When I met Amanda Bauer online through the diabetes community and found out she has diabetes and LOVES her pink insulin pump and pink mio infusion set, I knew that we would become fast friends since we have that in common! That’s exactly what happened with Amanda and me. Amanda is 20 years old, has lived with type 1 diabetes since the age of 11, and has been on a MiniMed insulin pump for the last 8 years.  Read More >

As the school year comes to a close, we begin to shift our mindset into summer mode and all of the activities that go along with the season. Diabetes Camp is a great opportunity for kids to get active, make new friends and learn more about diabetes management. However, for many parents of kids with diabetes, sending their child away from home for a week can be cause for concern.  Read More >

Today we’re bringing back another blog from one of our community favorites, Cheryl, a Medtronic employee, person with diabetes, and a mom! Diabetes is a family disease, and no one knows that more than someone who lives with it every day. Today, Cheryl opens up with The LOOP on what it’s been like to educate her children about what’s involved with her diabetes management.  Read More >

For most men and women, their wedding day is one they’ll never forget. It takes a tremendous amount of planning to make this day special, and maybe even a little more so for those with diabetes. Today, we share with you a special guest post from professional golfer and pumper, Carling Coffing.  Read More >

We often hear from people of all ages that insulin pump therapy can be daunting at first. However, it usually doesn’t take long for changing sets and using the Bolus Wizard to become second nature. (Figuring out the exact carb count on your favorite takeout or nailing down those overnight basal rates might take a bit more trial and error.)  Read More >

Today we welcome back our favorite sky-diver with diabetes, Michael Craig, who’s here to share some exciting news – he’s moving across the country for an exciting new job with the JDRF! Of course, new jobs are stressful and moving is a hassle for anyone. But there’s even more to think about and plan for if you live with type 1 diabetes. Hear how Michael is managing it all and join us in congratulating him on such an exciting time in his life!  Read More >

Growing up in a household full of Irish heritage, St. Patrick’s Day has always been one of my favorite holidays. I love the tradition of green shamrocks, cornbeef and cabbage and Irish music. So I was thrilled when a customer shared a photo of playing a bagpipe in a St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Thanks Jennifer for sharing your tips for managing to pump while playing the long route.  Read More >

When we started the LOOP blog two years ago, it was our first significant step forward into the world of social media. Since then, we have started our Twitter and Facebook communities and we are so pleased with how engaged and united each of you has been. Today marks the two year blogaversary for The LOOP and so we wanted to take a moment to celebrate and recognize this special occasion! To do this we’ve rounded up some of our all-time favorite blogs from the past two years.  Read More >

With diabetes, it’s extremely important to know where your blood glucose is, where it’s going, and how fast it’s getting there. Today, Kristin Baker, a CGM Product Specialist here at Medtronic joins us to talk about three types of continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) alerts to help with that information – Threshold, Predictive, and Rate of Change alerts.  Read More >

Regardless of age, the decision to use an insulin pump to help manage diabetes is a huge decision for both the person of diabetes and their loved ones. We recently sat down with 13-year-old Jack to talk about his decision to go on the pump and how it’s affected his day-to-day diabetes management. To hear even more from Jack, be sure to check out his video on WebMD.  Read More >

Today, we’re excited to share with you another guest blog from Katie Janowiak, who works for the Medtronic Foundation, our company’s philanthropic arm. When she first told me her story about food poisoning and Diabetic Ketoacidosis (DKA), I knew others could benefit from hearing it as well. Thanks Katie for your openness and allowing us to share your scary story so that the LOOP community can learn from it.  Read More >

A new year often brings change, and one of these might include changing the type of infusion set you wear. Infusion sets come in different kinds, each with different tubing and cannula length options. Based on lifestyle changes, your body type, and fluctuations in individual needs, your healthcare team might recommend looking into other infusion sets. Since there are many options, this is a popular topic.  Read More >

Many women say that pregnancy is a time that transforms their future knowing they are carrying the child they will one day hold in their arms. It’s exciting, intimidating, and down-right frightening at times. And when you are a woman with diabetes experiencing pregnancy, many of these emotions can be drastically highlighted.  Read More >

