The Not-So-Sweet-Side of Diabetes

Things with diabetes are rarely all roses, but so far through most of my diabetic life, I have had good luck and pretty good control of my diabetes. When I was little, I had great parents who helped me manage the disease by helping me test my blood sugar and giving me shots until I could do it myself. I had a great Endo doctor (props to Dr. Mike Ainslie), and I had a great outlet called Camp Needlepoint.

Guys, being an adult is hard. And that is not limited to normal-people life, but also to diabetic life. Finding a good/decent/normal-expectation-having doctor has proven to be impossible. I honestly do not think that I am being too picky. I mean, this is my LIFE and my HEALTH here that we're talking about. I should not have to put up with people telling me (and yes, all these things happened to me since leaving my pediatric endo doc):

• my doctor telling me that diabetics should not ever get pregnant
• expecting my blood sugars to be under 100 at all times
• not even interested in looking at my blood sugar readings after just being on the pump
• the nurses of the doctor assuring me that they had called in my prescriptions, just for me to go to the pharmacy and find out they had not (this has happened with the same doctor's nursing staff two out of three prescription requests)
• the doctor not knowing how to button-press on a pump to show me how to add a second basil rate for the first time
• the doctor not knowing anything about how the pump actually works, but pushes them like a woman in labor anyway
• nursing staff not taking my blood pressure or weight after the initial visit to the office (not that I really minded the weight part not being taken...) ugh.
• showing up 10 minutes early for a doctor appointment, waiting in the waiting room for about 5 minutes, placed in an exam room and waiting in there alone for about 45 mins+
• having the doctor come into the exam room, apologize for the delay, blaming it on "a needy patient across the hall taking a lot of his time." (um excuse me, what now?! You never, ever, EVER tell another patient that)
• Having a new doctor, still in the introductory stages of the doctor-client relationship, and you feel just like a student sitting in for a biology lecture on your own body - here are the cold, hard facts. This is how it is...deal with it (type of speech from the doc)

That is the short list that I could come up with from things at the top of my mind. It gets plain frustrating and old. I am sick of having to entrust my health and well-being and, hello - new pump-hood, to a person who spent their lifetime in school learning about the body and its issues, but not being able to apply their personality/warmth to their practice of seeing patients in any way, shape or form. And do NOT judge me mr/mrs doctor when you, yourself do NOT have the disease. learning about something and experiencing something and living with it every day it not even close to the same thing. Do not tell me you know how I feel. do not tell me that I can't. 

On another note, I had my CGM (continuous glucose monitor) training and install yesterday with my awesome trainer. I will be honest, I was more nervous about this part than I was about the pump. I think mostly I was nervous because not a lot of people that I know have and use a sensor. But the pump, on the other hand, a lot of people I know use and love theirs, and I have had experience looking at and helping campers with their pumps. 

This is an example of all the things I had attached to me. I started out with only the pump (Paradigm) and Infusion set (the two are obviously connected and work together). Then I added the MiniLink Transmittor and CGM. Note: this is NOT me in the photo (wishful thinking)- nor my pump. Mine is awesomely blue, not boring and clear.

So, I went in, not expecting to be a huge fan of the device. I had to insert the sensor almost right away when I got into our room - to let it acclimate to my interstitial fluid to start getting readings. But after I inserted, it bled a little. not a fan of that happening. And the thing is so sensitive - everything about it - from the way you get it set up in the inserter, to how you need to position it and hold it, to how you hook it all together...then there is the whole signal thing. it was funny - I was at the Medtronic headquarters for my training, and the pump and the sensor lost connection in the building due to all of the electronics they have going on in the building! Now there's irony for you - the company that created these things, and they don't work together in the building!

So, in the age of awesome electronics and the ever-decreasing size of electronic items, don't you think they could have created the sensor and the transmitter on a smaller scale?! I do!! This thing was bigger than I liked - about the length of a chapstick and about twice the width. 

Once you insert the sensor and hook up the transmittor, you can/should place a piece of medial tape/bandaging over the entire thing so you don't "disturb the precious..." as I liked to call it - but seriously, so you don't bump it and screw up the transfer transmissions. (are you taking notes yet? You'll need them for the test later)

I thought that having this device would eliminate the need for testing my bloodsugar, but I was sadly mistaken. With this sensor, you actually need to test MORE, and on a more regimented timeline to sync and calibrate the sensor/transmittor. ugh. no bueno.

So, I went through all of the training, and wow, guys, this thing is complex. Like, I need to take a class in just the different types of alarms this thing can/will throw out at you (and as I found out later that night, it decides to throw them out at you any old time from 2am-5:10am). 

So, it hurt when I inserted it, it bled when I inserted it, and it is complicated to use and maintain. Not great for me wanting to continue in my quest with this device. 

I went to bed that night and could not sleep. Partly because it hurt when I laid on or close to it, so I was confined to one or two sleeping positions. Secondly, the stupid thing kept making my pump beep alerts at me between the hours of 2am and 5:10 am (when the last alarm went off). Not a fan. If you know me, you know that I enjoy myself some sleep time!

I went to work that next day with the thing on/in and made it through. I only looked at the readings about three times during the day. They differed from what I was when I tested my bloodsugar (which is normal for them to differ). But by the time I got home yesterday, I was like, okay, it is starting to hurt more, and I am not a fan of not sleeping at night, so this sucker's coming OUT tonight!!

I didn't have any real idea as to how the best way was to remove this thing from my body, so I looked it up on Medtronic's website and found the module on how to insert a new one/remove the old one. I am glad I looked at it because it told you, in steps, how to remove it. But MAN did that sucker hurt! And more blood upon removal. yay...

So, There you have it - tried the sensor for just over 24 hours and was not a fan. I might go back to it later and try it again, but until some of the bugs get worked out, or they make it a little easier to keep track of, then I might reconsider. As I was telling Derick last night, "once you [Medtronic] start testing this thing on humans, get back to me..."

So, that is all the news so far on my Pancreas Addendum update!

-LD