Analyzing Data With One Drop

This is Part 1 of a three-part review of the most amazing One Drop diabetes phone app and will focus on Blood Sugar data analysis. It will be followed by a review of the meds and activity logging abilities in Part 2 and the Premium Experts in Part 3.

I am a data fiend. If I can measure it, I will analyze it till there’s nothing left to glean. It’s one of the reasons why I was so excited to get a Dexcom. For the first time ever I had data for every minute of my life, whether I remembered to record it or not.

The only problem was I can also be super forgetful and slothful. So even though my Dexcom is constantly collecting data, I would never get around to finding the computer cord to download the data to my computer and, soon, all of the data was lost forever.

Until, I found the One Drop app (completely FREE on iTunes, and Google Play).

One Drop is a phone app that focuses on three things. 1) It is an incredibly simple way to log all four types of diabetes data, blood sugar, meds, activity, and food. 2) It creates a simple way to share this data to learn from those around us. And 3) it provides powerful insights into the data it collects.

For me, the most powerful of all of these is the fact that it collects and analyzes a lot of data automatically.

With the new Dexcom G5, my data is now sent and stored in my iPhone automatically. From there the One Drop app constantly pulls the data from the iHealth app and crunches the numbers on a continual basis. And with 288 data points a day, that’s a whole lot of numbers. The best part is, after setup, I don’t have to do remember to do a thing to make it work.

Now anytime I think, I wonder how my increased workouts are affecting my numbers? or How has this illness messed with my numbers?, I open the app and see. And the ways in which it crunches my numbers is amazing.

BLOOD SUGAR ANALYSIS IN ONE SECOND

The first thing I look at is the data that shows up on my lock screen. That means I don’t even have to log into my phone to get this info. I get distracted easily, so the fewer steps before I get to my data, the better.

On this screen, I get my average daily blood sugars, the percent of time I spent in zone, percent high, and percent low for the day. I also get my total daily carbs, if I have entered my meals (more on how easy this is later) and my total daily activity (more on this also).

This screen also shows me the moments chart. Each of the four categories of info-- glucose, activity, meds, and food-- has a different color drop. So all of my info is shown to me on a graph of the day also.

BLOOD SUGAR ANALYSIS IN A FEW MINUTES

When I have a few moments of downtime—you know, when I am watching an actual live TV show whose commercials can’t be fast-forwarded—I whip open the app and see how I did for the day. In these moments I am looking for a daily reality check.

For me, that means a look at my Dexcom data analysis on the home screen of the app. All of the info from the phone’s home screen is here at the top. Below it is a listing of my “moments.”

My daily blood sugar average is the first thing to look at. This is top-left of the home screen. Easy to get to. Easy to analyze. If I can get a 150, I am dancing in the streets. A 200 and I am looking for reasons why.

But everyone is different. Your crying days may be my dancing days. My dancing days may be your crying days. The point is that it is good to know what your ideal day would look like.

I have learned when to dance and when to investigate only after using the app for a while. When I first was using the Dexcom, I had no concept of what my daily average was. I had my A1c, which very loosely translates to a 90-day average, and my finger sticks, which gave me four very distinct numbers to average, but no real concept as to what an average day was for me.

Now, at any moment, I know what an average day is. And that means, I can see exactly how good (or bad) my day was in comparison. I learned after a while, that for me a 150-day was fantastic. A 180-day was about average and a 200-day meant something went wrong.

I could now, while the day’s activities were fresh in my mind, try to figure out what went wrong and come up with a plan for what I could change. The immediacy of this data means that I can identify defeating habits and begin to make minor tweaks to how I do things.

In the pre-OneDrop days, my doctor would go over my blood sugar records (when I actually kept them twenty years ago) and say, “Here. This 284 blood sugar. What caused that?” Seriously? How the hell should I know what I ate or drank or stressed about two months ago on a random day at a random time.

Now, most days, I can actually remember what caused a high at ten that morning. Not always, but my chances are much better than two months later. Which means I can finally start identifying those minor things that affect my blood sugar.

BLOOD SUGAR ANALYSIS WITH A LITTLE MORE TIME

When I have a little more than a commercial break to analyze my diabetes, I will bust open the in depth data analysis. By touching the “TODAY” at the top of my home screen, up rolls a secret page of long-term data analysis called the Daily Moments Analysis.

It starts with today’s data, then my last 7-day’s data, the last 30-days, and then, my favorite part, data for each of the calendar months back as far as I have been using the app.

