A Big Announcement

I've been thinking a lot lately that I wanted to write a series of posts about this, but I didn't want to break the news to the internets until we were ready to share, but we are, so here goes:

I'M PREGNANT!!!!

That's right, folks.  Come October 18th (or probably sooner, since, you know, the 'betes is involved)  my husband and I will be welcoming a little wee one into our family.  

There is oh so much that has already happened that I wanted to blog about, but we just haven't felt like telling everyone and their dog yet. But since we're coming out of the pregnancy closet, you better believe I'll be blogging a lot about the whole process.  Having Type 1 diabetes and going through a pregnancy is kind of a big deal, and I know there is a rain drop's worth of information about it out there (although that is getting a lot better), so I really wanted to be able to add my experiences to those already available to help out anyone else who might be having questions about having babies along with having Type 1.  So here goes!

Conception Planning

Obviously I won't be going into any of the juicy details about conception in this blog, but I do want to stress how important, and how frustrating planning a pregnancy with Type 1 diabetes has been.  Obviously there's all the regular worries like the right timing, mom's health, etc, but there's ever so much more when you throw diabetes into the picture.  I had to make sure I had a fabulous team of doctors in place (endo, high-risk OB, etc.). I had to make sure I had good insurance coverage for extra doctors visits, the ridiculous amount of prescriptions I will need to have filled, pumps & CGMs, etc!  I had to make sure I was healthy and that my A1C was in an acceptable range. My doctor wanted it under 6.5 and as close to 6 as I could get it.  That took awhile. Incidentally, my doctor also wanted me to lose 5 lbs, which despite my best efforts didn't actually happen until I became pregnant, go figure (I'll talk about that in a later post).  I also had to make sure I had any other co-morbid conditions in check, which got a little crazy at times for me personally, since it seems like the more we got ready to have a kid, the more co-morbids I kept acquiring.  First, it was gluten intolerance, then it was SVT (a heart condition), and the latest one was Hashimoto's hypothyroidism (which I can't even remember blogging about, but it happened).  

Phew! And when it seemed like the stars FINALLY started to align for us, and I stopped adding other conditions to the heap-o-medical-problems I already had, we got the green light from my endo to go ahead and start trying to conceive.  And a couple of months later, we found out I was pregnant! My lowest A1C pre-conception was 6.0, but my A1C at conception was 6.2, and I'd say that I'd been in REALLY good control for a year before getting pregnant and in pretty good control for about 3+ years before getting pregnant. 

It's been a crazy ride so far, and I'm sure it will only get crazier, so hang with us, and we'll keep you posted on all the ins and outs of having a baby with Type 1 diabetes.  Crazy!

Super-random Musings on the Occasion of My 20-year Diaversary

Can you believe that twenty years ago this month, when I was 11 years old, I was getting super sick, and ended up in the hospital with a Type 1 diabetes diagnosis!  You can read my diagnosis story here if you're interested. I can't believe it's been twenty years! Sometimes it seems just like yesterday, but at the same time, it seems like a long time ago!

We have come SO far in 20 years! When I was first diagnosed, I was put on an exchange diet, I used a meter that took 2 minutes to give a reading and which required that you wipe the blood off the strip before you put it in the meter, I used Regular and NPH insulin (sheesh, I can't believe we thought that was "cutting edge" back then!) and everyone still operated under the assumption that diabetics couldn't eat sugar.

Twenty years later, I'm pumping, eating (pretty much) what I want, using a CGM, uploading my pump and meter readings via the internets to my doctors office, my insulin is much faster, and my 5 second meter seems like it takes an ETERNITY!

We've come far.

It's funny, though. When I was first diagnosed all the doctors said that they were certain that Type 1 diabetes would be cured in 5 years. And from what I understand, a lot of people hear that from their doctors upon diagnosis (even today!).  Is that something they teach them to say in med school or something? It's a load of crap, but I am hopeful that ONE day there will be a cure for this disease.

I am so grateful for all the medical care I've received over the years, and even more for all the people who've supported me and have helped me manage this disease! From my parents who financially and emotionally supported me, to my college roommate who crossed the Mexican border to bring back cheap insulin for me when I had no insurance! There have been SO many people, who have helped me out through the years.

And can you believe it, that 20 years later, I still haven't had any major complications? No amputated limbs, no readmissions for DKA, no neuropathy at all.  The smallest complication I've had was about 4 years ago when I had the teeny tinest of blood vessel bleeds in my eye that the doctor could barely pick up.  And it has gone away since then.  Healed itself right up!  I know I'm lucky!

And you know what? Even though diabetes really really really sucks sometimes, I just can't imagine that I'd be the kind of person I want to be without it. And I don't want to imagine living in a world without knowing some of the people I know because I have diabetes.

