If you are Type 1 Diabetic I urge you to watch this documentary...

...and watch it quick! You only have 4 days before it becomes unavailable online.

http://tvnz.co.nz/xeno-a-cure-for-diabetes/video-4261364

This show screened on New Zealand TV last Sunday, and you can watch it by the magic of the interwebs at the link above.

It's all about the work of Professor Bob Elliot, and the research his company LCT Global is doing into Xeno-transplantation of (pig) islet-cells into humans.

Short summary for you who are not planning to watch the video:

• The show follows one clinical trial patient as she goes through the work up and procedure.
• Apart from the sensationalist made-for-TV title of the documentary, this is not actually being promoted as a cure, rather, it's hoped that the encapsulated islet cells will work to remove the roller-coaster style fluctuations, and reduce hypo-unawareness. So far, so good in the trials anyway!
• I personally thought that some parts of the "living with diabetes" spiel had been ramped up a bit, but then, the candidate has many similarities with my own story. I will leave you to make up your own mind.
• LCT Global has just started more clinical trials in Argentina, to determine the best dosage. Seems like they have got the big OK on the safety issue.
• You can sign up for their email newsletter, which gives updates on where this technology is at, and how soon before it gets to "market".
• That's another thing to consider... if this treatment does become available, how expensive will it be???
• I want! Gimme gimme gimme!

In other, more local news, it's the end of semester one. I have been working like a crazy thing. I had a 9-day migraine with aura (not much pain though). I have recently developed moderately bad shin splints pain in my left shin (what the hell! There is nothing in a SHIN to go wrong, is there?? Sigh), and the RSI/OOS/Overuse Syndrome in my right wrist has reared it's ugly head, only this time in my left wrist. Typing this is hurting. Wah.

Work is busy, with grading, teaching extra classes, and preparing to move office in the next 3 weeks. We are getting a whole bright new shiny art facility built - can't wait to move. New digs have: duh-duh-daaaaa! Air con!!! Yay! :)

My freelance work is going nuts. I'm getting website projects coming out of my ears. This week alone I've encountered 5+ websites that need buildin' and have quoted on two of them. When I will actually find time to make them is still a question I haven't solved.

In sad news, my father-in-law has been admitted to hospital today with bad anaemia. He is 82 (I think) and has taken a hammering with health problems in the years I've known him. He's such a sweetie and he really doesn't deserve this. Please send your good thought and prayers for him to recover.

So.... go and watch that documentary. Now! (Sorry to shout, but it's like, real important eh.) And share it with your mates. Cool.

Dream a little dream - life after a cure

As my last post for Diabetes Blog Week, I'm gonna write about what I think my life would be like if my diabetes was suddenly cured.

To someone without a chronic illness, I imagine they must think that having your diabetes instantly cured must be absolutely fantastic. And don't get me wrong, I am quite keen to be done with all the blood tests and injections and lows and highs and all that other boring stuff. But to be perfectly honest, I think that if I woke up one day without diabetes I would be scared. I just wouldn't believe it.

I've been diabetic since I was five, and it's just about all I can remember. I only ate one chocolate bar before I was diagnosed. And I've only eaten 3 since. It has been a part of my life for 22 years, so for it to suddenly be gone would take a bit of adjusting.

I imagine that I would not stop testing my blood sugar. Perhaps the testing would dwindle away as the weeks passed and the tests kept giving me the "you're cured" result. Perhaps I would forget to get a prescription for test strips in time, and not fly into a tizz about it. Perhaps I would eat a whole bag of candy floss and not feel guilty, and not get a "high" headache afterwards. Perhaps.

Ever since I've been visiting doctors for diabetes, a cure has always been "10 years away".

But last year that changed (I hope) to 3 years away, and this year to 2 years. Would you like to know what I'm talking about? It's the pioneering work of Professor Bob Elliot, and his work with micro-encapsulation technology. In a nutshell, what him and his team have been working on is a way to implant insulin producing cells from specially bred pigs safely into humans without the need for immunosuppressant drugs.

They have figured out a crafty way to coat the pig cells in a seaweed-type substance which basically hides the foreign cells from the human body's immune system. This means that the implanted cells are free to produce insulin, without being destroyed by the recipient's body.

And where's the proof, you say? Well, the team is in the middle of human clinical trials right now, and they have already had 2 people come completely off insulin for periods of time. And I have been in the interesting position of saying NO to this treatment twice already (because you cannot be accepted for the clinical trials if you wish to become pregnant). My endo actually has another of his patients on the trial.