Using this, I can see year-long trends. I have noticed that my average goes down in the summer, which makes sense considering I have time off from work to lower stress, work out more, and make fresh foods to eat. Plus I love summer fruit, which is fantastic for my blood sugars. So I need to put a little more effort into my diabetes care when the weather turns cold.

I can also make small changes in my daily habits and see what kind of effect they have. So if I decide to eat more salads for lunch I can see if that has an overall impact on my glucose. I can now compare a month where I have made that change to the prior month to see if there has been any effect. I now have the data to back up the decisions I make.

BLOOD SUGAR FOR THE VISUALLY INCLINED (or the numerically timid)

My husband runs from numbers. I still think he brought on his own appendicitis to get out of his college statistics class. For him, all of the numbers on my screen can seem intimidating. For those like him, One Drop has amazing visualizations of your data.

One of the best ways to visualize you day is on the Last 7 Days in Zone Chart. This is found by swiping left on the top of the home screen. This screen shows how long you have spent in the good zone, how much and how far into the low zone you have ventured, and how often and how far you have drifted into the high zone.

If you swipe left again from this screen, four hearts show up that fill up during the day. I love watching these slowly fill. The first is the percent of time you have spent in the good blood sugar zone.

The second is the portion of your meds you have taken that day. If you give boluses or basal shots this is a great reminder to take them.

The third heart shows how many carbs you have eaten during the day in relation to the carb goal you set for yourself.

The fourth heart is my favorite. That is the activity goal. You can change the size of this goal in the settings. I use my Garmin to record my real workouts, then download them to my phone. The One Drop App pulls in this data.

That’s awesome, but the super useful part of this heart is the daily activity tracking from my iHealth app on the iPhone. I am acutely aware of when I have had a big workout or skipped a few days. But to gauge my overall activity rate throughout the day is a little more difficult.

Maybe I lectured in class that day and so I spent most of the time walking around. Or maybe I showed a video. Those two days will look very different to my overall activity level. And they will affect my blood sugars in a very different manner, too.

Now you have a way to gauge your total daily activity and can adjust things accordingly.

BLOOD SUGAR ANALYSIS FOR NON-CGM USERS...

If you do not have a Dexcom yet, don’t despair. One Drop is super easy to use with a meter. If you have a Bluetooth meter like the OneTouch VerioSync or the AccuCheck Aviva Connect, just set it up to automatically export your data.

If you have another meter, just click the blood sugar drop (it’s the cute pink circle), type in your number (or scroll it on the scroll wheel) and you are done.

There is also a great place to add notes to explain away a high or low sugar. You can add details such as how you are feeling, a photo, tags, or notes.

And if you are beaming with pride at your fabulous result (or crying inside and looking for support from the DOC) you can share the info to Facebook or Twitter, with one click of the share button.

You can also add a PRO TIP that will be shared with the One Drop community.

And even better, there is a new One Drop Meter that will automatically upload the data to the app. (More info on this, and a future review, later this year.)

SUMMARY

If you are looking to use any of the massive amounts of data that we collect as people with diabetes without having to get a degree in Statistics, One Drop is the way to go. Grab you phone right now, download the app, and find all sorts of ways you can improve your diabetes life.

If you have --> What to do...

Just a second --> Use the Lock Screen data to see where you are now

A few minutes --> Use the app’s Home Page to look at today’s numbers and figure out why

A little more time --> Use the Daily Moment Analysis to dig deep

DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: One Drop is a current sponsor of the 2017 One Drop Caicos Adventure. I have been using and loving One Drop for years before this sponsorship. I only review products I love and use on a regular basis. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissions 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guide Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

My Top Diabetes Moments

My diabetes historical timeline has very few moments on it. Only the very biggest of accomplishments gets noted.

The discovery of insulin on July 29, 1921.

The release of the first insulin pump in 1976, the year I was born.

My diagnosis on April 14, 1998.

The release of the first Dexcom on March 27, 2006.

Those are my big moments.

Well, those, and two more huge ones. One happened in October of 1983. The other happened October of 2016, exactly 33 years later.

In 1983, number 239, Bill Carlson became the first ever athlete with diabetes to even attempt the Ironman in Kona. And he did it in a time where the diabetes equipment was almost barbaric.

When he exited the swim, he took fifteen minutes to transition from the swim to the bike. For most athletes, that takes an average of three minutes. But Bill had a few more things to do to get ready for the bike.

