48 hour no hitter, yo!
Category Archives: BG
High Demand.
I have been a huge and loyal Dexcom fan since I started with my Seven system in November 2008, coming up on four years. The first few months I had it I used it now and then to gather trend data but I didn’t feel like I was getting the whole continuous glucose data benefit so I started using it continuously. (no pun intended) For the past three years or so, I have not been without a sensor. At all. Call it dependence. Call it addiction. I call it peace of mind.
Talk of the next generation system from Dexcom has been in the works for some time. And was approved in Europe March of last year. Last year?! This morning totally unexpected, to me anyway, they announced the FDA approval for the new G4 Platinum system. I couldn’t be happier!! Who doesn’t want a 19% more accurate glucose monitor? Or 20 foot range for glucose signals? Or customizable alerts with different tones? And now to view your readings on a nice color screen on a nice color receiver? Being a girly-girl, I love to accessorize my boring diabetes supplies with color. This indeed is a huge plus in my book!
While I just got a new Seven Plus system in July (thinking the approval for the G4 would not happen anytime soon), I was happy to hear that Dexcom is offering customers who have purchased a Seven Plus so far this year, the eligibility to upgrade to the new system for a onetime payment of $399. Since the product is hot-off-the-press-new, they are still working on a method in which they will be taking upgrade orders. I put my name on the list to upgrade and will be contacted by Dexcom later today or tomorrow. I suggest if you’re interested in an upgrade, giving them a call to get on the upgrade list. Systems are expected to be shipped in a few weeks.
Other tidbits I was interested to find out from the CS rep on the phone – the old sensors will not work with the new system but the new sensors are smaller! Also coming soon, a link to Amazon to purchase accessories! Thank you Dexcom for creating an amazing product and also for your fantastic customer service at 6 in the morning, over in your neck of the woods 🙂
And now I wait for the call back from Dexcom to get my order going. I. Cannot. Wait.
Check out Dexcom’s website to see the overview and features of their new G4 Platinum CGMS here.
*Just a quick clarification on the upgrade: if you’ve purchased a Seven Plus system between January 1 and August 31 of 2012 you are eligible for the $399 upgrade. If you’ve purchased a Seven Plus between September 1 and today you are eligible for a free upgrade. If your current system is out of warranty, the order for the G4 Platinum will be processed like a new order and not eligible for an upgrade discount*
Diabetes Art Day.
So today is Diabetes Art Day. I am SO happy I wasn’t as late in posting this as I thought I was going to be.
I loved catching up on the art day submissions little by little during the day. I admire everyone’s creativity! And a special thank you to Lee Ann, for starting such a fun event 🙂 I’m not all that creative but still love to add what I can come up with. Usually Joe helps me out but this year I had the help of another friend.
I hate when I have bad diabetes days but hate it even more when my friends do. Truth.
Diabetes History.
Unfortunately I’m not talking about some major breakthrough in the research for a cure or some mind blowing new product on the market. I am referring to history that was made yesterday in my own diabetes world. I had my quarterly appointment with the endocrinologist but it was also my annual physical with her, so a much more comprehensive exam. As usual, I was nervous. I hate that I get nervous every time I see her but I can’t seem to help it. Thankfully yesterday was probably one of my best appointments.
I had printed out my BG readings for her, in all sorts of different report variations, from downloading my OmniPod PDM the night before. In scanning over them, I wasn’t too pleased with what I saw. In the past month, my BG was in the 80-180 mg/dL range only 61% of the time. 180-250 was 23%, over 250 was 5%, 60-80 was 9% and under 60 was 2%. In other words, higher than I would have liked. My last A1c test was done at the end of April so I was overdue for my normal 3 month routine. That last result was over 7% and had crept up .2% since the time before that.
As I’m sure I’ve mentioned before, in the past 5-6 years, I have been much more diligent with my diabetes management. Between going on the pump, testing more frequently, using the CGM uninterrupted for the past 3+ years, keeping up with my appointments with the CDE, trying to stick with a regular exercise routine. Despite my efforts though, I have only had an A1c under 7% once. Four years ago. And to this day I still think it was a mistake! However, yesterday it happened again. Since I am not shy about sharing my A1c levels , it was 6.7%. (although it seems much easier to share when it’s a good result!) I literally hesitated for a moment when Dr. K said it and I said to her “wait, what?” It was a complete shock. My overall BG readings have not been much better or worse than they usually are. And especially after feeling that my readings have been higher than I’d like, having almost a 1% drop was not at all what I was expecting.
