Our very own Melissa Kampmann has recently started taking part in an artificial pancreas trial at the University of Virginia. Below is her bio.

“My name is Melissa Kampmann and I am a mother, wife, daughter, sister, aunt, granddaughter, cousin, niece, lawyer, fitness enthusiast, yogi, and oh yea, I am a person living with diabetes for almost 24 years.  I was diagnosed back in 1990 at the age of 11.  Back in 1990, the blood sugar meters took 1 minute to provide results, they needed a lot more blood than today, the needles were A LOT bigger and my insulin was called pork and beef, in other words, straight from the pigs.  The beauty of the pork and beef insulin is sometimes your body would get a bit resistant to the insulin and you would see your blood sugar spike only to have it come crashing down when your body finally stopped fighting it.  Needless to say diabetes technology has come A LONG way from 1990 and for that I am very thankful.

I have always been interested in the latest and greatest studies on a cure for diabetes because who wants to live with diabetes any longer than they have to???  However, my interest skyrocketed to a whole new level when my daughter was diagnosed with type 1 in 2011 at the age of 5.  Sitting in the ER on the night of diagnosis, I made it my vow to keep her as healthy and happy as possible until there was a cure.  That meant staying fully aware and up to date on clinical trials and studies.  I have my websites I regularly follow and I know that a cure is a way off but a chance at a much better easier life is much closer.  In my personal opinion a chance at an easier life comes in the form of either an artificial pancreas or encapsulated islet cells.  I have put my name in the running for many artificial pancreas trials over the last year but have never heard back until December.

I love to exercise and in early December I saw an artificial pancreas trial at the University of Virginia that was testing the closed loop system after exercise.  Any diabetic knows that exercise is a double edged sword.  Exercise is vitally important to remain healthy and to keep complications at bay as long as possible, but the lows that we experience can scare a lot of people off.  I will be the first to admit that I still have not figured out the magic formula for managing my blood sugars while I exercise even after 24 years.  During those 24 years I played competitive sports in high school and college and have continued to exercise to this day by running, weight training and yoga.  Needless to say, I was beyond excited when I found out on December 23^rd that I was officially accepted to participate in the trial which is being held at the University of Virginia from January 19^th to the 24^th.  Stay tuned for the next week and a half as I keep you up to date on my artificial trial experience that all started prior to December 23^rd!”

Click HERE to hear more from Melissa on her journey.

For more information on the artificial pancreas project, check out the following links:

https://www.jdrf.org/blog/2013/the-artificial-pancreas-does-its-homework

http://artificialpancreasproject.com

http://news.virginia.edu/content/uva-s-artificial-pancreas-project-receives-34-million-grant