For one, he had to insert the site for his insulin pump. And there were no easy, automatic inserters to help him out. This was time to jab a huge needle into his stomach. A needle that would put to shame the “needles” we use today. He was using a gigantor needle.

He wore a big silver box, strapped around his waist. It was his Delta insulin pump that was as big as a tape deck. It was huge and ancient. Though at the time, it was a brand new technology.

It adjusted his insulin rates using dials. Dials! Just like your old black and white TV.

He tested on a meter just as big as the pump and it spit out blood sugars in minutes not seconds.

He completed one of the hardest races in the World without any of the conveniences we have today. And he did it before anyone ever knew for sure it was possible. He left an indelible legacy to every single person with diabetes since. He busted wide open the doors of what is possible.

For those of us diagnosed within the last decade, that may not seem like a big thing. Now, it is commonplace for people with diabetes to do these amazing things. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of athletes with diabetes who have completed an Ironman. I can count at least six within my circle of real life friends, and probably a good fifty in my online circle of friends.

But there was a time when this was unheard of. When doctors told patients at diagnosis never to exercise. They told them diabetes was a death sentence. That women would never have kids. Diabetes was uncontrollable.

Along comes Bill, who decides, at the age of 23, that all of that was bullshit and set about to prove it in a big way. He knew that we could do more. Be more.

He took to the world’s stage to declare that nothing is outside of our grasp. That whatever we set out to do, there was a way to do it. With enough education and planning and training, the world was at our fingertips. All we had to do was reach out and grab it.

Now at the ripe old age of 56, Bill is still just as strong-willed and spirited. He is still moving at

a million miles an hour, accomplishing more before sunup than most Americans do in a day. It is not unusual for him to ride his bike to his friend’s house, 85 miles away, just to stop in for dinner.

So 33 years after he changed the way that a whole generation would look at diabetes, he decided to do it again.

When he completed Ironman Wisconsin in 2015, he did well enough to qualify for the World Championships in Kona. And, so, this last Saturday he toed the line in Kona, ready to once again take his place in the history books.

He will forever inspire thousands upon thousands of people who get that dreaded diagnosis, but who won’t hear from their doctor that this is the end of their life. That they must throw away their dreams.

Because their doctor will have heard of Bill Carlson. And if they hadn’t heard of his amazing feats in 1983, they have heard about it now. And from now on they will give their patients the prescription of exercise, not in moderation, but in crazy big doses. Doses big enough to have propelled Bill into the forefront of my diabetes historical timeline.

And to become the standard that I one day hope to reach.

Thank you Bill, for being yourself, and for kicking ass big time!

Adventure Isn't One Size Fits All

I follow Alastair Humphrey’s blog and he is setting out on a trip across Spain with no money. No cash. No credit cards. Just a violin.

Everyday he will busk in town for his money and depend upon the kindness of strangers for a place to stay. But he just began to learn to play a violin a few weeks before he left.

And then there’s Dave Cornthwaite who has been taking on 1000-mile journeys that usually take one to three months. He has a goal of completing twenty-five different human-powered, 1000-mile journeys. And he has already completed seventeen.

I love those adventures, but they are not for me. There are things you have to give up to go on adventures that long. And those things I would have to give up are things I like. Like being with my family. And maintaining my friendships. And keeping my day job.

It's like the poem, The Double Life by Don Blanding, about the two battling desires, for adventure and for home. Those two battle within me constantly.

I have a family that I have to be with. They draw me back out into humanity when I get too deep into writing and work. And they force me not to become a total hermit.

They can handle me leaving for about eight days max. I can only handle being away from them for about the same amount of time.

I like to sit at home and do nothing. I love to sleep in my own bed. We recently bought a real top of the line bed, first real adult purchase for our home that we have ever made. And I miss it when I travel.

Ultimately you have to decide what your ideal level of adventure is, and then strive to get there. For me, it would be three trips a year, each for eight to ten days each in different locales. I am averaging one to two a year now, but am working hard to make that perfect number a reality.

Your adventure level may not be 1000-mile adventures. It may not even be 100-mile adventures. It may just be an overnight trip once every few years. Or training for a 5k.

Or even working towards doing something that you have always been afraid of like walking to the end of a pier or singing in public.

But whatever your level of adventure, we all need to push ourselves a little to bring more of it into our lives.

So what is your ideal level of adventure?

Leave it in the comments below. Or on my Facebook or Instagram pages or tweet me @erinspineto.