💙 Truth About Type-1 Diabetes Technology — and Living With It

Inspired by Katie DiSimone

Credit Diatribe for image.

“Keep an open mind if you want a closed loop.”— Katie DiSimone, See My CGM

Katie was the author of the original LoopDocs and Loop Tips and produced wisdom that continues to live today. Someone recently shared one of her earlier blog posts that I still refer

clients to help them get comfortable with Loop and Nightscout. The two go hand in hand and Katie showed us how to use these powerful tools and reduce the burden of living with Type-1 diabetes.

1️⃣ Technology can only mirror what we understand

Katie taught an entire community that T1d technology doesn’t remove the need to think — it magnifies it. Automated Insulin Delivery (AID) systems are only as wise as the people using them. Basal, insulin duration, carb ratios, and sensitivity aren’t just numbers; they are reflections of how our bodies respond in real time.Katie’s lesson was simple: when we learn to read our data with curiosity instead of frustration, technology becomes a partner, not a master.

2️⃣ Precision without perspective is just math

Too-short insulin durations once made algorithms act like impatient parents — giving insulin before the last dose had finished working. Katie showed that DIA must be long enough to honor the insulin’s real tail — about five to six hours, not three. That change, now standard in Loop, turned frantic corrections into steady rhythms.

3️⃣ Balance beats control

Those “lightning-bolt” temp-basal graphs became famous in early Loop groups. Katie explained that chasing numbers with an insulin sensitivity factor (ISF) that’s too strong (number too low) creates endless oscillations. Her guidance was simple and profound: weaken ISF (increase number), trust the math, and let the Loop do it's thing. Good settings create calm curves, not perfect lines. Diabetes isn’t a math problem to solve once — it’s a landscape we keep learning to walk.

4️⃣ Timing is the quiet superpower

Carb ratios are only half the story of bolusing for meals. When we eat, how we pre-bolus, and how we prepare Loop matters just as much. Katie urged people to use “eating-soon” targets — gentle nudges to the algorithm that anticipate life rather than chase it. She taught that thoughtful timing is kinder than forceful correction with technology. Works well in life as well!

5️⃣ Your Diabetes Will Vary — and that’s not failure

No algorithm can outsmart hormones, stress, or grief. Katie reframed variability not as chaos, but as feedback. Patterns over time — not single data points — are what deserve our attention. Her phrase lives on:

“It’s not YDMV — it’s YDWV. Your Diabetes Will Vary.”

💫 What She Really Taught

Katie DiSimone’s greatest legacy wasn’t software or settings — it was perspective. She showed us that empathy, patience, and data literacy can coexist. That the truest part of #WeAreNotWaiting is learning together — and making sure no one has to learn alone.

🕊️ In Loving Memory

Katie faced her final season with the same grace she brought to the community — open, honest, and generous. Every time we explain IOB to someone new, or calm a parent who’s afraid of over-corrections, we echo her. Because of Katie, some truths about Type-1 diabetes technology — and life — have become foundational:• Data is only as useful as the compassion we apply to it.• Automation works best when paired with understanding.• And no one should ever have to learn alone.

#WeAreNotWaiting 💙

You can find Diatribes wonderful tribute here:

https://diatribe.org/diabetes-technology/how-katie-disimone-closed-loop