Quick Update!

Sorry, I drifted off for a bit. Planning a birthday party, researching insulin pumps, waiting for CGMS results, doing school work, and cleaning have kept me very busy!

The results are in NO dawn phenomenon. They saw a slight spike in my morning numbers, but not enough to call it dawn phenomenon. The CGMS also indicated that I could use some tweaking with my insulin to carb ratio around dinner (or when I start pumping my basal rate). My doctor is concerned that there will be some sort of problem with insurance coverage if I go with the Animas 2020. He thinks that since I might be taking close to 100 units a day (based on the amount of insulin I am taking now) that the insurance won't want to cover the fact that I will have to change reservoirs and infusion sets basically every 1.5-2 days. He says that the Animas will have about 180 units after it is primed, compared to the OmniPod which will take less units to prime from its original 200. The thing is I can't see how a less than 20 unit difference will matter that much. No matter what, I will not make it to the third day. Unless by some crazy miracle my insulin needs change dramatically with a pump, which I am not counting on. Any opinions? Am I missing something here? I think I will email the Animas rep we are in contact with to see what she thinks about it all.

This is going to be a busy week for me, Wednesday is my 16th birthday, Friday is my 11th DiaVersary, Saturday is my Sweet 16 Party and also my mom's birthday. I'll be back at some point during the week with something to say. Wishing a great week all!

My New Friend Connie

Connie is the super cheesy name I have given my borrowed Con(nie)tinuous Glucose Monitoring System, which came home with me from the Endo on Wednesday. Tomorrow I will mail her back to the land of medical professionals.
I have spent over 72 hours wearing this CGMS. I have had a few comments about the sensor and system. As for sensor size to me it looks similar to the REAL -Time Transmitter. I have take pictures to show this, using MiniMed’s quarter comparison.

The back of the sensor with the adhesive still attached.
(This adhesive was harder to remove than the excessive tape)

The sensor as flat as I could get it next to 3 quarters.

Next to a quarter aerial view.
(I think this picture proves it is actually smaller in size than the REAL-Time.)

As for not having “Real Time” information. For me I really am not interested in CGMS as a long term part of my diabetes management (for now). I understand that the information provided can be extremely valuable to some people, but I know that I would become completely consumed by the data. Chasing numbers, correcting like crazy. I am somewhat if not completely OCD with a lot of things, and I know that the information would drive me crazy. Instead of being helpful, I think it would cause more problems. In my case this 3 day study was to identify if I have do indeed have Dawn Phenomenon and also to pinpoint high postprandial numbers after my evening meal. This is all in preparation for pumping and setting appropriate basal rates. I think if I were ever to use a CGMS again it would be for something
similar, just a short period of time. For instance if I was having over night lows, to see when the dropping started, etc. Now I am not knocking those who use CGMS as a part of their daily diabetes care, but I know it’s not for me.
I did learn a few things from being attached to something. I can do it, that was probably one of my biggest concerns about pumping. This has been a great prep for my saline trial, then pump start. I have definitely been “grabbed” by door handles. But I was able to do everything I do regularly with no interruptions. I slept comfortably. Went shopping for my sweet sixteen party dress. Made it through a
horrible bout of seasonal allergies. The weirdest part was the shower pak thing, I felt like some sort of medical tourist with this protective plastic purse around
my neck. But instead of a camera, I had my CGMS hanging there. Overall it has
been a true learning experience. I am sure when I actually see the data I will learn a lot more.

(I apologize for the wonky layout, I copied over from Word and it went insane.)

Jilly Jill and the Pumpy Bunch

(You will understand the title by the end of the post.)