It is my pleasure today to introduce competitive ski racer, Nick Ward. Nick is an extremely inspirational young guy. After his diabetes diagnosis, he was told he wouldn’t be able to continue his pursuit of a competitive ski career. Passionate and driven, Nick pressed forward and continues on his quest of one day representing our nation as part of the U.S. Olympic Team.  Read More >

I hope everyone had a wonderful and relaxing holiday season with family and friends. As we usher in the New Year, I’d like to take a moment to once again say, Thank You! Thank you to all of our readers for being a special part of our online community. Seeing you all come together to support one another on a daily basis on Facebook, Twitter, and right here on The LOOP is exciting and it inspires me to come to work every day.  Read More >

Recently my friend Fran Kaufman, our Chief Medical Officer, contacted me to explain that Medtronic was piloting a skills-based volunteering program, Skills for Change. She asked if I would like to be part of a small global team travelling to Chennai, India for 3 weeks to focus on gestational and type 2 diabetes. I immediately jumped at the opportunity.  Read More >

I’ll admit it, I’m weirdly good at keeping track of things. I’m over-organized to a fault and at any given time I have dozens of lists swirling around in my head. My husband uses me as a walking calendar. I have an eerie ability to remember not only important information, but also some pretty useless stuff . . . like all of the lyrics to any song from the ‘80s, even if I haven’t heard it in 20 years.  Read More >

As many of you know, we were thrilled to welcome Aron Medow, winner of our Facebook launch contest, to Los Angeles and Medtronic. Aron was kind enough to share with us the following very kind words about his visit. But I think we should be the ones thanking him – the team and I had a wonderful time with Aron, his beautiful wife Nellie and their adorable, high-energy little boys. Thank you Medow family – we’re so glad you had a nice time here in Los Angeles!  Read More >

Like any workplace, here at Medtronic Diabetes, we go through phases of conversations and activities that are often the topic of hallway and cafeteria table conversations. One of the things you might hear around here lately is, “Did you see the video of that guy jumping out of a plane with Lenny the Lion? The one with an insulin pump?”  Read More >

Kazakhstan is one of the best kept secrets in the world. If you think it is what was portrayed a few years ago in a rather irreverent movie, you are totally wrong. It is a vast country stretching across the Silk Road from Iran to China with a diverse ethnic/racial population and incredible resources – oil, gas and minerals – that have enabled the government to advance education, housing, industry and health for its people.  Read More >

I’ve always believed that as a person with diabetes it’s important to take what I learn and share this information with others. I have many times benefited by being on the receiving end and learning from my friends with diabetes. I like to use my blog posts as a way to educate and share interesting tips, but to also share my personal experiences (even if it means sharing my mistakes, like I’m about to…)  Read More >

Today, I’m excited to introduce Lori Schlosser, mother of 14-year-old Noah, who lives with Type 1 Diabetes. In today’s guest post, Lori shares with us some of the challenges that parents face when raising a child with Type 1 Diabetes as well as some tips she has learned since Noah’s recent incorporation of CGM technology into his daily diabetes management. If you have tips of your own, we’d love for you to share them with us in the comments below!  Read More >

Today, we hear from Theresa Reynoso, who shares a very difficult story. She lost her son at age 19 from Type 1 diabetes and talks about her day-to-day management of her own Type 2 diabetes. She says it’s not easy, but with the help of her insulin pump, it makes managing her diabetes a lot less difficult. Take a moment to listen to Theresa’s story and share your thoughts with us in the comments.  Read More >

We’ve been inspired with how our community came together during our Back-to-School Facebook contest and shared such thoughtful tips for effective diabetes management for students of all ages. Our voting period wrapped up this past Thursday September 13th, and it’s time to announce our three winners!  Read More >

You may remember today’s guest blogger Amanda Griswold from earlier this year, when she and her husband Brett shared with us their unusual love story. Today we’re lucky to have her back to talk about the couple’s decision to have their son screened for autoantibodies predictive of the development of Type 1 Diabetes through the research program TrialNet.  Read More >