Here's to another 20 years!

Dexcom G4 Review

 I've been wearing my new Dexcom G4 Continuous Glucose Monitor for several moths now, so I decided it was time to write a review.  Also, I haven't posted on this blog in AGES, so it's about time it became active again! Sheesh!



So, here's the lo-down on the new G4!


PROS
1. Aesthetics

•  Design! It actually has some! Someone actually took a few minutes to make this thing approach sexy.  Granted, it's not iPod or smart phone sexy, yet. But compared to the Dexcom 7+ and the Medtronic weirdo shell shaped thing, the new receiver design is actually pretty pleasing to the eye.  As one who has been known to purchase a computer solely because the box it came in was very sexy, you can trust me when I say, this CGM is probably the sexiest one out there at the moment. 
• Color screen- The screen on the receiver is color now. The background is black and all the data is in different colors. White, red, blue. It's beautiful, and much easier to see in the sunlight. Also, the colors correspond to the action you should be taking (i.e. "red" means something you should deal with immediately, etc.). So the color scheme is pretty intuitive for anyone that's grown up in a culture where red means "STOP" or "DANGER".  

2. Accuracy

• Calibration- Compared to the Seven+ it feels like this little device has a super smart brain that is constantly thinking and adjusting based on the calibrations you're giving it. With the Seven+ it sometimes felt like it didn't give a crap about the calibration you just entered and just decided willy nilly how it was going to report your blood sugar. Not so with the G4!
• Accuracy- This thing is SUPER accurate in the "in range" levels and is a rock star in the "low" range. 

3. Range-The ranger on the G4 is way better than the Seven+. It is officially listed as 20 feet, and I've never had it loose signal on me once. I live in a two bedroom,  two story town house with a basement (so technically three stories that I regularly use), and I can set it in the living room and wander all around and up and down my house and never lose the signal. And, I've never once lost signal during sleep, which the Seven+ was notorious for doing, even if it was sitting right next to me on the night stand. This little transmitter can transmit through a mattress! Woot!

4. Dexcom Customer Service-I can't say enough good things about this company. They are not paying me to say this, and I'm sure other people have had different experiences. But, they have literally bent over backwards to help me out, and as anyone who's had to deal with a chronic illness knows, that kind of service is rare in the health care world. When I have to call Dexcom up for something, I almost look forward to it because I know they'll be helpful and they won't give me the runaround. 

CONS

1. Accuracy- While being super accurate for lows and "in range" readings, it still has a little bit of trouble when you're high. And it can still lag a little bit when you're either rising or falling fast, but I do think it does a better job at keeping up with speedy changes than the Seven+. Additionally, I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that it uses interstitial fluid to measure glucose, which (as all CGM users should know by now), has about a 10 minute lag time compared to a finger stick. 

2. Insertion- Insertion is not painful, and is exactly the same as the Seven+, but the insertion device still looks like an instrument of torture, and I'm sure that the intimidation factor on that thing has got to be keeping people from trying it. Maybe someone can get a designer working on that for the next generation? 

3. Physical Specs

• The battery life on the transmitter is only 6 months now. I suspect the reason for this is two fold.  First, while the Seven+ touted a year long battery life, I think many people found that it pooped out on them slightly early than that, especially if they used it all the time. Second, the G4 transmitter is MUCH more powerful (longer range) and I think that the shorter battery life has something to do with that. 
• The profile of the transmitter is slightly higher than the Seven+,which is kind of a bummer. It looks exactly the same, but it's a little thicker now, probably because of the more powerful battery.  The sleek profile of the transmitter against my skin was one of the things I loved about the Seven+, especially compared to the alternative "shell" from Medtronic, so I was slightly sad when I saw  how high the profile of the G4 was. But, it's still way better than the shell, and all the other lovely things it offers make up for it.

So, there you have it. I highly recommend this CGM, without any reservations, to anyone who is thinking about using CGM as part of their diabetes management. It gives me so much peace of mind to know that I can actually TRUST this little machine to do its job, and that in addition to giving me all sorts of helpful information about how my blood sugar reacts to food or life events, the G4 will keep me SAFE.  Here, here, little CGM! Right ho!

*Post script* Since writing this review, I have seen a number of other G4 users have issues with their receiver having parts of the keypad fall off or the cover to the USB charger fall off.  I haven't experienced this at all. I keep mine in the case that came with it and it's usually in my purse near me, not on my person, so I think I'm probably a lot easier on the receiver than people who wear it on their person all day. Just wanted to throw that out there.  I do think Dexcom has been good about replacing them because they realize it's a problem with their design, since the same thing is happening to lots of people.  If I'm wrong about that, someone please correct me. :)