I was almost too happy to care at the moment about why. But later I really started thinking about it. And honestly the conclusion I came up with is that I wish I knew what I had done right the past 4 months so that I could keep doing it! I’d say in the past 4 months I’ve been more consistent with exercise than before. Yet I wouldn’t say I’ve been consistent ALL the time. (the past 2 weeks for instance have lacked exercise big-time) So the only thing I can think of that had such an impact is my choice of BG meters. When I used older One Touch meters and when I first started using the PDM with the Freestyle strips earlier in the year, I always thought the readings ran low. Since switching to the newer Verio IQ as my primary meter and more recently changing the calibration code on my PDM, my readings run higher. Could this be the magic trick? Is there a scientific reason this could be? I’m not sure and I guess I shall see if this trend continues. And I sure hope it does.
In other news, I have lost some feeling in my feet but this I knew. At my physical exam last year, Dr. K saw this and sent me for an NCV test which came back normal. Yesterday was the same – I stopped feeling the vibration on my feet from the tool thingy (tuning fork?) before it actually stopped vibrating. I do get major pain in my legs when I walk so she had them do a Doppler test. Which also came back normal. So the feeling loss in my lower extremities does not appear to be from nerve damage or circulation issues. While I’m glad it is not for those reasons, I’m stumped as to what it could be from. Something else I will keep monitoring.
Good appointments like this leave me feeling happy, naturally. And hopefully not so nervous for the next one.
Logging Made Easier.
If there is one thing I do not do well as a person living with diabetes, it is logging. Anything. When I see my endocrinologist every 3-4 months I just download my BG readings from my meter(s) for the past 30 days, print it out and present it to her. She is fine with that. When I see my CDE however (alternating between her and the endo), we go over my readings in more detail. Since she has the “clinical” software in the office, she downloads both my Omnipod PDM and my Dexcom data. The one thing that is helpful for these appointments with M is to keep track of events such as food intake, exercise, illness etc. Sad as it may be, there is no way I can remember what I ate or how I felt last week! So I usually log these things for about a week prior to my appointment. What I’ve been doing for the longest time is keeping a self made Excel spreadsheet with this information on it.
My next appointment with M is next week so it dawned on me that I needed to start logging. However I was frustrated with the good ol’ Excel file and was trying to find another app available to keep track of such info whether on my iPhone or on the web. Since I already have a few diabetes related apps on my phone, I did some scrutinizing. It turns out that the iBGStar app is working well! (side note: I do have the meter but do not currently use it) It is still a form of data entry since I’m really only entering information when I eat or exercise or don’t feel well but it’s easier for me to use since believe it or not, I am not always near an Excel workbook. The key to entering the actual food I am eating, and not just that I ate fatty food or miscalculated carbs, was to add a new note. The option is already there to add BG, amount of carbs and amount of insulin.
I especially like the way it is presented in the report when you compose data to send via email. Now I am not sure I will actually email her my logbook since that office is anti-email unfortunately but I can at least print it out for her.
I remember the days of having to write down my BG readings before a doctor appointment. I do not want to go back to those days. Ever. Having apps like these is extremely helpful. Especially for someone like me who hates logging with a passion and will find every excuse not to do it. Now if only I was able to email the health care providers in the office I go to.
One Word Wednesday.
Dreadful.
Wordless Wednesday.
Darn. You. Breakfast.
Fantasy Diabetes Device.
Today is day 4 of Diabetes Blog Week and the topic is: “Today let’s tackle an idea inspired by Bennet of Your Diabetes May Vary. Tell us what your Fantasy Diabetes Device would be? Think of your dream blood glucose checker, delivery system for insulin or other meds, magic carb counter, etc. etc. etc. The sky is the limit – what would you love to see?”
I know this topic is probably meant to get everyone’s thinking cap on and get creative. And honestly I can’t wait to see what everyone came up with. However, I am going to be boring and to the point 🙂
There is one major thing that I would love to have in my diabetes devices which is sadly lacking in 2012. Glucose. Meter. Accuracy. Period. You may even be tired of “hearing” me on this subject. Yet I think it is something that we should all want and work hard to advocate for. By definition, a fantasy is the faculty or activity of imagining things that are impossible or improbable. Is greater meter accuracy impossible? I wouldn’t think so although I’m no clincial expert. Is more accruacy improbable? At this point in time I’d say yes. Sure the glucose meters available to patients today are faster, smaller and more accurate than they were when they first came out decades ago. However, the current accuracy standard set by the FDA is + or – 20%. This is not good enough. Diabetes affects millions of people. And the numbers continue to grow. Diabetes is also managed by the patients close to 100% of the time, unlike many other conditions. This means that those glucose meters used by people with diabetes every single day are the most important tool for them in staying healthy. In preventing those dreadful complications. In avoiding life threatening low blood sugars. It is stressed by every medical professional in the world that tight control should be the goal of everyone living with diabetes. Well how can that be achieved if the meters we use to monitor our BG readings aren’t accurate enough?
