Last Fall I participated in a Diabetic study associated with the Barbara Davis Center in Colorado. As part of the study I was required to wear a Dexcom Continuous Glucose Monitor and once the study was over, I could keep the Dexcom. The study lasted about four months and concluded the day before Thanksgiving. I wore the CGM through the Thanksgiving holiday weekend and I was very pleased with how it performed and the ability to observe my glucose readings every 5 minutes.
Following the conclusion of the study I had only one sensor left. The sensor is the sticky pad that attaches to your skin and a fine metal wire is inserted into the skin. One of the nurses from the study helped me fill out the paperwork to my insurance company requesting coverage for the sensors. The sensors are very expensive and are about $60 U.S. dollars without insurance. That’s sixty dollars per sensor. I was advised that it could take several months to get an answer back from the insurance company. I really wanted to try the Dexcom again, since this would be the first time on my own. But with only one sensor remaining until I heard back from the insurance company I wanted to make sure I made the best use of it. I figured the best time to try it would be the week of Christmas. With lots of Christmas food and candies to tempt me, what better time to be wearing a continuous glucose meter.
On Christmas Eve (2009) I inserted the last sensor into my skin. And it hurt. Worse than the other times I had worn it during the study. An hour after inserting the sensor the Dexcom gave me an error: that the sensor failed. I was ticked because it was the only sensor I had. I left it in over-night figuring maybe it was getting a good reading yet from my skin and better luck in the morning.
The next day (Christmas), I started up the Dexcom to begin its calibrations. About 30-minutes later I got the sensor failed warning again. Figuring I had a bad sensor I removed the sensor from my stomach and was surprised to see that the little metal wire was not attached. After searching the floor near where I removed the sensor and not finding the lead, the only conclusion I could come to was that it broke off in my skin. My family wanted me to go to the emergency room. But there was no way I was going to spend my Christmas in the hospital. I searched the web to see if there was any Diabetic information out there about this same scenario. There was little information. And stories from people who did experience this did not have any solutions or advice on what to do. One person did say that it should come out on it’s own like a splinter. But I couldn’t find any official medical advice.
A week later I had my 3-month checkup with my Diabetic doctor and I told him what happened. He checked the site and didn’t see any indication that there was anything under the skin. His conclusion was that it was a defective sensor that was missing the wire.
The following week the site started to feel itchy. I also felt something there when I rubbed my finger over it. Looking in the mirror I could see what looked like a splinter. The sensor lead was there and was working its way to the surface of the skin. I was able to grab part of it with tweezers. It was only a fraction of the piece. It must have broken into a couple of pieces under the skin. So it’s slowly been working its way up and out. I’m still not sure if it’s all out yet.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Birthday
Today is my 41st birthday. This month also marks 39 years of living with Diabetes. I remember up until the 70's and 80's the medical studies indicated that Type 1 Diabetics on average were expected to live 20 years after diagnosis. I believe it was based on an old study from the 1950's but that 20-year number was still being thrown about as late as the 1980's. I remember in my teenage years up until I turned 22 (20 years of living with Diabetes for me) thinking oh my God I only have a few more good years left. Then I hit 25-years with Diabetes and 30 and 35. Now here I am at almost 40 years with Diabetes and little to no complications. So I have now lived almost twice as long with Diabetes than the average Diabetic was expected to in those mid-20th Century studies. Of course science and medicine have come a long way in the past 30 years. But it's amazing thinking back on some of the scare tactics (for lack of a better phrase) that were generated by the medical community.
Sunday, November 25, 2007
New Lancet Device (actually a replacement)
My wife came in from a day of Christmas shopping and handed me a package, saying, "here's an early birthday present." She bought me a replacement lancet device, the Accu-Chek Multiclix, which was lost with the meter I lost in Jersey. Guess guilt overcame her. :-) It cost $27USD plus tax.
I read through the instructions again and made a stunning discovery .... that I had not been advancing the lancets properly on the one I lost. You need to quarter turn the barrel after each use to advance to the next lancet. I was just clicking it like a pen to load the lancet. In effect I was reusing the same lancet over-and-over again. And lets face it, being the lazy person that I am, I purposely "reused" the lancet drum. But I thought I was reusing the 6 lancets. Nope, dummy me was reusing the SAME single lancet each time.
