Type One With Twins: Dexcom trial!

Many people know that I have been interested in getting a continuous glucose monitoring system (CGMS) since before going back on the pump in August of 2011! A CGMS is a system that will track your blood sugar 24/7. It gives you an updated reading every 5 minutes, however it not meant to replace testing your blood sugar regularly. It's more so to detect trends. I've wanted one for a long time because although I have a good A1C, I'm always worried that there are highs and lows that I'm missing overnight and during the times I forget to test 1 and 2 hours post meal. I also think it would be great if I could have something telling me I'm going low before I'm actually low. Moral of the story is: I am a huge numbers and data person, and this is a whole added level of info for me to look at.. Stuff I LOVE!

So, I've known for quite a while that Animas was going to be taking part in bringing Dexcom into Canada. The US and Europe has had Dexcom for... at least a few years now I think. I actually have an email from Dexcom in January of 2011 that says the paperwork is filed and they expect to have it in Canada by the end of the year. Of course, things never happen that fast (which is fine) but finally it seems it's actually here. Due to knowing the right Animas rep (haha) I am able to be a part of a 10 person trial group in Vancouver.

On Thursday night we met up and got to learn about the new system (first time away from the babies for 3 hours too, they survived!!) and get hooked up for a week. First thoughts - that inserter is a little scary! It's not spring loaded like an infusion set, so you have to push the needle right in. Luckily, you never actually see the needle, and it was actually pretty painless! I would say it hurt less than a normal infusion set to be honest.

The inserter thing on the right!

Before attaching the sensor

Ready to go!

Couple things off the bat... It's pretty big! The sensor sticks out quite a bit, so it can be easily noticed under tight shirts/ dresses etc. Not that I am in tight shirts and dresses nowadays, but that's not the point. Also, it is of course another separate infusion set, so another piece of plastic attached to your body. Pain wise, I haven't felt it at all! I don't get it caught on things like my insulin pump infusion set (because it doesn't have a tube attached to it!) and it's pretty comfortable. So far I haven't had any peeling of the tape, but I'm only 48 hours in, we'll see how it looks at the end of the week.

Once getting it in, there is a 2 hour period you have to wait before you calibrate twice. I (not so patiently) waited and entered my two blood readings (from separate pokes) and I was live! It's set to let me know when I'm above or below my limit which I have set at 3.8 (68) for lows and 12.5 (225) for highs.The first night it woke me up in the early AM to tell me that my blood sugar was running low, very handy! I wake myself up when I'm low, but I usually wake up in the 2's, this wakes me up when I'm in the 3's instead. I probably check it at LEAST every hour during the day just to see where I'm at. Surprisingly, I actually spike and drop a lot less than I thought I did. I was really discouraged after the first 24 hour period where my line looked just like a roller coaster ride, but that roller coaster is over a whole day, and still (except for a few short periods) well within my limits. I've also found it's usually a point or 2 off, but I wasn't expecting it to be bang on. I love that it will tell me what direction my blood sugar is heading in based off of the direction of the readings and the arrow. Really helps with making decisions prior to bedtime if you can see you are 5.5 and dropping like a rock!

First Calibration!

And we're live!

Right now I'm on the fence if I will be buying one. I'm going to see if insurance will cover it (Dexcom is not cheap by any means), because I do think it's a great tool. I don't think I would wear it constantly, maybe a week here and there to make sure things are still looking the way they should. It's also great for me as a new Mom because it can alert me to my rapidly rising blood sugar if I forget to bolus for a meal, which has happened a couple times since the babies came along! I'm really looking forward to the rest of the week, and apparently the accuracy gets better day by day as we go along. So far, I really really love it. I don't love having another site, but the data may just be worth it! I'll update again after the week is finished too :)