So forget fancy insulin pumps or continuous gluose monitors. Yeah those would be nice to have. But as long as my pancreas isn’t working and I need to monitor my blood glucose in order to stay alive, I wish for gluocose meters that give me readings I don’t have to second guess.
One Thing to Improve.
Day 3 of Diabetes Blog Week’s topic is this: “Yesterday we gave ourselves and our loved ones a big pat on the back for one thing we are great at. Today let’s look at the flip-side. We probably all have one thing we could try to do better. Why not make today the day we start working on it. No judgments, no scolding, just sharing one small thing we can improve so the DOC can cheer us on!”
Yesterday I started my post with the notion that I do everything related to diabetes spectacularly. Then I went on to say let’s get serious. Which seems like the perfect intro to today’s topic!
The main thing I would like to improve in regard to my diabetes management is my A1c. My A1c’s growing up were always high by today’s standards. (I’ll chalk that up to a few reasons why but not what I want to get into now) Then some years ago, when my effort to manage my blood sugars was enhanced if you will, there was an improvement in my A1c levels. But not as much as I would have liked. Don’t get me wrong. It’s not terrible. And I’m glad that it has at least been stable for the past 2+ years. But I cannot seem to get under that 7% mark. And it’s tremendously frustrating.
With that being said, there are numerous things I can probably improve upon to possibly get that A1c improvement. But for today’s topic I need to pick one. Hmm. This is actually a tough one. I’d have to say logging is my biggest diabetes “failure”. The only time I log anything is to write down what I eat and activities for a few days prior to my CDE appointements. That’s about four times a year. I never download my Dexcom data. My CDE does this at my appointments with her. The only time I download my meter readings is to print them out for my endo appointment. On a day to day basis, I monitor my BG regularly and meticulously. However on a big picture basis, I suck bigtime. Granted I’ll notice if I’m say running high at nighttime and adjust my basal accordingly but only if it’s enough to stick out. Like recently. There are most likely other patterns to be spotted if I actually took a look more often at the bigger picture.
Now that I’ve made a public confession of something I need to improve, I feel like the worst diabetes patient ever. I better get working on that……………
One Great Thing.
Today’s Topic is this: “Living with diabetes (or caring for someone who lives with it) sure does take a lot of work, and it’s easy to be hard on ourselves if we aren’t “perfect”. But today it’s time to give ourselves some much deserved credit. Tell us about just one diabetes thing you (or your loved one) does spectacularly! Fasting blood sugar checks, oral meds sorted and ready, something always on hand to treat a low, or anything that you do for diabetes. Nothing is too big or too small to celebrate doing well!”
So we have to pick just one great thing we do. Well, it is really hard for me to pick only one great thing that I do spectacularly. I do everything related to diabetes spectacularly! I am thee perfect diabetes patient!
Okay, let’s get serious. If only the above were true, I’d be walking around with an A1c of 6% all the time and my Dexcom graphs would be flat lines constantly. A girl can dream 😉
With that being said, I do have to give myself credit for knowing what my blood sugar is. I went from a period where I probably only checked about once a day, to testing (on average) a minimum of 8 times daily. It may help just a little that I tend to have my hands on the latest, cool, glucose meter. Hey whatever helps right? But not only that, it has been over 2 years since I let a day go by without using my Dexcom. And I act on those readings too. If I’m high, I correct until I’m in a better range. If I’m dropping, I try to head off a low by lowering basal insulin or having a small snack. Knowing what your BG is, is a crucial piece of managing one’s diabetes. I certainly don’t have anything perfected, even after 30+ years but I do try. And I try hard.
I like this topic a lot. Living with diabetes can seem so daunting and difficult and scary most of the time. And there are so many moments potentially leading us to feel like we don’t do things well enough. But we do many things well and focusing on the positive is something we should all do more often. Thanks for this Karen!
The Girl with the Portable Pancreas 