BeingDiabetic.co.nz » Dexcom

A new artificial pancreas in the making.

Nic — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 20:59:28 +0000

There’s been plenty of talk over the last few years about ‘closed loop’ systems and artificial pancreases. Talk and a bit of action but nothing conclusive just yet.

However, the latest announcement that the JDRF are pouring $US 8 million into a closed loop system between Animas and Dexcom (CGMS) sounds like great news to me.

Details over at Diabetes Mine…

Interesting to hear they’d hope to have a product in market in four year’s time.

My questions are two-fold.

1. Does that mean it could get released in the States in 2014 but crawl its way…

Aren’t people lovely part II: cakes and plastic cows.

Nic — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 08:06:54 +0000

This week, my Mum was showing some of the women at her work the latest issue of diabetes magazine, which I have an article published in. The article talks about my experiences with the Dexcom CGMS (see all the posts on this here) and mentions that I’m moving to a pump. Mum’s talked to these women before about the expense of the pump and how I’m still paying it off, and one of her work friends piped up all of a sudden and said “Right – this is what’s going to happen – we’re going to all cobble together and bake lots of cakes and sell them on behalf of your daughter and raise the $500…

I’m gonna miss you, Dexcom – or can I call you Dex?

Nic — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 08:07:04 +0000

Dear Dexcom

Well, our month of companionship is almost over – and I’m sad to say goodbye. We’ve been through good times and bad, but knowing that you’re there for me always has been quietly comforting. Or not so quietly now that I think of all the times you’ve woken me in the night with your buzzing and beeping. All the same, the good times have been good. You’ve taught me new ways of doing things. You’ve embraced me with your robotic kindness and graphical insights. You’ve made me see things from a whole new perspective, and I feel like I’ve grown both spiritually and medically with you literally by my side. It’s been emotional.

We’ve still got two days together,…

Naughty Dexcom.

Nic — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 09:29:59 +0000

When you’re paying $500 for a piece of kit for a month you sort of hope you can squeeze every last cent out of it. Unfortunately I’ve found the Dexcom to be a little bit dicey on the return on investment front this week. I changed over the insertion mid Thursday last week and shouldn’t have had to do it again until mid Thurs this week. However by late morning on Tuesday the results it was getting were scarce, and the ??? signs were starting to show ever more frequently. By the afternoon it was pretty much kaput – no results at all. I was so tired I vowed to sort it in the morning, but didn’t get a chance…

Caught red handed.

Nic — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 01:22:20 +0000

Well, thanks to my trusty Dexcom, I’ve caught those naughty overnight blood sugars in their tracks. I now have three nights’ worth of data which shows the little blighters partying it up while I’m asleep, much like we as teenagers would when our parents went away for the weekend. What I plan to do about this I’m not too sure at this stage – being less than three weeks from hooking up to a pump (see previous post) I’m almost reluctant to be changing regimes at this point even though this will continue to hinder my HbA1c (and ability to sleep).

This makes for two street busts in the last few days…. We have been aware…

How amazing is THIS?

Nic — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 01:37:27 +0000

Hiya – I am supposed to be doing a lot of work today but couldn’t resist downloading the Dexcom software and then my records, and have wasted about an hour already so I can show you these charts from yesterday.

First up, here is an hourly update on my blood sugars and where they were at. The red bars across the graph represent 4 – 8 mmol (as we know it in NZ). Click on the image to see it enlarged.

And secondly, here is an aggregate of my glucose readings for the whole day. Note: blue is for low blood sugars, green for in-zone blood sugars and pink for > 7…

First night with the Dexcom.

Nic — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 00:24:27 +0000

Well what a great little gadget this Dexcom is!! I worked til 8pm last night and hadn’t had any dinner, but had to go to the supermarket on the way home. I didn’t get any of the usual ‘I’m low’ signals but then I’d just worked a 12 hour day so there’s a lot that can be explained away by tiredness. Checked the Dexcom screen and could see that my blood sugar was trending downwards. About 5mins later I had another look, and it was heading into hypo territory so I had some glucose tablets. It headed further towards low and the alarm sounded just as I was at the checkout, so I was able to top up the glucose…

On yer marks, get set, GOOOOOOO!

Nic — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 06:51:53 +0000

Woohooo! Have had a great day in the land of the diabetes treatment/monitoring! Justin from insulinpumps.co.nz came and met me at my office and gave me all of the background info for the Dexcom CGMS, plus helped me do the first insertion on my one month CGMS journey. The insertion was easy and didn’t hurt.

It takes two hours for the unit to start transmitting properly and the time went quickly as I ran around the office tending to tight deadlines. By just after 3pm I got my first non-finger-prick, real time glucose reading – ahhhhh! It is so crazy to think that over the next month I won’t have to draw blood every couple of hours, and…

Murphy’s law.

Nic — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 01:20:37 +0000

I’m pretty excited about the much-anticipated Dexcom hook-up tomorrow…. Imagine feeling like you were going low, but not quite sure, then looking at the wireless monitor you have in your pocket/sweaty little palm to see if you’re right or not! Or leaving an exercise class at the gym thinking you might be heading up in the glucose department and being able to monitor it – SWEET!!

Of course Murphy’s law is at play for the actual hook-up itself. I am super busy at work at the moment so meeting the rep at home is just not going to happen. So I booked a time with him to come in and booked a meeting room. What do…

Taking the bull by the horns.

Nic — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 08:02:43 +0000

…. and throwing cash at my condition.

I spoke to my specialist today about the disappointing outcome of the Minimed CGMS and asked what I could do about a referral to a Dexcom real time CGMS. It sounded like getting my insurance company to cough up for a month of leasing this (for $500) is nigh on impossible. Apparently they argue that I could instead take my BM every half hour…. obviously these people have never had to wake up repeatedly in the night.

I’ve always been a pretty impulsive person so I made the decision there and then that I’ll just raise the funds myself and dive on in. I rang Justin from www.insulinpumps.co.nz and he’s coming…