So it’s just after 3 am. What am I doing awake you may be asking yourself. Unfortunately my seasonal allergies have kicked in and I am all stuffed up so sleeping is just not working out. Plus, I woke up at about 1 am checked in at a falling 84. So I ate a few lifesavers just to bring it up a touch, and to prevent sleeping through the inevitable low I felt coming on.
Anyway so my mind started turning as it does when I have nothing to do with myself, and what did topic did my brain decide was right for the wee hours of the morning? Pumps. What else is new? Lately if it’s not my Sweet 16 Party, it’s Diabetor knocking on the door of my brain. So what am I thinking you might ask? Which pump of course! Animas or Omnipod.
The only reason that the OmniPod is even back in the running is because my doctor suggested investigating them, and having the reps do the insurance leg work just to see what kind of coverage we could get. In the beginning I was all Omnipod all the time. NO TUBES! HECK YES! Insurance shot down our inquiries so I decided what the heck traditional pumps I could do it. My research took me to every pump possible, even ones not available in the US. After reviewing each pump pretty thoroughly, Animas was the front runner. It has what I want features wise, I like the OneTouch meter is works with, its waterproof (Yes, I know it can still flood if it has a tiny crack, but that’s what the warranty is for), I like the loaner program, the customer service has been excellent and I am not even a pumper yet. And to tell you the truth I like the look of it, and if I am going to have to live with it for the next 4 years I think that’s kind of a big deal.
As I rolled around in bed trying to fall back asleep, I thought hey I have this CGMS thing attached and I barely notice the site. I can sleep on it, without feeling it at all. Could I do that with an OmniPod? I kind of doubt that I wouldn’t notice I was laying on about a half egg sized piece of hard plastic. You can’t see the site under my clothes (for the CGMS and I am assuming it would be the same for an infusion site), so what if the wire/tubing hangs loose? With an OmniPod will you see it? Probably. I mean come on I am a teenager, I do not want some weird blob sticking out on my already somewhat pudgy stomach. Another thing I like about the infusion site with tubing is that I could move around the actual pump. Pocket, waistband, thigh thing, you name it, the pump moves! OmniPod not so much, I don’t think that makes diabetes a “smaller part of life”, I know myself it would make me so annoyed and self conscious. I also think it’s a bit wasteful? Little batteries, a crap load of plastic, and probably some insulin goes in the trash with each pod. Now I am not knocking anyone who has the OmniPod or who will choose it. But I know now that it isn’t right for me. Oh and I forgot to mention the fact that it will be extremely sad that I won't be going with OmniPod, because I really love to call and listen to the reps with Boston accents. Yeah I know weird. Blame it on Mark Wahlberg.

So if I don’t get anything else out of the CGMS study, I know I can be attached and be comfortable. Back to bed!

News Flash!

I turned the monitor back on at 8:30, calibrated and it finally worked! So far so good. And apparently my sister thinks the picture/idea of the sensor site is to her like looking at someone who is missing a limb. She also thinks its just because I am her little sister and she hates that I have to deal with this. Weird. I actually find it strangely cool, maybe I'm just twisted.

It's all in the numbers...

First number.

8.2 that's my latest A1c. Down from 10.5! I guess I'll have to go change that on my tudiabetes page. I was congratulated and complimented by the IE. I knew he had a heart, and he said that basically he wanted me to work my butt off so he could feel confident in putting me on a pump. Makes sense, but still it made me dislike him for awhile.

Next Number.

3 or maybe 4, number of days I will be on the CGMS system. Here is the story. First I had my appointment with the IE, we talked shop. Pumps (OmniPod or Animas), A1c, a lipids panel I could "sell on ebay". Then my mom and I left to have lunch. Went back to the office, met another diabetic boy who was a year older than me and was going on the CGMS because he hasn't been waking up during night time lows. We did a little tutorial together. I made him go first, then I went and almost passed out. I am a "passer-outer", everything and anything I get lightheaded. I think it was more the nervousness than pain or anything caused by the actual sensor. I would explain the insertion as maybe a finger prick to the surface of your stomach. A little sting that stays with you for a couple of minutes and then its gone. The tape is worse than anything. It feels all pinchy.

The process went like this, insertion,review removal, start the one hour warm up. I got home the warm up timer went off, I was supposed to calibrate. I washed and alcohol swabbed my finger got a reading, entered it. And got a CAL ERR message, I went through the clearing and re-entering process. CAL ERR again this happened 3 times, I called the help line. The guy told me to wait awhile because continuing to re-enter could cause the sensor to fail. So I waited a bit, and did it again. The rep would inserted it said after every error clear you should check and re-enter but that contradicts what the guy on the helpline said! Ugh! So I just called again and had a more helpful person. She said to just turn it off for 3 hours to get the sensor completely saturated with body fluids (um okay?), then try again. So much for this being an easy process.

Here are some pictures:

The Monitor Shower "Paks"

< Sensor and ridiculous amount of tape.

T-Minus 1 day-ish!

Until the CGMS and doctor's appointment, suprisingly I am not nervous for it at all.
I just wanted to say Happy Labor Day to everyone! I have been very inattentive to my comments, I will catch up on those soon. My blood sugars have been pretty good minus those wake-up/breakfast ones after nights when I sleep through the 3 am alarm. I had a great weekend of good numbers while away at my grandparents house, which is extremely unusual. This is just a quick update. I will be back on Wednesday to talk about my experience with the IE and CGMS sensor insertion.

I was going to wait....

But I felt this needed to be shared. I just got the call from my mom a little while ago.

CGMS Study commences Wednesday, September 5th at 2pm. So basically I will have an all day doctor's appointment. I see the endo at 11:15, then the Mini Med CGMS rep at 2 in the same office. I hope this doesn't mean they will force me onto a Mini Med pump. It turns out it wasn't the endo's fault that this took awhile, the Mini Med people screwed it up. Well anywho now I just have to cancel the driver's ed appointment I had that afternoon, it was supposed to be my last one. I don't mind though, I'll take a step closer to pumping over a step closer to my license anyday.