Monday 26 January 2015

The Echo Pen

The Echo Pen by NovoNordisk, has a digital memory and also does half units.






This pen has been available in Canada for a while now, I've had mine for close to two years. Apparently they are new in the USA.

That digital number you see on the end is where it displays your last dose. It also displays the hours since that dose in hatch marks, going in a circle clockwise around the dose. To get the display you pull out the end and then push it back in. It will display your last dose. The display is not on all the time, that would wear down the battery.

The display in the photo indicates that 5.5 unit were given one hour ago.

You cannot replace the battery. When it dies, you have to replace the whole pen. This might seem wasteful, but given that we are dealing with a potentially dangerous medication, its probably wise on the part of the company. They might change that in future versions, but for now, if the battery is dead, the memory function is gone. 

This pen comes in red or blue. There are supposed to be skins that you can get through your supplier (mine was the local diabetes clinic). However, they were totally clueless about this feature, so I assume they really aren't readily available here in Canada.

I really appreciate having this pen for two reasons. I'm on a reduced dose now and the half unit really come in handy, and I'm on high doses of an allergy medication that makes it very hard to keep track of numbers and do any math, so this pen has added an extra measure of safety for me. I think its a great pen for kids, because of the memory, really, its a great pen for anyone using small doses.

Glad to have mine and I will certainly be replacing it when the battery dies!

All the other functions are the same as they are for the regular NovoNordisk Pen4's. 

By the way, the pen can still be used after the battery runs out. It doesn't affect the dosing function at all. 

If all you need is a pen that does half units, then ask for a Novopen Jr. If you need the pen with memory, ask for the Echo Pen. 


Conversion Chart for Blood Glucose Readings

Here's a chart that you can use to convert
mmol/L to mg/dl and vice versa.
 


Protect Yourself at the Hospital!


Next time you're in the hospital, make sure you do your own insulin injections and that you keep your pen in your room, and label the body of the pen, NOT the cap. 

Thousands of hospital patients were exposed to HIV, Hep and other blood bourne diseases by nursing staff switching the CAPS of the pens, and using the pen on more than one patient. 

Pens MUST be specific to ONE patient. 

There is now evidence that there IS some backwash, which contaminates the insulin, making it very risky for more than one person to use a pen. 

In hospitals, there ARE going to be diabetics with HIV or Hep. 

Protect yourself! 

This is why I always keep my testing kit and insulin with my personal property and refuse to let nurses handle my equipment or insulin. If they want to test my blood glucose I insist that I do the lancing with my own lancing device and then let them collect the blood sample for their device. This way I am not exposed to any risk if proper proceedures have not been followed. Sharing lancing devices isn't safe, even if you change the lancet, because there is minute blood splatter all over and inside the lancing device. 

http://insulinnation.com/treatment2/medicine-drugs/pen-reuse/