???

I fired up my new Dexcom last night, and it seems that’s all I get: ???

The sensor insertion went fine, with only a small trouble figuring out how to get the plunger thing off.  Waiting the 2 hour startup time went fine.  Then came calibration.

Maybe it’s just because I didn’t know what I was doing, but it took 2 1/2 hours to fully calibrate the darn thing.  I know I entered at least 10 calibration values before it started showing me any data points.

I finally got a couple values, so I went to sleep.  When I woke up, I checked on the graph to see how I was doing.  Well, I have no idea really.  I got maybe 2 or 3 values an hour, with HUGE gaps in between.  What is the purpose of this thing if I doesn’t actually capture any data?

Thinking it might be that I slept on that side funny, I let it go.  I managed to get about 5 values in a row while eating breakfast, getting dressed, etc.   Then, more ???.   A couple more values while walking to work, then more ???.

Is this normal for the first day?  I was really looking forward to having a nice curve to look at, but it’s not much of a curve with only a handful of readings per hour.  I really don’t want to replace the sensor so soon, so I’m just going to wait it out for now.  Any tips or reassurance you have would be greatly appreciated.

Freestyle disappointment

I’m sure many of you remember the Freestyle survey a while back where you could get 50 free test strips for the first survey, and 50 free strips for a second survey.  I filled out the first survey and got my 50 free strips, no problem.  Then, a month later or so, I got an email telling me to fill out my second survey.  Well, lo and behold, the program is closed and I can’t get my second 50 strips.  I called up Abbott and they told me that they ran out and there’s basically nothing they can do.  I still don’t understand how this happened though.

Say you have 100 vials of test strips available to give away.  You decide to put together a two-part survey.  As such, you give 50 vials away for the first survey, and reserve 50 vials for the second survey.  This makes sense, right?  That way, 50 people each get their promised 2 vials.

However!  This does not appear to be what Abbott did.  Instead, they sent 100 people 1 vial for the first survey.  Now, I can see how this would get their test strips into the hands of more people , thereby increasing future sales.  But, it gives the impression of false advertising, which could potentially lose you more customers.

Overall, I’m not going to complain about 50 free strips, but I just wish they would have made it clear ahead of time that your second 50 strips are not guaranteed.

SQUEE! My Dexcom is on the way!

I got the final confirmation today that my insurance is going to cover 90% of my Dexcom and supplies.  They are shipping today and I will get it on Wednesday.  I am hoping to having my training Thursday morning, so I will have little delay.  This is going to kick so much ass!  =D

Final thoughts on the Keynote

I’m pretty much done trying out the Keynote for now, so here are my final thoughts.

Bad

• The test strips seems “wobbly” when I put it into the meter.  Like it’s not as secure or something.
• The backlight is either on or off, no quick button to toggle it.
• No light down the strip.  I got really spoiled on this when using the Freestyle products (Flash and Lite).
• Numbers tend toward the center, which could result in missed lows.
• Still need to code the meter.
• You MUST get all the blood on in one go.  This is the deal breaker, sorry.

Good

• Considerably less extreme values, which prevents over-treating lows and highs
• Excellent form factor (small, light, grippy sides)

So, as you can see, I’m not all that happy with the Keynote for regular use.  However, once I get my Dexcom (still waiting to hear from the insurance!), I plan on using the Keynote for calibration.  Thanks to Agamatrix for letting me try this out!

Meme time

Once you’ve been tagged, you write a post with 10 weird, random facts, habits or goals about yourself. At the end, choose 6 new victims to be tagged, list their names, and why you tagged them. Don’t forget to leave them a comment saying (’You’re It!’) and to go read your blog. (I am totally skipping the tagging part because it is entirely unnecessary).

1. I would love to learn to play the cello.  Yo-Yo Ma is my hero.
2. I would like to visit Poland.  My mom’s entire side of the family is Polish, so it will always have a soft spot in my heart.
3. I cannot STAND peppermint, in any forms.  I also do not like most other flavors of mint.  This makes it very hard to find a toothpaste that I can tolerate.  I also cannot kiss GiR after he’s had a mind.  Nasty….
4. I have eaten the exact same breakfast nearly every day for at least a year.  It’s very predictable.  One frozen waffle (blueberry is preferred) with a little butter and sugar-free syrup.  16-18g carbs, depending on the brand of waffle.
5. I save all the cans of soda I drink at work (one in the morning and one at lunch) so that I can recycle them.  I don’t have many decorations in my cube, but my soda can wall is definitely the most prominent.  Currently I have nearly 80 cans stacked up (10 cans wide, 4 cans deep, 2 cans tall) ready to recycle.
6. GiR and I have pretty much picked out the names that we would give our kids when/if we have them.  We probably spend way too much time talking about it.  =)
7. I have always dreamed of opening my own bakery/pastry shop.  It would specialize in foods for people with dietary restrictions:  sugar-free, low-carb, no aspartame, no MSG, lactose-free, no fried potatoes, no food dyes, gluten-free, no coconut, no nuts, etc.  Tasty food should be available to all people, no matter their “restrictions.”
8. I always spell the past tense of the word “cancel” as “cancelled.”  My spell checkers consistently tell me that it is incorrect and it should be “canceled.”  I’m sorry, but “canceled” just doesn’t look right.  “Cancelled” is an acceptable spelling anyway, so I’m going to continue to spell it that way.
9. For the most part, I refuse to talk in “IM speak.”  I use full spelling, mostly correct grammar, and very few abbreviations.  bc srsly, do u get wut I’m sayin?
10. I would love to live in a city that has reasonable temperatures.  I don’t like snow and I don’t like heat.  Just something in the middle would be nice.  And not too much rain or gray skies.  As far as I know, a place like this doesn’t exist, but hey, I can dream, right?

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. UPDATE: I removed a couple lines where I only had a number for one of the meters (but not both). This resulted in a Freestyle average of 124.5 and a Keynote average of 123.5.  Still not a huge difference, but in this case, the Keynote gives a LOWER average.
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. As a result of my update in #1, the Freestyle std dev is now 57.7 and the Keynote is 49.6
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?

UPDATE: Thanks to the Dorkabetic who pointed me towards this page explaining the different brand names. I am less confused now.

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.