Maybe I'll get it right this time. My wife said, "see what happens when you don't read the directions." But what's funny is that I know I had read the instructions the last time and still got it wrong! Live and learn. Or maybe in this case prick your finger and learn.
I read through the instructions again and made a stunning discovery .... that I had not been advancing the lancets properly on the one I lost. You need to quarter turn the barrel after each use to advance to the next lancet. I was just clicking it like a pen to load the lancet. In effect I was reusing the same lancet over-and-over again. And lets face it, being the lazy person that I am, I purposely "reused" the lancet drum. But I thought I was reusing the 6 lancets. Nope, dummy me was reusing the SAME single lancet each time.
Maybe I'll get it right this time. My wife said, "see what happens when you don't read the directions." But what's funny is that I know I had read the instructions the last time and still got it wrong! Live and learn. Or maybe in this case prick your finger and learn.
Friday, November 23, 2007
Thanksgiving Day and turkey dinner
My family and my brother's family had Thanksgiving dinner at my parents apartment. We had the typical turkey dinner with all the trimmings. I was careful not to overeat. I didn't have seconds as in years past. Still trying to keep my weight down.
After dinner we had desert and I had my share of pumpkin pie, ice cream, apple pie and some chocolate rice krispie treats that my sister-in-law made. All the while trying to estimate carbs and set the pump bolus accordingly and testing my blood sugar. I managed to keep my BG in the 120-140 range all evening.
When it was time to leave (about 9:30pm) I did a blood test and discovered that my blood sugar was now 66. So, I drank a Starbucks frozen cappuccino drink (about 40 carbs) which usually brings my BG back up to around 150 (when I'm in the 60-80 range). I tested when I got home and I was 130.
Several hours later as I was about to go to bed I tested one more time and discovered my blood sugar was 365! What the $%%&*$ ??? I had not eaten anything since the Starbucks drink at my parent's house. So much for being so careful all night. Just goes to show that an insulin pump is not the cure-all some people think it is.
After dinner we had desert and I had my share of pumpkin pie, ice cream, apple pie and some chocolate rice krispie treats that my sister-in-law made. All the while trying to estimate carbs and set the pump bolus accordingly and testing my blood sugar. I managed to keep my BG in the 120-140 range all evening.
When it was time to leave (about 9:30pm) I did a blood test and discovered that my blood sugar was now 66. So, I drank a Starbucks frozen cappuccino drink (about 40 carbs) which usually brings my BG back up to around 150 (when I'm in the 60-80 range). I tested when I got home and I was 130.
Several hours later as I was about to go to bed I tested one more time and discovered my blood sugar was 365! What the $%%&*$ ??? I had not eaten anything since the Starbucks drink at my parent's house. So much for being so careful all night. Just goes to show that an insulin pump is not the cure-all some people think it is.
Friday, November 16, 2007
I Lost My Blood Meter
This past weekend we (me, my wife Marion, and my 6-year old daugher, Caitlin) flew home to New Jersey for my cousin's wedding. The wedding was on Saturday (Nov. 10th) and we had a good time.
On Sunday, November 11th, I lost my Accu-Chek Aviva blood meter. Actually, my wife thinks she lost it. I'm somewhat enjoying the fact that it might have been she that lost it and not me. :-) Though we're really not sure exactly what happened.
That morning I drove my sister to the airport at 7am. I had done a blood test before leaving my mother-in-law's house. When I got back from Newark airport a little over an hour later I did another test and left the meter on the dining room table. Marion, Caitlin and I left to meet friends of ours at IHOP in Menlo Park at 9:30am. I know I left the meter on the dining room table figuring I wouldn't do a test until we got back from breakfast and so I wouldn't have to carry it.
