As an aspiring software developer living in Minneapolis with my young family, I applied to a Dutch software company for an R&D software developer position. I had grown up as an Army brat and had spent a fair amount of time as a child living around the world on Army posts and vacationing all over Europe. The thought of going back was appealing.
The company was Diva Medical Systems, the year was 1987, and their target market was diabetic control. Diva had developed hardware devices and a computer software application that were decades ahead of their time. A blood glucose meter (called Romeo) recorded blood sugar readings from custom test strips, and it also allowed the user to enter other vital metrics like diet, exercise, insulin usage, and ketones. It could then upload all the data to a computer via a docking device (called Juliet) for a complete analysis that helped the patient and physician see links and relationships among all the data. The goal was to show patients how to best control their diabetes and demonstrate what the many interrelationships were among the many factors that affect blood sugar levels.
While working for Diva Medical Systems, I traveled extensively to diabetology centers in Europe and the United States. I attended medical conferences in Europe and the US, meeting with leading physicians and nurse practitioners in diabetes management.
The patients at many of the clinics were often fighting the destructive consequences of long-term high blood glucose levels, which cause capillary damage, leading to diabetic nerve pain, amputations of toes, feet, and legs, blindness, and kidney failure.