The 20min/wk T1D reliable Looping and diabetes management protocol.
I’ve got a routine that seems to keep me from having some sort of issue pop up during the week with my pump + cgm + Loop setup, so I thought I’d share how I manage my life as a Looping type 1 diabetic.
My goal is to minimise surprises and random problems while sticking to an easy routine without too much trouble.
Sunday 8am – 1 min, (5 minutes every 3rd week)
- Dexcom microwave trick — pop my Dexcom Receiver in the microwave to cut out the 2 hour warmup whenever I want later in the day (we don’t use the microwave much).
- Turn on receiver
- Hold receiver in microwave with door partially closed during next 2 steps
- Stop sensor on the receiver
- Start new sensor on the receiver
- Close microwave door with receiver left inside microwave
2) Only every 3rd week: Presoak new Dexcom sensor to back of other arm for 12 hours.
- Alcohol prep pad back of arm, wait 30s
- Put down SkinTac on arm, wait 30s
- Inset Dexcom sensor
- Place old spare Dexcom transmitter into sensor (as placeholder during warmup)
- Put on Simpatch
- Use tac away for fingers and around edges
Sunday 7pm – 5 minutes
- Full set change on my pump (reservoir, infusion set, insulin)
- Battery change on pump (I’ve found Energizer here in Australia lasts me over a week but not much longer). Find one that last 10 days to follow this model so it never runs out early but not wasting too much extra juice.
- Week 1/2: Peel Simpatch off arm but keep sensor on. Reapply SkinTac, put new Simpatch on, wipe fingers and edges with SkinTac Away.
- Week 3: swap the transmitter to other arm (which had a placeholder transmitter in it) and pull out old sensor from first arm.
- Pull Receiver out of microwave, wait for sensor to buzz — this takes a few minutes, test BG 2x with finger stick, enter values into iPhone Dexcom app on my iPhone. Turn off Dexcom receiver and put it away.
- Go on my iPhone and set reminder for next Sunday 15 minutes before the time right now (to remember to get Dexcom out of microwave before the iPhone hits 7 days on this sensor). Note, I have to do this a little earlier each week to ensure I do not miss the window.
Tuesday 7pm & Friday 7am – 5 mins
- Full set change on my pump (reservoir, set, insulin)
- Calibrate Dexcom
Every Night — 30 seconds
When I go to bed I charge the following using a bedside 6 port USB charger (easy to take with me if I am travelling) to charge all of the needed bits nightly.
- iPhone X
- Apple Watch Series 0
- Rileylink (which I place half way down the side of the bed under the edge of the mattress so it always has a connection).
All of these devices stay charged enough to last me until when I go to bed the following night, regardless of when I go to bed.
Every Morning upon wake — 30 seconds
- Suspend pump
- Take shower, get dressed (not included in the 30 seconds!)
- Un-suspend pump
- Unplug & grab phone, Apple Watch and RileyLink and put into pocket.
With this setup I am care free and error free 99% of the time.
Here is a list of the other things I do less often:
1x per Quarter on Sunday evening
- Charge my rechargeable Dexcom transmitter for 1 hour.
- Build new version of Loop and put on Testflight for myself. Download to my phone and have it in the cloud as backup in case something happens to my phone.
- Reset the rechargeable transmitter time stamp (I don’t keep a version on TestFlight, so no need to rebuild).
- Order more supplies online from Dexcom, Medtronic. I usually have one box left of each when I order and order one box of Dexcom sensors and 3 boxes of each of the Medtronic supplies.
1x per year on Sunday evening
- Put a new battery in my RileyLink.
- Test that my spare Loopable pump still works
- Test that my spare RileyLink still works
- Buy 200–300 test strips
- Order 50 each of Simpatch (or competitor), Skin Tac and Tac Away wipes
1x every 5 years
- Change the lancet for testing with my BG meter.