After breakfast with our friends we stopped at the Super Target at Menlo Park so Marion could buy a new purse. The zipper had broke on her old one the day we arrived in N.J. Near the checkout lines she sat at a table to move her stuff from one purse to the other while Caitlin and I hit the restrooms. We then drove around checking out our old homes in Edison, N.J. where we both grew up.
It was getting late (around 1pm) and we were suppose to meet up with Marion's mom at her house to drive an hour up to northern N.J. to a party at Marion's cousin's house. So Marion called her mom to say we would meet her at her sister's house and then head up all together from there. Before calling her mom Marion asked if I needed her mom to bring anything and I said, "oh yeah, tell her to bring my blood meter." Marion gasps and begins frantically searching her new purse. She says, "I think I lost it." I said no I left it on your mom's table. She says she thinks she saw it there and put it in her purse - the old purse - in case I needed it. But she's not sure. And it's not in the new purse. Which means if she did take it, it was either in the old purse or fell out on the seat or floor of the table in Target. But she wasn't sure.
So, long story short when we got home to mom's house late that night, sure enough, we couldn't find the meter. I called Target's lost and found the next morning, and several times since then, and they don't have it. We called IHOP. We looked in the rental car. Nothing. It's gone.
What's strange is that usually my wife would have said something about grabbing the meter to me. Like, "hey, I grabbed your meter in case you need it." But she never said anything. However, the meter is missing and she made the statement that she lost it, So......
I have a backup meter but it was 2000 miles away in our house in Colorado. So, using my pump and carb counting I tried to control my blood sugar the best I could. Our flight home was on Monday so not too long to be without my meter. Luckily my mother-in-law lives in a senior community that has it's own clinic so Monday morning I was able to have one blood test. I was 125. Not too bad for being without a meter for 24-hours at that point.
Unfortunately my favorite lancet device, the Accu-Chek Multiclix, was lost with the meter too. And the damn thing is expensive at around 28 dollars (USD). So for now I'm using one of my old lancet devices from my Flash meter.
On Sunday, November 11th, I lost my Accu-Chek Aviva blood meter. Actually, my wife thinks she lost it. I'm somewhat enjoying the fact that it might have been she that lost it and not me. :-) Though we're really not sure exactly what happened.
That morning I drove my sister to the airport at 7am. I had done a blood test before leaving my mother-in-law's house. When I got back from Newark airport a little over an hour later I did another test and left the meter on the dining room table. Marion, Caitlin and I left to meet friends of ours at IHOP in Menlo Park at 9:30am. I know I left the meter on the dining room table figuring I wouldn't do a test until we got back from breakfast and so I wouldn't have to carry it.
After breakfast with our friends we stopped at the Super Target at Menlo Park so Marion could buy a new purse. The zipper had broke on her old one the day we arrived in N.J. Near the checkout lines she sat at a table to move her stuff from one purse to the other while Caitlin and I hit the restrooms. We then drove around checking out our old homes in Edison, N.J. where we both grew up.
It was getting late (around 1pm) and we were suppose to meet up with Marion's mom at her house to drive an hour up to northern N.J. to a party at Marion's cousin's house. So Marion called her mom to say we would meet her at her sister's house and then head up all together from there. Before calling her mom Marion asked if I needed her mom to bring anything and I said, "oh yeah, tell her to bring my blood meter." Marion gasps and begins frantically searching her new purse. She says, "I think I lost it." I said no I left it on your mom's table. She says she thinks she saw it there and put it in her purse - the old purse - in case I needed it. But she's not sure. And it's not in the new purse. Which means if she did take it, it was either in the old purse or fell out on the seat or floor of the table in Target. But she wasn't sure.
So, long story short when we got home to mom's house late that night, sure enough, we couldn't find the meter. I called Target's lost and found the next morning, and several times since then, and they don't have it. We called IHOP. We looked in the rental car. Nothing. It's gone.
What's strange is that usually my wife would have said something about grabbing the meter to me. Like, "hey, I grabbed your meter in case you need it." But she never said anything. However, the meter is missing and she made the statement that she lost it, So......