Here's the link: http://www.lctglobal.com/

So that's my thoughts about a cure. It's only a matter of time.

An hour at the endocrinologist

What a way to end a Monday. An hour long in-depth discussion with my diabetic endocrinologist. Whew!

We discussed my upcoming surgery to remove the uterine polyp, and I wanted to know what to do with my diabetes control during the anaesthesia. He reassured me that my anaesthetist will be able to handle the situation and would have dealt with diabetics before. He also told me in no uncertain terms was I allowed to let anyone take me off the Lantus insulin, as that could put me into diabetic keto-acidosis. Which is bad! He even went as far as saying if anyone tries - call me at home! Wow! :D

Endo wanted to know why I was having the polyp removed, and why I was doing IVF? I explained that it was due to hubby having a vasectomy, and that the odds of a reversal were nowhere near as good as for IVF treatment.

My most recent HbA1c test was done last September (about 7 months ago!) and it was 8.1, which is the highest I've ever had. At that stage, Endo did say that although it's not an ideal number to get pregnant at, he would only get really worried if it was around 12. But now that the idea of pregnancy is so much more serious, he said it would be better for me to get it down to the mid 7's if I can. If you are diabetic, you're probably reading that and going "nuh-uh! That's still too high!" but Endo explained that it makes sense for me, since I am a very brittle diabetic.

Please don't read "brittle" as "badly controlled". I do a gazillion blood sugar tests each day, and constantly correct with insulin, and count carbs religiously. Endo even said that "You're working soooo hard, just not seeing the results." It's not fair, basically. He can't explain why my diabetes is so crap, no matter what changes or experiments we do. I have been tested for everything under the sun. From thyroid disorders, or extra adrenaline, to stomach disorders, to eating disorders, to other weirdly-named things I can't remember. He's tested me for it, to try and discover the missing element which causes my blood sugars to fluctuate so wildly and for insulin to act so randomly.

So I wasn't surprised when he started to bring out the blood test order form and write me up a shopping list of tests to do. But I did nearly fall off my perch when he asked, "Do we even know if you have diabetes? Has anyone ever tested you for it?"

What's the test? I squeaked. I mean, this is major. If I've spend 22 years treating the wrong disease...

"Oh it's simply a blood test to look at your c-peptide level. Here I'll order one for you."

Apparently I could have something called MODY (Mature Onset Diabetes in the Young), which is like having type 1 diabetes AND type 2 diabetes at the same time. He doesn't think it's likely, since my insulin requirements are so little, and MODY usually manifests as insulin resistance requiring more insulin.

But the other reason to test for c-peptide is to see if I am making some of my own insulin. That could help explain the unpredictable lows I get. We shall see, I'm off to take the test in about 30 mins.

Ooh, speaking of tests, I looked over his shoulder and saw the result of a couple of my fertility tests from the other week. Looks like I'm ovulating no worries! Yay! :D

We spoke about getting me on a CGM for a 3 day trial. The hospital paedeatric department owns one, and they may be able to lend it out to me to try and help figure out what is going on.

The idea of going on an insulin pump also came up, and although in the past I've been reluctant to pursue the idea, the need to get better control of my blood sugars in preparation for pregnancy has changed my mind. Also, it's the only thing I haven't tried. Unfortunantely, funding for insulin pumps is now hard to come by in our region of New Zealand, and Endo was grumpy when he told me that if I lived in the a different area only 3 hrs away, I would almost certainly already be on a pump. Grr. Can't. Win.

And in a case of terrible timing, I may have also just said "no" to a cure for diabetes. Endo already has one patient on a trial in another city in New Zealand where a company called LCT Global is having remarkable success with clinical trials of their Diabecell product. Diabecell is an injection into the abdominal cavity of thousands of little cells harvested from specially bred pigs. These cells replace the damaged cells from the pancreas, and make insulin. The magic ingredient is how the pig cells are coated in a special alginate (read, seaweed stuff) that makes the cells invisible to the human immune system. So no need to take any immuno-suppressant drugs.

Twice Endo has offered to put me on this trial, which has in some cases cured diabetes and in all other cases lessened the blood sugar fluctuations. And twice I've had to decline because I want to get pregnant. One of the rules of the trial is that you can't reproduce after having the implant, since they haven't studied the effects through generations yet. Sigh. I will just have to wait. The good news is that they hope to be "bringing it to market" in 2 years.

That's a lot of stuff. I came home and my head was pounding with a headache, which is still with me today. I'm off work and taking it easy. Oh wait - got to go and do more blood tests!

Catch you next time :D