$100,000.

22 October 2008
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According to this article in today’s Herald, this is what a transplant would likely cost if the trials were successful and became standard practise.

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By Nic on 22 October 2008 at 11.09 am
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I’m on the list.

22 October 2008
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Well – I’m on the list of people the medical research team Project Manager will be calling in relation to the pig cell transplant trials Professor Bob Elliot is doing via Middlemore Hospital – I called them this morning.

This doesn’t mean that I’m going to leap head first into becoming one of the eight patients who will have insulin producing cells transplanted from a pig to me, but it does mean that I’ve put my hand up as interested, and if given the chance, I’ll be assessing the option very carefully. Watch this space!

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By Nic on 22 October 2008 at 10.10 am
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Sign me up…!

21 October 2008
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This just through from the Herald….

Pig tissue transplants given green light

Health Minister David Cunliffe has approved a clinical trial involving the transplantation of pig cells into humans.

Biotech entrepreneur Living Cell Technologies Ltd (LCT) wants to transfer cells from the pancreas of pigs to produce insulin in type-1 diabetes sufferers in a process known as xenotransplantation. The trial would be conducted at Middlemore Hospital, in South Auckland.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10538621&ref=rss

EDIT: This article says the trial will be with eight patients, starting February 09:

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,24529160-23109,00.html

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By Nic on 21 October 2008 at 11.08 am
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Going off the rails.

20 October 2008
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I finally had coffee with Alfrey Bloom today, who is the girl I came across in the article about the DAFNE (Dose Adjusted for Normal Eating) program. She is that amazing example of someone who dropped their HbA1c from 10.5 down to 6.6 in JUST SIX MONTHS. (what the…??)

It was great to meet her actually. She’s five years younger than me and I wish I’d got my act together at her age – it took me a couple of years more to come to the realisation that ignoring my condition wasn’t going to help me out much in the long run. Alfrey had hit 10.5 (HbA1c) at age 24. I clocked a whopping 10.9 at 26.…

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By Nic on 20 October 2008 at 8.12 pm
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From 23.9 to 8.1 in two and a half hours.

19 October 2008
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Deary me. Been cruising along rather nicely on the pump of late (I’ve been pumping for over two months now, practically a veteran ). I made it through Japan for two weeks without any major issues (quite a few hypos but I blame that more on the carb guesswork than anything), and through the usual spike at a certain time in the month etc etc.

This afternoon we went to a BBQ round at some friends’ who have a new addition to the family. They asked me how the pump is going and I answered with confidence that it was going brilliantly and I’ve not looked back. Then, about half an hour before lunch I tested my glucose. It had…

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By Nic on 19 October 2008 at 4.43 pm
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