I have a backup meter but it was 2000 miles away in our house in Colorado. So, using my pump and carb counting I tried to control my blood sugar the best I could. Our flight home was on Monday so not too long to be without my meter. Luckily my mother-in-law lives in a senior community that has it's own clinic so Monday morning I was able to have one blood test. I was 125. Not too bad for being without a meter for 24-hours at that point.
Unfortunately my favorite lancet device, the Accu-Chek Multiclix, was lost with the meter too. And the damn thing is expensive at around 28 dollars (USD). So for now I'm using one of my old lancet devices from my Flash meter.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
My Goal For This Blog
My goal for this blog is to inform people what it is like as a Type 1 Diabetic to live with an isulin pump. And maybe help those who are thinking about going on the pump to make a decision. Because I've been on an insulin pump for almost four years I can provide the bad with the good. My blog with not be all "rah, rah, rah, this is fantastic!!!" You'll hear what I dislike as much as what I do like. Or tolerate. Let's face it, I'd rather not be using a pump or be a Diabetic at all.
I'll have to thank my friend Vonda for making me start this blog. Actually she didn't tell me to blog, she had asked what I thought about Halle Berry's statement. I used my response to her as a starting point for this blog. So, thanks Vonda! Thank you too Halle.
I'll have to thank my friend Vonda for making me start this blog. Actually she didn't tell me to blog, she had asked what I thought about Halle Berry's statement. I used my response to her as a starting point for this blog. So, thanks Vonda! Thank you too Halle.
Friday, November 9, 2007
Halle Berry - Weaned off of Insulin and Type I Diabetes
Last month Halle Berry made a statement that she has weaned herself off of insulin. In effect finding a “cure” for her Type 1 Diabetes. I had been thinking about her statement for several days and I had been contemplating whether I wanted to address it on some blogs out there. I probably won’t do that. But I did decide to create my own blog. Here's my 2-cents worth. Take it for what it's worth.
First of all, I just want to state for the record that I have never been critical of Halle Berry's silence on her Diabetes. She is known for not saying much, if anything about it. That’s her prerogative. And I can completely understand and accept that she doesn’t like to broadcast this fact. There have been many in the Diabetic community who have been critical of her for not saying more. Not becoming a spokesperson. Not shouting from the stage that she is a Diabetic. But, that’s her decision. Nowhere is it written that we Diabetics (or insert any other disease here) have to become the next Mary Tyler Moore if we become famous.
I for one don’t go around announcing that I’m a Diabetic. Many people I work with don’t know. 95% of the people I meet and get to know don’t know. Recently on vacation in Vancouver a woman I think saw my pump sticking out from under my shirt and asked about it. So I told her. Interestingly she made the comment that I didn’t look like what she thought a Diabetic would look like. And we talked about it for fifteen minutes. But for the most part I don’t go around advertising the fact. Or go out of my way to talk about it. You won’t see me at a Star Trek convention lifting my shirt, pointing to my insertion site (for the pump) and shouting "Hey, I’m part Borg!!!!!" Though I do think it in my head. :-)
On a rare occasion I will share stories about it. But, for the most part I don’t mention it to most people. So, I definitely can understand Halle’s decision not to talk about it too.
HOWEVER!!! When you are such a public figure and you haven’t said much in the past. Then decide to spout some crap that just further confuses the public on Diabetes, I take issue with that.
Halle Berry last month was interviewed on "Inside the Actor’s Studio." I Tivo’d it. The host asks a bunch of questions about the actor’s life, growing up, career, etc. So he asked about her first TV show, "Living Dolls." He then said, "what must have been one of the most significant experiences of your life occurred during the taping of Living Dolls." And she proceeded to say yes, one of the days on the set, she passed out on the set, woke up in the hospital and was told she was a Diabetic. The host asked if this is Type I. And she says, "It is really Type I though it is classified now as Type II because I am no longer insulin-dependent. I was for a while. But I've managed to wean myself off insulin, so now I like to put myself in the Type 2 category." And it was left at that.