We were thrilled to see all of the great tips shared through our Back-to-School Facebook contest over the last few weeks! It’s been inspiring to read all of your great tips for managing diabetes in classrooms – from kindergarten to college. Now, the time has come to vote for your favorite tip!  Read More >

We have good news to share with you today. We just announced, along with our partner Bayer HealthCare, a new blood glucose meter that will link to Medtronic insulin pumps. The CONTOUR® NEXT LINK has a bright, easy-to-read color display, requires a small blood sample size (0.6 microliters) and uses Bayer’s patented No-Coding™ technology to eliminate inaccurate test results that occur due to miscoding of the meter.  Read More >

I’m excited to share with you our first guest blog from action sports enthusiast and professional skydiver, Michael Craig. You may remember him from his interview with The LOOP back in June. Michael is definitely an inspirational guy, always going for it, and not letting life circumstances prevent him from following his dreams and doing what he loves; something that anyone can admire. Today, Michael shares some of his history with us, as well as his experiences after 30 days using CGM.  Read More >

As a person with diabetes, I find that certain foods will completely wreck my blood sugar. Those items can vary from person to person, but I’ve got quite a list of foods that always bring me major blood sugar mayhem. So when I began pumping after 28 years of injections I was determined to use my pump’s features to tackle some of my favorite challenging foods. Any guesses on which food was first on my list?  Read More >

I would like to take a moment to first thank everyone for the wonderful diabetes management tips submitted on our Insulin Pumps and Continuous Glucose Monitoring blog by Dr. Francine Kaufman. As you know, everyone who submitted a tip was automatically entered in to a drawing to win 1 of 10 copies of her new book, Insulin Pumps and Continuous Glucose Monitoring: A User’s Guide To Effective Diabetes Management.  Read More >

Do you have a great tip for managing diabetes while in school? With the new school year quickly approaching, we want to hear about the ways you prepare. Do you have great tips when it comes to managing diabetes in the cafeteria, or in the middle of biology class? Whether your tip is for a little one just starting Kindergarten, a tween/teen or a young adult heading off to college, we want to hear from you!  Read More >

Meet James, a Medtronic MiniMed customer who shares his experience about being diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes and using insulin pump therapy to help him manage his diabetes.  Read More >

A change of scenery is always nice, and this summer my travel agenda has taken me to Arizona, South Carolina, and Minnesota so far. I first prepared for my trips by checking the weather forecast and learned I would be experiencing triple-digit weather, talk about change! I did research to learn about heat and insulin pumps and I would like to follow up on the insulin storage blog I wrote last fall  Read More >

Before my Paradigm Revel, my old routine used to look a bit like this: 1. Check blood sugar 2. Calculate carbs (if eating a meal or snack) 3. Pull out the calculator and use about 3-4 different mathematical equations to guess at a round-about dose for said carbs 4. Then, either inject (if I were using pens) or program my old pump to deliver the said dose. 5. And, when I was able to get a CGM, my next step was to find the CGM and input my latest BG reading in for calibration.  Read More >

Dealing with natural disasters can be daunting for anyone and whether it is flooding, fires, tornadoes, earthquakes, snow, or a hurricane, it’s important for anyone to be prepared. If you’re someone who lives with diabetes you also have to think about your diabetes management needs and supplies as part of that reactive plan to have in place for yourself and loved ones. About five years ago, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, we put in place a disaster relief program...  Read More >

I want to take a moment to thank all of you who have joined our new Facebook community! It’s wonderful to be able to share with/hear from you on a daily basis, as well as twice a week here at The LOOP. When joining us on Facebook, I know many of you also entered the contest to win a trip to Los Angeles to enjoy some of our local sights, tour the Medtronic facility and meet with some of our executives. The good news is, we’ve selected a winner!  Read More >

One topic that customers often ask about when they call the 24-Hour HelpLine is the buttons on their insulin pumps. How durable are they? Am I pushing them too hard? Am I pushing them the wrong way? I can understand why - there’s so much riding on those buttons! The more than 1 million lines of computer code in a Medtronic insulin pump (interesting factoid for you!) are controlled by only four little buttons.  Read More >

