Dexcom Sensor

So a few weeks ago, I was able to get my new Dexcom! Before camp this past summer, I had lost the transmitter part of my Dexcom sensor. I have had to wait until January 2014 before I could get it, and took many weeks to be delivered to my house. The Dexcom is a blood sugar sensor that stays under the skin for around 7 days. I think that these sensors are really great and help me keep my blood sugar in a good range.
The first one I had ever tried was the first generation Medtronic blood glucose sensor. My only words of advice: NEVER TRY FIRST GENERATION! I say this because first gen medical devices still have bugs and imperfections. The developers still have to work out the kinks in the technology. After trying that sensor, I was very hesitant to try another.  The sensor had many flaws, including the gigantic needle used to insert it!! No thank you.
 When I went to camp though, I decided that I wanted to try the Dexcom. Many counselors were wearing it and I saw how it helped them catch highs and lows before they happened. I got the new Dexcom G4 Platinum sensor a few months afterwards. I loved that sensor and it helped keep my blood sugars in check. When I wanted to take a break from it for a week or two, I had misplaced the sensor and had never found it. In order to get a new one, I would have to wait until January 2014 to reorder the new transmitter. Eventually, it came and since then I have been loving it. This sensor has been helping me catch highs and lows when they are not severe so I can feel my best all the time.

No More Shots :D

I have finally switched off of shots and I'm now on my old MiniMed. I switched off of shots because I was running out of spots to put them. I like being back on the pump because I'm a snacker. Taking a shot every time I ate was really annoying.

I also lost my Dexcom transmitter! Oops :/
My Dexcom expires on the 22nd so I will be able to order a new one soon.

I ordered a new pump, the Medtronic Revel. I'm really excited to try it because the pump I'm using now is around 6 years old. A lot of my diabetic friends have the Revel and they said it's great!

When I went to the endocrinologist I got my A1C test results back and mine was an 8.9! I am now correcting everything over 100 to get it down. This high A1C is because I forgot to bolus and correct, or I overcorrected lows. I have stopped doing that and now I am trying extremely hard to get my A1C down!

Using this new system I have has really been helping my blood sugars! I haven't been over 200 in around 2 weeks and instead of feeling crappy all the time, I'm actually feeling great! Now I am low a lot. Oh well. I don't go low all the time, but at least once a day I am low, which is a lot better than being high.

Well thanks so much if you read this far!!

Shots!!

I'm not on the Omnipod insulin pump anymore. I decided to take a break from it because I was sick of it not working.
Let me explain: first of all, the pump itself isn't that great, it's mostly just hype. There were many, many design flaws. For example, the pod was too heavy for the adhesive and would always fall off.
Second of all, the pods would never work. I don't know if I got a bad batch or something, but they would always beep really high pitched and not stop unless you smashed it with a hammer or put it in the freezer. The pods usually lasted one day before it either bled, beeped, fell off, or hurt. They weren't as great as they were made out to be.
Lastly, i was really was having a hard time also with my blood sugars. Because the pods would usually malfunction, my blood sugars were terrible and I was never in control. My A1C went up because I was always high. I was high because the pods were never working. I was so frustrated, so I ripped off another bleeding pod and smashed it. That was it.
I snapped and started ranting to nobody in particular. I told my mom that I wanted to go on shots and that I was sick of the pods not working. She called my endocrinologist and got me a prescription for insulin pens. I got them in about an hour.
The pens are pretty cool. I really like them at least. It's kind of ironic to think that I vowed never to go on shots, but here I am taking shots and loving them. I take a shot of Levemir every night and a shot of Novolog every time I eat. I really am liking shots, and my blood sugars have been so much better. I also feel like I am keeping tighter control over my diabetes because I have to take a shot every time I eat. Also I need to know how certain foods affect me. When you need to take a shot for everything you eat, you need to be more conscious about what you are eating an when. I feel a whole lot more responsible and more grown up because of my decision!

Diabirthday!

I cannot wait for my 5th Diabirthday!!! It is an exciting moment in time for me. I get to celebrate it on August 27th, (as a partay of course!) and I remember the time that I got diagnosed in fragments. Please forgive me for my terrible storytelling.
 Here it goes:
I had been feeling crummy for weeks, going to the bathroom constantly and drinking tons of water. I had never really like water, so my mom was a little weirded out when I kept asking her for more of it. She stopped giving it to me after about 5 glasses. I thought, if she doesn't give me water, I'll get it myself. I then ran to the downstairs bathroom, turned the cold water on as far as it would go and bent my head underneath the water stream, but I couldn't get it. (I wasn't thinking straight because I was high the entire time) Then I finally came up with a strategy that worked.
I scooped the water into my dry mouth. I was gulping it down, spilling everywhere in the process. Then, fast forward to August. I was going to a kids concert for my little sister. There were stands to buy Gatorade and other drinks because it was warm out. I convinced my parents to buy me a huge bottle of Gatorade, and I gulped it down. During the entire concert I drank 4 huge bottles of the stuff. Then fast forward to the next few days.I was in the doctor's office, and he had just taken a urine sample. He was telling us that it was the highest amount of sugar in a kids urine he had EVER seen. He told us to pack our bags and to go to Yale New Haven.  I remember driving to the hospital eating Oreos on the way.. The worst snack ever! I didn't know back then, though. After 4 days in the hospital, I was finally released home, and in December of that year I got the Medtronic MiniMed insulin pump!
And that, my chicklings, is my story of diagnosis.

News Flash

I have a new monitor! It is called Freestyle Lite and the BEST MONITOR EVER! It takes less blood than the One Touch and it is a lot smaller! A TON of people I know with diabetes have the Freestyle and told me that it was amazing, but I thought they were wimps because their monitor took less blood and that they weren't "brave" enough to use the One Touch. Then I realized that this new monitor is going to save me a lot of blood! That is true. I haven't been feeling my finger pricks and my fingers don't hurt as often when I prick them! This is the life...
I am also happy to report that the new OmniPod is coming out soon and I can't wait! Soon pumping will be SO much easier! I enjoy the smaller things in life, like the birds calling in the morning, and the new advances in pumps! (tee hee!) I also like the fact that there is no tubing, but some of my friends have told me that I might lose the PDM (Personal Diabetes Manager) that controls the insulin basals and boluses. Which is probably true, but we will see when it actually comes out and we need to fight insurance to actually GET it. Ugh life has its ups and downs...