Huh???????????? Really?????? Do tell??????? I'd like to be "weaned" off of insulin. There have been many days where I just wanted to hurl my insulin pump against the wall. If she can teach me how to wean myself of insulin, I can hurl it in victory! She's going to be a very rich woman since she's discovered the cure for Type 1 Diabetes!!! Plus, she's very pregnant. Being pregnant and a Diabetic (Type I or Type II) presents a whole set of issues/problems/complications that I can’t even begin to imagine as a guy with Diabetes. Yet, if you seriously think you've "weaned" yourself from a Type I to a Type II AND you're pregnant, God help you.
I could defend it if she said that she had been misdiagnosed as a Type I but was really a Type II. She never said that she was misdiagnosed. Over the years (November marks 39 years that I've had Type I Diabetes) I have had to deal with my share of people and professionals and misinformation. Even doctors, school nurses, family and close friends have offered some naïve statements and just plain wrong information. In the past year even my sister-in-law has told my wife there's a cure for Diabetes. And I can excuse that from people who don't have Diabetes. I might even be willing to excuse a Diabetic who is not in the public eye or who has only dealt with their disease for a few years. But from someone who has had it for 18 years? Halle Berry got Diabetes at 22. She’s now my age, 40 (only a few months older than me). And from a movie star who is a public figure? I don’t think so. You don't get off that easy especially with the influence you can have on so many people.
Again, maybe she was misdiagnosed in terms of the Type. Maybe editing of the show cut out additional information that would have clarified her statements. Maybe she’s just plain ignorant. She needs to now clarify her statements.
What concerns me though is that because she is a public figure, and many kids look up to her, due to her roles in X-Men and Catwoman for example, that 6, 8 and 12-year olds might ask their parents if they can be “weaned” off of insulin just like Halle Berry! At 40-years old I know better and can just ignore it. But, I wouldn’t want to be the parents of those kids and have to explain it’s not possible for a Type 1 Diabetic to come off of insulin no matter what Catwoman says.
If you Google for Halle Berry and Diabetes many international websites are reporting that she has weaned herself off of insulin through healthy living and good eating. Most aren’t even reporting that for a true Type I that that is impossible. They're just reporting it as fact. I’m headed home to New Jersey this weekend for a wedding. Guess I better be prepared for more dumb statements from my in-laws thanks to Halle Berry's wisdom.
Okay, I’ve ranted long enough. In any case, since she did make the statements. And various news groups have picked up on the story. And many in the Diabetic community are outraged by what she said (Diabetics as well as doctors). I think she needs to clarify her statements and not go back to being completely quiet on the topic again. Is she a Type I? Was she misdiagnosed and really been a Type II the entire time? Did we all just assume that she was Type I? Did editing of “Inside the Actor’s Studio” cause a misrepresentation of what she meant?
It's hard enough dealing with the erroneous information that Hollywood puts out there about Diabetes. And that from doctors who go on Larry King or Oprah and don’t clarify whether they are addressing Type I or Type II Diabetes. But to have to endure it from "one of us" is just hard to excuse.
Okay, I'm done. Back to being quiet myself. :-)
Shawn
First of all, I just want to state for the record that I have never been critical of Halle Berry's silence on her Diabetes. She is known for not saying much, if anything about it. That’s her prerogative. And I can completely understand and accept that she doesn’t like to broadcast this fact. There have been many in the Diabetic community who have been critical of her for not saying more. Not becoming a spokesperson. Not shouting from the stage that she is a Diabetic. But, that’s her decision. Nowhere is it written that we Diabetics (or insert any other disease here) have to become the next Mary Tyler Moore if we become famous.
I for one don’t go around announcing that I’m a Diabetic. Many people I work with don’t know. 95% of the people I meet and get to know don’t know. Recently on vacation in Vancouver a woman I think saw my pump sticking out from under my shirt and asked about it. So I told her. Interestingly she made the comment that I didn’t look like what she thought a Diabetic would look like. And we talked about it for fifteen minutes. But for the most part I don’t go around advertising the fact. Or go out of my way to talk about it. You won’t see me at a Star Trek convention lifting my shirt, pointing to my insertion site (for the pump) and shouting "Hey, I’m part Borg!!!!!" Though I do think it in my head. :-)
On a rare occasion I will share stories about it. But, for the most part I don’t mention it to most people. So, I definitely can understand Halle’s decision not to talk about it too.