As many of you know, we launched the Medtronic Diabetes Facebook page a few weeks ago. We’re really enjoying the opportunity to connect with customers like you both on Facebook as well as here at The LOOP. In addition to answering your questions and providing tips and information, it’s been wonderful to hear from so many of you about the extraordinary (and ordinary) moments in your lives – from wedding days and birthday pool parties to softball games and mountain climbs.  Read More >

Many people with diabetes tell the story of how, shortly after diagnosis, a friend, family member or healthcare provider says something along the lines of “You can’t be at truck driver or join the military, but career-wise anything else is open to you.” I’ve been lucky enough to meet people for whom “anything else” became a fireman, teacher, scientist, nurse, journalist, hair stylist, runner, singer or professional athlete. But meeting Michael Craig still wowed me...  Read More >

In case you missed it last week, the diabetes community lost someone who made a significant contribution to the understanding of diabetes – Dr. David Lawrence Rimoin.  Read More >

A few months ago I had two lows in the middle of the night which resulted in 6 Starbursts and 2 protein bar wrappers thrown on the floor next to my bed. The next morning my mom saw the wrappers and immediately told me how guilty she felt for not catching them. That day she cried, and she cried hard, over the fact that even though it’s been 10 years and I’ve moved from a child with diabetes to a 20-something adult with diabetes, it is still hard for her to watch my struggle...  Read More >

Since starting on insulin pumps over 12 years ago, I have used almost every type of infusion set that has been made (along with almost every insulin pump, but that’s another story). The last type of set I used was the Quick-Set for my Paradigm Revel pump. I liked it because the packaging was not a lot of waste and you could use either the Quick-Serter or insert it manually.  Read More >

The morning started out well enough. I put in a new infusion set before heading to work. Spent all morning in the 180s, despite multiple corrections. Sometimes that happens, so I didn’t think too much of it. Then I had lunch. And bolused for all my carbs. Only my body didn’t get the memo. I looked down to see double up arrows on my CGM. And discovered I had small ketones. So frustrating!  Read More >

Today we’re excited to introduce you to Katie Janowiak, who works for the Medtronic Foundation, our company’s philanthropic arm. It’s an exciting job, helping Medtronic employees get involved in the communities and causes we care about. But today she’s here to share something personal - her diagnosis with Type 1 Diabetes 15 years ago and what she’s learned since then about living with diabetes.  Read More >

In my last blog, I shared about how you can add cleaning your insulin pump to your spring cleaning to-do list. So I thought I’d take this a step further by looking into my diabetes drawers which led me to my continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) devices. My transmitter and sensor insertion device (also called the Sen-serter) could definitely benefit from some cleaning!  Read More >

A few weeks ago, I celebrated my fourth “pumpaversary”. And I really did celebrate the milestone of being on an insulin pump for four years, because my road to get here was a long one.  Read More >

I have some exciting news to share with you today – Medtronic Diabetes is now on Facebook! We know that a lot of you spend time on Facebook connecting with your friends and with others who have diabetes. We have really enjoyed connecting with you here at The LOOP, as well as on Twitter, which is why we’re thrilled to be on Facebook.  Read More >

Last week was the personal highpoint of my year. One of the best things I get to do every day is answer questions and provide information to people with diabetes to make the management of their diabetes a little easier. At the same time, I work with many of the leaders of the company to get updates on product innovations like the closed loop, clinical studies to improve outcomes, and a variety of other topics including education and support.  Read More >

Spring cleaning is the time of year when we tend to clean up our surroundings to simplify our lives after the dreary winter months. Depending on where you live, you may be coming out of the cold soon and, with the sight of some new blooms, ready to take on your closet or your kitchen cabinets. But how about organizing your pump supplies or cleaning your insulin pump?  Read More >

Can you believe it? It’s the LOOP’s first blogaversary already! And, of course, we couldn’t have done it without you, our readers. Thank you! It seems like just yesterday we were nervously hovering over the “publish” button for the first time, asking ourselves things like: “Is this first post okay?” “Will anyone read it?” “Can we really do this – do we have something to say that the DOC will care about?”  Read More >

