Below are Case Studies from people who have tried the Smart Pix and their stories and experiences using the device.
Jake Bevan Churchill: I really like having such a smart toy that can help me to cope better with my diabetes
Tae Kwon Do is a Korean martial art that develops self discipline, self knowledge, physical conditioning and respect for self and others, and - as an added bonus - reduces stress levels. Jake Bevan Churchill obtained British Champion (gold medal) in Yellow belt green stripe, sparring and a silver medal in patterns at the British Tae Kwon Do Championships in Newcastle in October 2005. This was just a few weeks after he was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at the age of eleven. Maybe Jake’s dedication to the philosophy and practice of Tae Kwon Do helped him to adjust to being diabetic but his Mother, Julia, says that he has a very patient and compliant nature which has meant he takes his condition and the constraints it imposes very much in his stride:
Within half an hour of being diagnosed, he was self-administering an insulin injection. He’s particularly good about his diet, impressing the Dietician with what he eats and not particularly craving anything he can’t have. Over 95% of the time, he’s very cool about the whole thing, though he’s not immune to throwing the odd wobbly if he’s tired and an injection causes him pain. For a twelve year old he’s very mature about it all.
Jake and his Mother are keen to look together at the graphs they produce using the Accu-Chek Smart Pix. They have regular consultations with the Paediatric Diabetes Nurse, Joanna Naylor, at Penrith Hospital who is an enthusiast for Accu-Chek Smart Pix and what its output reveals about Jake’s blood glucose control. Jake regards the Device Reader as a real help:
Every month Mum and I look at the graphs. I particularly like the ones that show me what’s been going on week by week. The average line is particularly helpful as it shows what the trend is. We relate the graphs back to my food and exercise diary so we can see the effects of what I’ve been doing. The metabolic graph is not very useful as it seems a bit specialist - but we print out all the others and discuss them. I think Accu-Chek Smart Pix is brilliant, much clearer than a logbook. I really like having such a smart toy that can help me to cope better with my diabetes.
Jake self-administers four daily injections of short-acting analogue and medium/long-acting insulin, having tried a wide range of alternatives over the last year. He is currently wrestling with controlling high morning levels (15 mmol/l or more), but is trying not to get obsessive about what is happening on individual days:
Mum says the overall trend is what is important, and that has been improving recently. If we want to see what is going on day-by-day we can use the logbook, but we use Accu-Chek Smart Pix most of the time because that gives the clearest picture.