HOWEVER!!! When you are such a public figure and you haven’t said much in the past. Then decide to spout some crap that just further confuses the public on Diabetes, I take issue with that.
Halle Berry last month was interviewed on "Inside the Actor’s Studio." I Tivo’d it. The host asks a bunch of questions about the actor’s life, growing up, career, etc. So he asked about her first TV show, "Living Dolls." He then said, "what must have been one of the most significant experiences of your life occurred during the taping of Living Dolls." And she proceeded to say yes, one of the days on the set, she passed out on the set, woke up in the hospital and was told she was a Diabetic. The host asked if this is Type I. And she says, "It is really Type I though it is classified now as Type II because I am no longer insulin-dependent. I was for a while. But I've managed to wean myself off insulin, so now I like to put myself in the Type 2 category." And it was left at that.
Huh???????????? Really?????? Do tell??????? I'd like to be "weaned" off of insulin. There have been many days where I just wanted to hurl my insulin pump against the wall. If she can teach me how to wean myself of insulin, I can hurl it in victory! She's going to be a very rich woman since she's discovered the cure for Type 1 Diabetes!!! Plus, she's very pregnant. Being pregnant and a Diabetic (Type I or Type II) presents a whole set of issues/problems/complications that I can’t even begin to imagine as a guy with Diabetes. Yet, if you seriously think you've "weaned" yourself from a Type I to a Type II AND you're pregnant, God help you.
I could defend it if she said that she had been misdiagnosed as a Type I but was really a Type II. She never said that she was misdiagnosed. Over the years (November marks 39 years that I've had Type I Diabetes) I have had to deal with my share of people and professionals and misinformation. Even doctors, school nurses, family and close friends have offered some naïve statements and just plain wrong information. In the past year even my sister-in-law has told my wife there's a cure for Diabetes. And I can excuse that from people who don't have Diabetes. I might even be willing to excuse a Diabetic who is not in the public eye or who has only dealt with their disease for a few years. But from someone who has had it for 18 years? Halle Berry got Diabetes at 22. She’s now my age, 40 (only a few months older than me). And from a movie star who is a public figure? I don’t think so. You don't get off that easy especially with the influence you can have on so many people.
Again, maybe she was misdiagnosed in terms of the Type. Maybe editing of the show cut out additional information that would have clarified her statements. Maybe she’s just plain ignorant. She needs to now clarify her statements.
What concerns me though is that because she is a public figure, and many kids look up to her, due to her roles in X-Men and Catwoman for example, that 6, 8 and 12-year olds might ask their parents if they can be “weaned” off of insulin just like Halle Berry! At 40-years old I know better and can just ignore it. But, I wouldn’t want to be the parents of those kids and have to explain it’s not possible for a Type 1 Diabetic to come off of insulin no matter what Catwoman says.
If you Google for Halle Berry and Diabetes many international websites are reporting that she has weaned herself off of insulin through healthy living and good eating. Most aren’t even reporting that for a true Type I that that is impossible. They're just reporting it as fact. I’m headed home to New Jersey this weekend for a wedding. Guess I better be prepared for more dumb statements from my in-laws thanks to Halle Berry's wisdom.
Okay, I’ve ranted long enough. In any case, since she did make the statements. And various news groups have picked up on the story. And many in the Diabetic community are outraged by what she said (Diabetics as well as doctors). I think she needs to clarify her statements and not go back to being completely quiet on the topic again. Is she a Type I? Was she misdiagnosed and really been a Type II the entire time? Did we all just assume that she was Type I? Did editing of “Inside the Actor’s Studio” cause a misrepresentation of what she meant?
It's hard enough dealing with the erroneous information that Hollywood puts out there about Diabetes. And that from doctors who go on Larry King or Oprah and don’t clarify whether they are addressing Type I or Type II Diabetes. But to have to endure it from "one of us" is just hard to excuse.
Okay, I'm done. Back to being quiet myself. :-)
Shawn
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