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Everyone who lives with diabetes is all too aware of the extra stress it places on everyday life.
We’re sharing this case study because it reflects the reality for so many of us who lead busy lives with work, family, chores, errands, etc., and we just don’t have much time or energy left in the tank for diabetes management.
A recent global survey by the International Diabetes Federation found that 79% of people living with diabetes report experiencing diabetes burnout at some point in their lives. For some of us, it’s every day!
The woman featured in this case study had been overwhelmed for years as a working mom raising four kids, and she let her diabetes go by the wayside.
Thankfully, she found a solution that allowed her to make big improvements to her diabetes management with minimal effort, and she was able to progress from a time in range of 9% to a time in range of 82% in just a few weeks!
The Patient: Uncontrolled Type 1 Diabetes on Multiple Daily Injections
Robyn is a 42-year-old woman who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 2018. She’s a mom of four kids – two are homeschooled, one is in psychotherapy treatment, and one is in a special needs school. She also works part-time doing virtual administrative work.
When Robyn was first diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, she opted for multiple daily injection (MDI) therapy and used a Dexcom G7 CGM. She took Toujeo (one of the best basal insulins) for her long-acting insulin and NovoLog to bolus before meals and for corrections.
Unfortunately, her diabetes was never in good control from the get-go. With everything going on in her life she found it hard to make time to manage her condition, and her blood sugars were pretty much high all the time.
Robyn’s CGM Download Data:
Here is a snapshot of Robyn’s CGM download from February 2025:
As you can see from the report:
- Her A1c (referred to as GMI in the download) was approximately 9.9%, and her average glucose was 276 mg/dL
- Her standard deviation was 66 mg/dL
While a standard deviation of 66 mg/dL suggests reasonable blood sugar variability (the goal is 50 mg/dL), Robyn had high blood sugars morning and night.
Important to note is that her time in range was only 9%. Her time below range was 0%, but her time above range was 91%.
NOT GOOD!
Robyn’s Diabetes Management Challenges: Feeling Stressed, Overwhelmed, and Crunched for Time
Robyn’s quality of life was suffering in a major way. She had the typical stressors of life – working, raising kids, caring for a family – and managing her diabetes fell by the wayside. She would often forget to take her insulin, or she would skip it if it was needed at a time when she simply couldn’t manage it.
Although she was worried about complications from chronically high blood sugars, she still struggled to find the time to make changes, and she just couldn’t get on top of it.
The Solution: A Hybrid Closed-Loop Insulin Pump System
Robyn’s doctor had been trying to get her to switch to a hybrid closed-loop system (also called an automated insulin delivery pump system) for over a year, and Robyn finally agreed to give it a try.
After learning about the different systems, she chose the MiniMed™ 780G automated insulin delivery (AID) system from Medtronic in early March of 2025. Her A1c at that time was 9.9%, her time in range was 9%, and her average total daily insulin was 35 units.
After only a few weeks on the system, her blood sugars improved significantly.
As you can see from the download ending March 26th, 2025:
- Her average glucose was 163 mg/dL
- Her time in range was 74%
- She had 0% lows/no hypoglycemia
Her total daily insulin decreased from 30+ units per day on MDI to only 10.9 units on the 780G.
When she was on MDI, her glucose levels were so high it was causing insulin resistance and “glucose toxicity”. However, when she went on the MiniMed 780G system she became much more insulin sensitive, which explains the much lower total daily dose of insulin. This is a very common scenario.
The MiniMed 780G system’s aggressive algorithm and Meal Detection™ technology helped get Robyn’s time in range up and her A1c down with minimal effort.
Meal Detection technology is a feature that identifies a rapid and consistent rise in blood sugar as a missed meal bolus. When this happens, the modulating basal rate and aggressive auto boluses kick in. Current and past blood sugar trends are used to adjust insulin administration in order to avoid delayed hypoglycemia, as you can see in the graph below:
The Benefits of Automated Insulin Delivery Pump Systems Beyond Blood Sugar
What you can’t see from the data is the improvement in Robyn’s quality of life. As her blood glucose and time in range improved, she felt much better. She had more energy, and she was sleeping better at night. She was less stressed out and anxious about managing her diabetes, so she was able to focus more on her kids and her own self-care.
At her last doctor’s appointment on April 2nd, her A1c had gone down to 6.9% – the lowest it had ever been – and her time in range went up even more to 82%!
The Takeaway
Many people can do quite well on MDI, but for someone like Robyn, it just wasn’t working. Between her kids, work, and other responsibilities, she needed a system that could take over some of the load.
The MiniMed 780G system has done more for Robyn’s diabetes management than she’s ever done for herself. It’s keeping her in a safe range, and she doesn’t have to worry about developing complications from consistently high blood sugars.
Hybrid closed-loop insulin pump systems can really do a great job easing the mental and emotional burden of the constant decision-making that comes with diabetes, offering less stress, more flexibility, better sleep, and improved quality of life.
For more information on hybrid closed-loop insulin pump systems and other tools for diabetes management, visit our resource library and video vault.
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