As I am sure you already know, there are long-term complications associated with diabetes and the goal of effective diabetes management is to prevent these complications from developing. The most common long-term complication is heart disease, also called coronary artery disease and abbreviated as CAD.  Read More >

It’s that time again…the three-month check-in/check-up at the doctor’s office. Time to get everything together: logbook, refills needed, questions or concerns jotted down. The part I used to dread was the most was the logbook part. Making sure I had the right cables for the right devices, uploading three devices (meter, pump and CGM) and praying my printer would work to print off the needed reports.  Read More >

Valentine’s Day is today – a day that’s typically all about love and romance. Now, when you think of diabetes and Medtronic, romance might not be the first word to come to your mind. But when I think of diabetes, Medtronic and romance, two names immediately came to mind: Amanda and Brett Griswold. Amanda works here in Marketing with Lenny the Lion and a few other fun projects. When I first started at Medtronic someone told me a brief version of their story and all I could say was “Wow!”  Read More >

When I first met Blair Ryan more than a year ago, she and her Insulindependence colleague Peter Nerothin were introducing Amanda and me to a fantastic burrito place in Solano Beach, CA. With the waves of the Pacific crashing behind us, I knew right away I liked this classic SoCal woman with the big smile and contagious enthusiasm for staying fit and helping people with diabetes.  Read More >

I looked down the other day and saw that the edge of my infusion set site was no longer sticky and beginning to peel. To be cautious, I put a piece of tape over my site and was back to business. At times I am often overly cautious because of the whole saying “I’d rather be safe than sorry,” and because I have also learned what can happen when I don’t take that extra special care.  Read More >

We all love to go to them. We laugh and have fun with family and friends. The LAST thing we want to be worried about is what our blood sugar may be doing that could be a potential party-pooper for us. So what do we do?  Read More >

Here at Medtronic, we get a lot of questions from customers about the lumps and bumps that may appear at injection sites. So, here’s a Q&A on what these lumps are, why they occur and how to prevent them.  Read More >

With the stroke of midnight and the cheers, kisses and confetti that follow, a New Year is always exciting. Not just because it is the beginning of another calendar year, but because it can serve as a fresh starting point for many of us. You may have seen the article in the December issue of News to Infuse with tips for making (and sticking to) New Year’s resolutions.  Read More >

2011 is closing out and I can’t help but pause for reflection and say Thank You! Thank you to all of our readers and customers who have shared their ideas, insights and on some days even complaints. I can confidently say on behalf of all of Medtronic Diabetes, we have appreciated your candor and participation. We learn so much from you each and every day.  Read More >

Each year I look forward to the time of year during which a lot of the major medical meetings for diabetes take place. It’s a time where I can interact with my colleagues and friends and we can share the latest science and technology with the goal of finding the best treatment our patients.  Read More >

As an Endocrinologist it’s important for me to have as much information as possible when I meet with a patient and their family. That’s why CareLink is so important to me in my practice. It gives me more detailed information than blood work or what my patients typically volunteer.  Read More >

Have you heard? We’re now on Twitter! If you like talking with us here at The LOOP but want to know even more (in 140 characters or less), follow @MDT_Diabetes on Twitter. We’ll still be posting here about twice a week and continue to look forward to your comments. But we’re also really excited about being able to talk daily with the DOC on Twitter about living with diabetes and managing it with technology. See you there!  Read More >

You may or may not know that, in addition to a long career as a Pediatric Endocrinologist, I also have had a long career as a parent. When my boys were growing up I was very big on what I call “The Weekly Meeting” and on positive reinforcement.  Read More >

On Saturday, October 1, I had the pleasure of attending Desert Springs Hospital’s 20th Health and Diabetes Fest in Las Vegas, NV.  Read More >

That’s the name of the game when you’re a new mom. From the time your feet hit the floor in the morning until you lay back down at night for a hopeful few hours of rest, you’re on the go. Whether you’re getting the baby what he needs or trying to get yourself ready without putting on two different socks (or remembering the socks at all?), you’re constantly moving and going, trying to get everything done in time.  Read More >

