Even more waiting

Well, I have good news and bad news. Even though I previously said that my Dexcom should be here by now, my rep called and said that they’re doing things a little differently. The in-network company they’re working with does pre-authorizations, which means it’ll be run through the insurance first to see if I have coverage. That way, I know ahead of time how much I will have to pay.

Bad news: This means they haven’t shipped anything yet, so I might not get my Dexcom before my scheduled appointment next Friday. I absolutely HATE having to reschedule things. I’m sure my Team Lead at work just loooves me changing my vacation around…

Good news: If my insurance company decides to cover it (which my rep said seems very likely), they will cover 90%. 90%!!! OMG, this could be so awesome. That thought alone almost makes it worth waiting. Almost.

Waiting game

I had an endo-follow-up appointment yesterday with the Nurse Practitioner yesterday, and it was rather anti-climactic. The NP didn’t really offer any suggestions for some of the dinner number troubles I’ve been having, and I don’t think she did a very good job of “following up” on the stuff that got talked about at my endo appt. It seemed like such a waste for me to take a 1/2 day off work and drive all the way up to the Diabetes Center, to talk about…. nothing really.

HOWEVER, I did get a date set up for my Dexcom training. It won’t be until next Friday (the 23rd), which seems like soooo far away. According to my Dexcom rep, I should be getting my kit either today or tomorrow, so I’ll have a week of tortuous waiting. I am halfway tempted to try it out ahead of time, but I don’t really feel like messing up a $60 sensor.

There is (potential) good news about insurance coverage though. Dexcom says that they have an in-network supplier for the sensors, so they’re going to try to get it covered. If they do, the sensors will end up being fairly reasonably priced, which will be totally sweet.

Wavesense vs. Freestyle data

I’ve been using the Keynote for about a week now, so today I sorted through all the data and made a few graphs and analyses. (Let me know if you cannot view the link)

meter comparison spreadsheet

Here are some of the observations I saw from the data:

1. The overall average is nearly identical. The Freestyle (for the first few days of the spreadsheet, I was using the Flash, then I switched over to the Lite.  I don’t think it made much of a difference) had an average of 124.9, while the Keynote had an average of 125.
2. The Keynote has a lower standard deviation. Freestyle’s standard deviation was 57.4, while the Keynote has only 50.5.  This is very important.  Lower standard deviation means fewer/less extreme values.  This is what they mean by the “plus or minus 20%” or whatever.  A lower standard deviation means it can be “plus or minus” by a lower amount.  This indicates increased accuracy, which is what Agamatrix claims in the first place.
3. Related to #2, the Keynote produced a higher average when blood sugar was 100 or below; and a lower average when blood sugar was above 100.  Again, this indicates a lower standard deviation and fewer extreme values.
4. The biggest difference in standard deviation was when blood sugar was above 100.  I feel that this is very important, because that means high numbers are more accurate.  As such, there is lower risk of over treating a high and thereby ending up low.

If anyone wants to offer any more observations they find in the data, feel free to leave a comment below.  Try to keep the comments about the differences in Freestyle vs. Wavesense and not about my numbers/care/treatment/etc.

That’s odd…

I received the summer issue of Diabetic Living in the mail yesterday and was thumbing through it before dinner. I came across this advertisement and something doesn’t feel right…

(click to enlarge)

What you see on the left is a Liberty Medical branded “free meter”. What you see on the right is my new Agamatrix Wavesense Keynote meter. See any similarities? Yeah, I do too.

It’s probable that the internal workings and software are different, but it seems like too much of a coincidence that they just “happen” to use the same external hardware.

Am I the only one who is confused and concerned?

Baking with Splenda

I’ve been looking for more ways to incorporate Splenda into my baking.  I’ve mostly avoided it because it generally produces less than spectacular results.  In fact, for my baking final last semester, I did a comparison of Splenda muffins vs. sugar muffins.  The sugar muffins won on pretty much every count.  =(

I came across a little lemon cake recipe yesterday and decided it would be good to try out with Splenda.  You can check out some of the details on my baking blog.

The biggest complaint GiR has was that it tastes like Splenda, which is very disappointing because Splenda is supposed to have little to no aftertaste.  Also, I assumed that the lemon would counteract the aftertaste, but maybe it just made it worse.  As a baker, the biggest complaint I have is that it didn’t rise as well as expected.  The Splenda makes for a very short, dense cake.

