The Revel, So Far So Good!

LOVE IT!!!! We have much more to learn, but here's our first impressions:

For us, the predictive low alarm is priceless. Despite backing off on insulin amounts, Nate's trending low a lot, and the Revel is giving us enough warning to ward most lows off with juice or a snack. Over the past 5 days, I've counted two lows (very mild at 74 and 76), and 6 BG's that were headed low but never became low thanks to the Revel. Any juice and snacks given did not cause an over correction, which verifies that he was indeed headed low. We're not yet using the predictive high alarm yet.

The alarms, in a side by side comparison to Nate's 722, are higher in pitch and a bit louder on the Revel. I hear them much better than the 722's alarms.

The Revel's back light on the screen is brighter than the 722. Fonts are the same, but I can see the screen better because it's brighter.

Love the new language in the site change section. It walks you through step by step, asking you to make sure you are not connected when filling the tubing. Also asks you to make sure you see drips of insulin coming out before you insert. Very user friendly.

LOVE the Capture Event feature....the navigation through this feature is great. Nate was high (237) the other day. I had him enter the BG via the Capture event menu. When he entered his BG, it asked if he wanted to save the BG, or save BG and use as a calibration. Once we made the selection, it remembered his BG when we went to the bolus section to correct for the high. THIS is awesome...no entering BG's over and over again.

LOVE the IOB on the main status screen...very easy to refer to if necessary.

LOVE having different low - high threshold settings for different times of day.

Not sure if it is my imagination....it seems the few highs he has had on the Revel (highs that we corrected for) came down nice and easy...no sharp and sudden drops. The CGM curves look very nice and rounded off as the glucose comes down from a high. I'm wondering if the way the Revel delivers insulin is different from the 722?? Seems like it does.

CGM sensor values in the lower ranges (120 and below) is super accurate for us when compared to his meter BG readings. We NEVER had accuracy like this with his 722. The differences between SG and BG have been a mere few points, several times right on the button. I think this happened once with his 722.

CGM range seems a little bit better for us.

Under the Utilities menu, I found when using the Daily Totals that the Revel will give you averages for multiple day periods on basal, bolus, carbs, corrections, etc.

There's so much more that I am getting used to. I'd like to learn about the AUC (Area Under the Curve) and a few other things.

So far, the Revel's a winner in our house!

 

Great review! Thanks!

We hope to replace our 722 within the next few weeks.

 

Very cool! We plan to order ours when we get back from vacation. Thanks for the info.

 

Cool! I so wish Chell's would hurry up and get here!

 

Thanks so much.. you're making me jealous!! I want ours NOW!

 

Thanks! Great detailed review! Very helpful.

 

Good review! Did you get a new sensor/transmitter with the Revel package?

 

Nope...Nate's Minilink is still under warranty so we really didn't need it. We're using the same sensors and Minilink that he used with his 722. Another reason to believe the Revel has made a difference in better accuracy.

 

If you have not sent the 722 back yet, it would be interesting to have him wear both, receiving from the same transmitter and see if they yield different CGM values. Especially if you hit "start new sensor" on both and calibrate at the same time with the same value. Then we could see if it is really calculating differently with the Revel.

 

Thanks for the details! I will be calling MM tomorrow!
It's too bad Emma just got her new 522 a few weeks ago... if I'd known these would be available so soon I definitely would've waited!

 

That is awesome! Thanks for letting us know. I'll be calling MM again tomorrow morning asking where ours is just like the rest of you.

I'm most excited about better accuracy in the lower ranges! YES! This is huge.

 

Amy...if its been less then 30 days..call MM..they might swap it out for you! I've heard they have done that for others that were under the 30 days time period.

 

Sounds like a few great features I was not aware of. Like the new Daily Totals breakdown for time of day. I'm sure this will help me (don't download to Carelink daily). Still not using MM cgms but if we do go back to it, sounds like a lot of good features there. Only worry is with taxes due and other financial issues, won't be able to order until next month. Sis does not want to trade in a new pump for a refurbished. MM told us Rebel could still be refurbished. I think chances of that are low, though. P.S. I think a clearer LCD screen plus IOB on the main screen, it would still be worth it. But I want a new pump, not refurbished.

 

The chances of you getting a refurbished pump are pretty slim considering they only just started making the Revel. Wait 6 months and this might change.

 

We inserted a new sensor last night...didn't think of trying this out. Maybe in three days when we hit new sensor again. Nice idea!

 

Sorry Toni, I went back and reread my post and I wasn't clear about the averages. The Revel gives averages for multiple days (as in 1,2, or 3 day avgs.) for basal and bolus breakdowns, not multiple times of each single day.

Sorry about that. I hope this helps.

 

Call them up today and tell them you just got this pump and want to return it and order the revel instead. They will swap it out for you.

 

Also, in regards to the Capture Event navigation....

Instead of looking over Nate's shoulder, I used Capture Event myself overnight to correct a high BG while Nate slept. Here's a better account:

Capture Event > Enter BG
Then you are asked to choose to just enter a BG, or enter BG and use as a calibration. I didn't want to calibrate at that point, so:

Enter BG, which I did. Hit ACT. The Revel will beep and state your BG is above target range. I forget, but I either hit ACT again, or Escape, and I was brought immediately to a bolus screen that already had his BG displayed. Hit ACT, and Enter food comes up, defaulting at zero, which is what I wanted since this was going to be a correction. Hit ACT again and the recommended bolus correction displayed, ACT again to deliver. I LOVE being brought right to the bolus screen, and love not having to re-enter the BG.

 

Here is one of Chell's recent cgms reading...so if you use the capture event, and you put in a bg,will it put an actual number corresponding on the time of day on the cgms carelink report? So we dont have just a graph to follow but actual numbers?

 

omg that is a beautiful chart!!