Meet 22-year-old Lauren Gerenraich. Lauren has lived with type 1 diabetes for seven years, is an active volunteer with the JDRF and recently began her blog The LD. We really enjoyed her Diabetes Blog Week post where she wrote a letter to her 16-year-old self. Since she’s now a college grad, we asked her to reflect a bit and offer up some tips for those of you heading off to university this fall.  Read More >

Today we have a guest post from Angie Levesque, mother to 5-year-old Isabelle. Nearly four years ago, Angie and her husband Ken were overwhelmed when Isabelle was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Today, Angie shares her family’s story along with some helpful tips she’s learned along the way for other parents of young children with diabetes. Have a tip to add? Tell us in the comments!  Read More >

Meet the inspirational Natalie Strand, winner of the Amazing Race 17. Natalie proved to millions of viewers that diabetes does not have to hold you back from anything! A while back, Natalie gave a great interview to Diabetes Mine about her reality TV experience. Today, she talks to The LOOP about the important role her certified diabetes educator (CDE) plays in her diabetes management.  Read More >

Today we welcome Stephen Gray, Marketing Associate at Medtronic, who’s swinging by The LOOP to introduce you to his courageous friend Lenny the Lion – just in case you haven’t had the chance to meet him yet. As Stephen will tell you, Lenny’s a busy cat with a lot of friends, including Meri Schuhmacher and her four fabulous boys – three of whom have type 1 diabetes! Lenny is helping Meri celebrate her blogaversary (and recover from her adventurous trip to Disney Land).  Read More >

In honor of Father’s Day this weekend, we have a post from one of our favorite D-Dads, Lane Desborough. A Product Strategist here at Medtronic working to develop an artificial pancreas, Lane came to work for us after his son Hayden was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Today he shares how, in many ways, his son’s diagnosis was as overwhelming as becoming a new parent again.  Read More >

As a person with diabetes for more than nine years, and a pumper for over seven, I have had my fair share of questions. Questions for my endocrinologist, questions for my general healthcare provider, questions for the 24-Hour HelpLine… When I have one of these questions come up, it’s often followed by a second question: “Who should I contact to ask this?”  Read More >

Aloha! Today we share a fun clip from students at Hanahau `oli School in Honolulu, Hawaii, who are putting their brains to work for diabetes technology. The team of third, fourth and fifth graders you see here participated in the FIRST® LEGO® League 2010 Challenge, a competition designed to get children excited about science and technology – and teach them valuable employment and life skills.  Read More >

Today, we here from John Berry, a dedicated firefighter from Texas, who doesn’t let his diabetes stand in the way of his life-saving work. John talks to us about his “Ah-Ha” moment where he realized he needed to take better control of his health and some of the tools he now uses to manage his diabetes like temporary basal rates and predictive alerts.  Read More >

As you know, Alabama and other southern states were recently devastated by what is being called one of the worst tornado outbreaks in U.S. history. Nothing can quite prepare us for the effects that a natural disaster such as this will have on us. In the past year alone our world has seen its share of disasters from earthquakes and tsunamis to wild storms which, in many cases, leave people without the basic necessities of life.  Read More >

As most of you know, there was a time (not so very long ago) when women with type 1 diabetes were universally told they couldn’t/shouldn’t have children. Of course, we know that medical opinion on this topic has changed and physicians now tend to make recommendations about children based on each individual’s health and diabetes control, with many beautiful babies to show for it!  Read More >

Today we are happy to share Part 2 of Glen Lowe’s story. In Part 1, Glen shared the story of his type 2 diagnosis and the work he is doing with the Health Care Disparities Group. Today in Part 2, Glen tells us about the devastating loss of his brother and serious complications that drove him to make some changes in the way he was managing his diabetes.  Read More >

Today we hear Part 1 of a two-part interview with Glen Lowe, a territory manager in the Neuromodulation business unit of Medtronic who lives with type 2 diabetes. Glen was kind enough to talk with The LOOP about his diagnosis, the work he’s doing with the Health Care Disparities Group and a few pieces of advice to others. We thank Glen very much for taking the time to share with us his personal journey and positive look forward. Stay tuned for Part 2 of his story coming soon.  Read More >