All in all, it was a very tasty recipe (especially with the fresh strawberries), so I would definitely recommend trying it out.

New Lucy case

After ripping out the magnets in my last case, I had a functional Velcro-based solution for toting Lucy around on my pants.  However, 10 months later, the Velcro finally gave out.  Well, it wasn’t really the Velcro that gave out, it was the lining fabric where I had cut so I could get the magnets out.  It was fraying and loose, plus the Velcro wasn’t as sticky anymore.  Lucy would occasionally fall out in my bed overnight, or threaten to slip out simply when walking around.  As such, it was time for a new case.

This is just a regular old cell phone case from Target.  No Velcro, no magnets, just some elastic on the sides.  Lucy is very secure and the case is very sturdy.  I hope Lucy feels better in her new clothes.  =)

GiR’s guide to blood sugar

After seeing the wide range of values I could get from the same blood drop when comparing the Keynote to my Flash, GiR and I decided that it would just be easier to make up numbers based on how I feel instead of actually testing.

Question 1: How do I feel?

1. Loopy
2. Fine
3. I want to kill something

If 1, blood sugar is low. Eat something.
If 2, blood sugar is normal.
If 3, blood sugar is high. Then ask Question 2: What do I want to kill?

1. Myself
2. My friends and family
3. The entire world
4. The entire universe

If 1, blood sugar is 150.
If 2, blood sugar is 200.
If 3, blood sugar is 250.
If 4, blood sugar is 300.

=D

What’s really frustrating about the comparisons between meters is that I now see that I can’t really trust any of my numbers at all. If, with the same blood drop, I get numbers that are 20+ points different, then what’s the point of being so accurate at all? My pump can calculate very, very precise doses of insulin. But! They are based on this vague result of a blood sugar test. Sometimes it feels like I could just pull a number out of a hat (or take GiR’s questionnaire) and it would be close enough.

Testing out the Keynote

Yesterday, I received my “assessment package” from Agamatrix to try out the Keynote.  I switched around my pouches so that I could carry both the Keynote and my Flash around to compare the values.

First test before dinner:  Flash = 72, Keynote = 92

To me, this is a fairly dangerous situation.  72 would be a low that I would need to treat, but a 92 is normal and doesn’t need to be treated.

Further tests throughout the evening and this morning have shown that the Keynote pulls up numbers that are “closer to center”, as GiR put it.  This makes sense considering the Keynote’s claim that is has a lower margin of error.  As such, it would be reasonable to say that my Flash would produce more extreme values, while the Keynote would produce more consistent values.

HOWEVER!  There is one small bug/feature that makes the Keynote not worth switching to:  You have to get the full amount of blood on the strip at one time.  If it starts sucking your blood and you don’t get enough the first time, you just wasted a strip.  I HATE THIS SOOOO MUCH!  This is why I love my Flash.  If you don’t get enough blood, it’s okay.  You have a small window of time to finish filling the test strip.

I will continue using the Keynote for awhile because half a day is hardly enough to fuss about just yet.  GiR suggested that maybe I use the Keynote to calibrate my Dexcom, since the Keynote is more likely to be accurate.  We’ll see.

OMG OMG OMG

I just got off the phone with my local Dexcom rep and I ordered my first CGMS!  He says he will contact my endo to get the letter of medical necessity thing (which hopefully will go okay), then my initial kit will be on its way.  I’m also hoping that I will get decent reimbursement from the insurance, if for nothing else other than the sensors.  The initial kit prices isn’t too bad; it’s the sensors that are killer.  I’ve heard good things about my insurance, so there is hope.

I am soooo excited.  This is just another step in the process of turning me into a cyborg.  It is awesome.

Another pump sighting

I was walking from the parking garage to work and I noticed that the woman walking in front of me had a pump clearly visible on her right hip.  One would almost mistake it for a cell phone, but that pesky tubing gave it away.  I wish I had the time to stop and say hi.  It’s always fun to meet new people who are diabetics.  The instant bond is great.

Speaking of which, I’ve neglected to mention that one of the people on my new team at work is also diabetic!  He’s not sure what sort of diabetes he has (he’s kind of in that confused land of LADA/1.5/Type 2 progressing to needing insulin…), but he does have a pump.  Unfortunately, we haven’t gotten to talk much about diabetes stuff yet, but it’s always great to know that I have people to count on if I need sugar or a test strip or something.