Robotic Me

Robotic Me In A Nutshell……………

Ok, so to sum up the last week and a half since I’ve been pretty incognito with this whole blogging thing……….Well, maybe not sum up because this will probably be longer than I plan......

This is pretty much an educational post for those of you that read this that don't have diabetes or know anything bout these battery operated/robot parts that keep me living and my quality of life just that, quality.
Be warned, I got some pics below you may not like.

I started using the Dexcom CGM 14 days ago. I’m becoming more and more robot like. I put it on right when I got home from work the first night and it was all good up until about 10pm when a “Faulty Sensor” warning popped up on the receiver screen. I called Dexom’s 24hr tech support right away and talked to a very nice and helpful lady right off the bat. After going over things with her we came to the conclusion that it was just a faulty sensor and nothing that I had done. They sent me a replacement overnight at no charge. Sweetness!!!

 Since it was time for me to be getting to bed I didn’t bother with the CGM system again until the next morning because I didn’t want to have to mess with it. After inserting the sensor into yourself there is a 2 hour warm up period and then you have to do a finger stick twice and put into the receiver what the bg reading is both times.

  This is the receiver and my meter. They are right on in this picture. Oh, I'm kinda a dummy and can't figure why this picture is sideways when it's not like this on my computer and I can't get it to flip.



 That’s why I waiting until the next day so that I could go bedyby. Next morning, I ran into an issue with two more that I tried to insert.

This is the applicator that is attached to the sensor, it seemed to be stuck to the sensor itself. You should be able to pinch the release tabs on the sides and rock the applicator out, but that wouldn't work. It seemed like the entire things was melded together. It happened twice before I tired the last one that I had and the 4^th time was the charm. (I know, you're thinking operator error, but I promise, hubby tried too and couldn't get it to budge!). Now that I've really been living with this new attachment for a full 14 days here is my opinion and how it works…..

 It’s great in the fact that it has woke me up a couple of nights to let me know that I’m crashing. It sucks/fantastic in the fact that I now see how much I actually spike. Altho I don’t feel sick, I have to wonder if I have been trying to fight something off for the last week because there are HOURS, I’m talking usually 3-4 hours AT LEAST that I’m spiking after lunch or dinner and I cannot get my numbers to come down. I know that before the CGM I would check 10+ times a day and I wouldn't always have this issue. It’s nice that I can see when I’m high and for how long so that I can get things in a better range. It’s just been really frustrating how craptastick my numbers have been for the last week. I've been using LOTS of temporary basal settings and yesterday afternoon I gave myself a correction bolus and then went and rode the exercise bike for a half hour. That did help a lot, even though after dinner I crept up higher and a little longer than I would have liked. What is weird is that I seem to be creeping up and staying up between 8pm and 9pm and staying steadily in the same high numbers until maybe 1am or so. Then I drop into the 120s or 130s and hang there steadily into 7am when it’s time to get up. My afternoons are not much better. Things are great in the mornings, no highs but after lunch around 1pm I creep up and can’t seem to get down to even out the 150s till after 4:30 or even closer to dinner time. I just keep giving myself the pep talk that I’m diabetic and this is how it goes, but something is up. These stubborn highs are really ticking me off. 

 Other than these goofed up unreasonable highs, I think I really do like the Dexcom. It’s encouraging when I see a good day, and it really is a good thing to see the highs and lows coming on. What I am struggling with a little, but not so much over the past 5-7 days because of the highs, is that when I see the lows I’m over treating. I need to forget about the Dexcom for 15 minutes and not worry about what the screen is saying. It freaks me out when I don’t see an upward arrow on the screen after 5 minutes. 60 seconds can feel like 6 hours during a low at times so waiting 15 minutes and not keep looking at the receiver screen to see what’s going on is like an eternity!!!

 I was able to get the first sensor to work for a total of 11 days and then I just felt like it wasn’t as accurate so I am now on #2 sensor. They have been FDA approved for 7 days, buuuuutttt.... as with most "D" items trying to get the most for the money and do what you can is kinda what I'm pushing for. It's possible to cheat the sensors. 

                                 Here is the sensor that goes under my skin............................

                                  Here is the top of the sensor that the transmitter attaches to

 Adhesive, I had to tape the first sensor within the first 24hrs I think. This one I haven’t yet, it’s still looking pretty stuck to me, so hopefully it will stay that way for a couple more days. I found after using I think 3 other tapes some clear stuff from Walgreens that seems to work for me pretty well and is water proof. My skin didn't like the adhesive so much, but it’s not as bad as I was afraid of.

                                              This is after wearing it for almost 11 days.

                                 My skin today after changing it out on Sunday, today is Thursday.


So I guess nothing was in a nutshell. Of course I'm going on and on and on.....................

There have been other "D" life things that maybe I'll get around to sharing one of these days.