When someone asks what my favorite thing is about my pump, there would be a tie with three answers: less shots, Bolus Wizard, and it’s pink (of course). Why the Bolus Wizard, above all the pump features? Let me explain.  Read More >

Meet professional golfer and winner of the Golf Channel’s “Big Break” competition, Carling Coffing. From the moment Carling was first diagnosed, she decided that she would never let diabetes get in the way of pursuing her dreams. Today, Carling shares her story.  Read More >

On Friday, we invited over 20 members of the Diabetes Online Community (DOC) to Northridge, CA to visit the home of the Diabetes business unit of Medtronic for what we called the Diabetes Advocate Forum (#MedtronicDAF). We thank everyone for coming and those who participated via Twitter for a very fun and dynamic day.  Read More >

A couple weeks back, Naomi talked about her logbook struggles and how CareLink® Therapy Management Software really helps her take control of her health. She’s not alone — CareLink is a very popular part of our integrated system. Customers tell us they really like seeing the cause-and-effect relationships in all those colorful charts, graphs, and tables. And it’s really helpful to be able to share and discuss them with your endo.  Read More >

Today we’d like to introduce Kristen Call, another Medtronic employee living with diabetes, who initially started her career in the diabetes business unit while on MDI. Now working with Medtronic Navigation in the operating room, Kristen opens up to The LOOP about her personal challenges with treating her diabetes, and how turning 30 motivated her when she needed it most.  Read More >

A lot of patients ask me if it is safe for them to exercise with diabetes, and my answer is yes. As someone whose desk is a treadmill, I firmly believe that being active is important for everyone. Here are some tips for your workout.  Read More >

Its exciting to celebrate our one month anniversary this week. The best part has been interacting with everyone who has commented or sent in feedback. Check out the video below to hear how you can particpate in the LOOP.  Read More >

I recently traveled to Haiti with my husband, and the incredible Evelyne Fleury Milfort, nurse practitioner and diabetes educator at USC. The purpose of our visit was to provide training for health care professionals at all levels concerning the treatment of people with diabetes. Because we want to continue helping the people of Haiti, we need a plan of action, and it is clear that our first step is to share our experience with you.  Read More >

Today we’re happy to feature a post from Naomi Kingery. Like many Medtronic employees, Naomi has personal experience with diabetes. In fact, she had been a self-proclaimed “Proud Pink Pumper” for seven years before coming to work with us. You may also know her as the “Diabetic Diva,” offering her fresh, fun perspective to the diabetes community. Today, she’s talking to The Loop about the challenge of keeping track of her blood sugar numbers.  Read More >

When you work hard and perform well at your job, it’s always nice to get a little recognition from the boss, right? We all know that managing diabetes effectively is no small task. So, when’s the last time someone recognized you for putting in the time and effort to take control of your diabetes?  Read More >

Donning some green and embracing your inner leprechaun can be a lot of fun. But if your St. Patrick’s Day involves green beer (or any other type of alcohol), you need to be careful. That’s why we asked our own Dr. Francine Kaufman to provide some tips to help keep your celebration safe.  Read More >

Last week, you heard from Lane Desborough and his motivation to develop the technology to close the loop, for his son Hayden. So, today, we thought we would bring you a video of 12-year-old Hayden, a great kid who’s not letting his diabetes keep him from doing anything he wants to do.  Read More >

One of my favorite things about being the director of PR, is that I get to meet and work with a lot of different people each and every day. This includes working with product strategists, who are busy determining the right set of features and new technology to put into future products to help make managing diabetes easier. Recently, I had the opportunity to sit down with Lane.  Read More >

Today, meet Michael Findling. He’s one of those guys who keeps the Medtronic marketing department fun. He’s also a 7-year pumper and a lifelong outdoor sports guy. Let’s hear his take on taking on the slopes of Southern California with his insulin pump.  Read More >

Today marks our first official blog entry in The LOOP! We have started this as a way of “Closing the Loop” with our loyal customers and the diabetes online community (DOC). We have heard feedback from many of you that you want us to engage and participate in the DOC. The LOOP is just one small step, but we think a very important first step.  Read More >