for reduced insulin pricing for ALL in the US- not just those on Medicare.

Thank you, Gail!

Dexcom Geofencing Update

Stacey Simms had a recent conversation with Dexcom’s Jake Leach and learned that Dexcom does have a plan to help travelers be able to recover access to their Dexcom G7 app if it needs to be reinstalled when they are in a different country. Click on the link below to listen to the podcast or read a transcript.

Disable Auto Install in TestFlight

We strongly recommend that loopers take advantage of auto updates from GitHub to TestFlight, courtesy of the Browser Build, but not from TestFlight to your phone. Because sometimes there are big changes, you want to be aware of them before updating and be the one to decide when to change your version!

Here are some links:

Sharing is Caring

We love seeing your awesome BG graphs in the group! To help everyone learn, it’d be great if you could also share how you got those results. Did you change any settings or routines? Tried something new? Are you using other drugs in addition to insulin? Sharing tips makes it easier for others to improve too. Remember, we’re here to loop and learn together!

Pack Your Bag

What’s in your diabetes bag? Have you looked lately? This is a friendly reminder (from someone who knows how important it is) to check your or your kid’s diabetes bag on a regular basis and make sure everything you may need is in it!

Make Your Own Dark Mode

Some apps don't have dark mode. These apps with white backgrounds are blindingly bright in low light situations. You can invert them. Here’s how!

  • Go to iPhone Settings
  • Accessibility
  • Per-app settings
  • App Name (for example, Dexcom G6)
  • Smart invert >> On

Some of the colors may look "funny" and it's a permanent change regardless of whether your phone is in dark or light mode. But it's much nicer for checking glucose levels in the middle of the night.

Update Your Apple Watch

One of our mentors updated her watch and got a spinning Loop installation indicator despite rebooting her phone and watch. She was able to update by:

  1. removing the Loop complication from her watch face and checking the state of the installation, which was complete
  2. adding Loop back as a complication

Overlap Dexcom G7 Sensors

Many people start their next G7 Sensor during the grace period of their current sensor. Then, after the new sensor has time to stabilize, switch over to the new sensor. With this method, so long as there are no failed or knocked off sensors, you get continuous readings and avoid using those first 6-12 hours of a new sensor with your closed-loop system.

  1. Acknowledge the expired alert on the G7 app and indicate you’ll change the sensor later
  2. Then insert a new sensor - it automatically starts but does not pair with the phone
  3. When ready to swap to new sensor on phone, tell the G7 app to switch to a new sensor
    • If timing is right, the old one runs until the end of the grace period and then just say ok- I have a new one installed- and give it the pairing code
  4. Once it pairs, then (and only then), the G7 app backfills all the readings from the new sensor and at that time, you get the double trace on your G7 app
    • when it pairs, the app announces the Bluetooth "name", i.e., DXCM## for G7 or DX02## for One+

We also recommend that you go into the phone Bluetooth settings under MY DEVICES and forget the old Dexcom sensor, keeping just the current one.

Survey for Parents of Students with T1D

This survey is open to parents of children with T1D in PreK-12, public and private schools in U.S. Your input will create data needed to shape important decisions to update trainings, resources, and policies in schools.

Take this anonymous survey to shape the future of diabetes management in schools nationwide!‍

Share this survey on your social media pages and local T1D pages so all T1D parents in the US can be heard! This survey is a collaboration between FOLLOWT1Ds and dQ&A Research, an insights partner.