So, I got SUPER excited when I saw this package arrive at my door. I have been waiting for this for a LONG time now and my insurance finally approved it!
I just received my first continuous glucose monitor!!!
And I’ll just apologize now because I am so excited you might see an obscene amount of CAPS LOCK and exclamation points.
You might say, what in the WORLD are you talking about?
This lovely box below holds my CGM -$1000 worth of technology tucked away in there.
As a diabetic, I should be testing my blood sugars 4-6 times a day. Yes, that is when I prick my finger and put the blood on the little strip. You all probably had to do it ONCE in your life in 8th grade. Well, the continuous glucose monitor automatically checks my blood sugars for me 288 times a day. So, I go from 4-6 times a day to 288 times a day. 288 TIMES! THAT IS AMAZING.
Tangent
Do you see the little dude eating an ice cream cone in the top right corner? Seriously? They couldn’t pick something other than ice cream? Maybe an apple or drinking a refreshing cup of water. They might as well have put a kid eating cotton candy on there. Now, I don’t want to encourage you to be one of those people who say “you’re diabetic, you shouldn’t be eating that” or seem uneducated by saying diabetics shouldn’t eat ice cream. That is ridiculous. BUT, we do need to make sure we are eating in a healthy way -JUST LIKE anybody else in the world. If we all just ate more fruits, veggies, whole grains….we’d all be healthier. Ok. I’m getting off my soapbox.
How does it work you ask?
A tiny device called a “sensor” is inserted just under the skin of my abdomen. The sensor measures the glucose in the interstitial fluid producing data. I calibrate my monitor a few times a day to make sure when I test my blood sugars manually, the results match up with what my CGM is showing. This data is sent via a transmitter to my insulin pump and I can actually get a *REAL-TIME glucose result! How cool is that?! It shows graphs on my pump -whether my blood sugars are rising or getting dangerously low. It alerts me for both. It is a super super cool piece of medical technology.
The above picture shows the sensor on the left and the insulin pump on the right. No, that is not MY air-brushed body. My belly has kind of HAD IT with all these sensors and ports stuck in it. I’m going to need to get creative with port sites. Now, I’ll have 2 injection sites instead of one.
This is a picture of an insulin pump that is receiving data from a CGM. You can see the 114 number -that is the current glucose. Then on the left is a graph and it reveals trends. IT IS SO COOL. I’ve had mine in for 4 hours now.
I.can’t.stop.looking.at.my.results. It is so cool to read them immediately and not have to test 288 times to get the results. Then, I can upload all of my data into some software and it’ll show me graphs and pie charts and so much data that you will get bored with me just talking about it now.
*real-time is a bit of a misnomer. It is actually delayed anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes.
So, I had to share the new device in my life. The goal is to keep my A1c low. As far as I can remember, I had NEVER in my 8 years of being a diabetic had an A1c over 7 (until this past month. ugh.). Except for when I was first diagnosed, obviously. So, I am happy with how I control my diabetes but I want to start seeing my A1c numbers drop into the 5s.
Let me know if you have any questions!!
I am not a doctor. I am not getting paid by Medtronic to do a review on their product. Just wanted to share all the wonderful stuff that I am learning. If you have questions about your own diabetic welfare…talk to YOUR doctor.
