5 years ago…

My “official” diagnosis anniversary isn’t until tomorrow, but today was the day that I first tested on my grandpa’s meter and it said “HI.” 5 years ago today is the day that started the biggest change in my life.

Since my 4 year anniversary, I have come a long way. I’ve seen 2 A1c’s below 6 (5.9 in Dec and 5.6 in April).  I found a great endo/diabetes center.  I participated in the sussy circle and got to know other diabetes bloggers. I got my butt into gear and got a Wii Fit.  I hooked up to a Dexcom, which I affectionately named Charlie.

My next A1c is in August, and I hope that I will continue my streak of sub-6 results.  I also want to meet other Type 1 diabetics; it seems like it would be so awesome.  And someday, I hope to start a family.

Back in business

My new pump (Lucy 3.0) arrived yesterday and I hooked it up right away.  Luckily, I had downloaded my settings to my computer recently, so I was able to pull those up and program Lucy very easily.  Since I still had Lantus in my system, I set a 10% temp rate (the lowest it goes without being 0) and just used Lucy for meal/correction boluses.

In the comments from my previous post, Jillian said that she had a slit in the same spot as I did.  This concerns me because Lucy 3.0 does not have this slit.  As such, I don’t think it is a design element, and I’m pretty sure it makes the pump not waterproof.  I wonder if other people have the same thing, or if we just happened to crack our pumps in exactly the same place.  It does seem like a likely stress point that is easily cracked.

Another random interesting thing is that the touch bolus button on Lucy 3.0 looks very different.  The new button is much bigger and has a white circle on it (instead of being just black).  I find it interesting that they would just randomly introduce a new design element without really mentioning it anywhere.  Of course, Dexcom now has the Open Choice System, and that’s not reflected on their website at all…

Anyway, Lucy and I have been reunited and my blood sugars are once again more predictable and under control.

Roll your own Day-Quil

As you might know, if you’re using a Dexcom, you can’t take Tylenol (acetaminophen).  For some reason, it produces false highs and will result in inaccurate data.  I prefer ibuprofen for my pain relief, so that was no problem.

However, what do you do about drug cocktails, such as Day-Quil, that have multiple drugs in one pill?  Most often, these include acetaminophen.  Well, here’s what I did when I was sick this weekend:

• 2 ibuprofen
• 1 phenylephrine
• 1 dextromethorphan

This is approximately equivalent to 2 Day-Quil.  Works just the same, without the off-limits Tylenol.

So, does anyone know of a good equivalent for Midol that doesn’t have acetaminophen?

Charlie in action

I’ve had Charlie for a couple weeks now, so I figure I should share some of my general thoughts and experiences.

At first, I was checking Charlie ALL THE TIME.  Needless to say, I ran through the batteries pretty quickly.  =)  I’ve gotten better about checking only when I need to.

Accuracy has been hit and miss.  Some days, it seems like everything is completely spot on.  So accurate I could bolus off the sensor values.  Other days, it seems like Charlie will consistently have me 20-30 points lower than I actually am, and no amount of calibration will get it to work.  Overall, it’s still a great way to see trends.

My alarms are set at 70 and at 160.  This has let me catch lows and highs before they become big issues.  Over the past couple weeks, I have stayed in that range about 90% of the time.  Not too shabby.  =)  Eventually, when it’s time to start thinking about having kids, I would like to lower the upper bound to 140, then again to 120.  But for now, I’m happy with staying under 160.

It’s been mildly annoying to be attached to 2 medical devices all the time.  They take up a lot of real estate on my waistband.  However, I have long abandoned hope of hiding Lucy on a daily basis, so adding another device isn’t a huge deal.  I’ve already come up with a fun answer if people ask me what they are:  “Well, this one’s a tricorder and this is my my personal web server.”  =D  Also, I like the idea of not being attached to my purse.  With Lucy on one hip and Charlie on the other, I feel like I’m ready for anything.

Proper introduction

I know I’ve mentioned it already, but I am hooked up to a fancy Dexcom CGMS. It’s been almost a week and I loooooove it so much. The data is just fantastic and I can’t imagine being without it ever again. Anyway, I apologize for the crappy picture (GiR is not one for taking good photos), but I would like to introduce you all to Charlie!

(Normally I have my devices more to the outside of my hips, but my pajama pants do not have a sturdy waistband, so they tend to slide towards the middle.)

As a side note, Charlie is female. She also has a slight identity crisis as part of her is on my stomach (sensor and transmitter) and part of her is on my hip (receiver).

Having Charlie around is a very interesting experience. At times, I feel like I am totally consumed by diabetes data. Am I high? Am I low? Do I have enough insulin on board? Time to check Lucy. Time to check Charlie. Time to coordinate everything with my regular meter.  It can be very overwhelming.

Then there are the times when my fears and worries are calmed by the beautiful flat line on Charlie’s screen.  I got totally excited when I successfully combo-bolused for Mexican food at a party.  I am relieved when I see consistent blood sugars overnight.  I have prevented highs.  I have prevented lows.  I can go an entire day without being out of range (70-180).

I may feel like a techno-dork who carries around tons of electronics on her belt, but I wouldn’t give up my 2 girls for anything.

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

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.

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.

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.  =)