Blood sugar excursions are one thing (little trips to the grocery store, short flights to Canada … those sorts of excursions are fine) but the long-haul ones are not okay (BOS -> MEL). I can deal with a sticky high of 180 or 200 mg/dL without getting fired up, and lows are less frequent these days, so I’m not as…
It warms my heart (and almost jump-starts my islets) when Birdy sits on my lap and uses my Dexcom sensor to rest her hand on, like it’s the arm on a recliner. (And yes, that’s Loopy’s head, hanging out in the background.) You might also like: Wordless Wednesday: Birdzone in the LHJ Zone. It’s a Good Tune. Giving Tuesday: Diabetes…
Hypoglycemic Blues.
Blood Sugars, Dexcom, Diabetes Advocacy, Diabetes Videos, Real Life Diabetes, Robot LifeThis past weekend, I was in Omaha (pronounced in my head as “OMAHA!!!!” almost every time), Nebraska for a TCOYD conference, joining in as speaker for the event. One of the topics in OMAHA!!!! that we talked about was the integration of medical devices, sharing anecdotal stories about life with out diabetes-related robot parts. Panel moderator Dr. Jeremy Pettus shared…
I’m not a fan of traveling by air (major understatement) and my flight-related anxiety has ebbed and flowed over the last few years. Actually, it’s been way more flow than ebb, because traveling by plane has a direct and predictable influence on my blood sugars, in that the anxiety of air travel causes my blood sugar to rise with the…
It’s not just a matter of slapping on a new sensor, queuing it up, and making use of the data once it’s available on the graph. Wearing a Dexcom sensor has now become this intricate pseudo-science of site rotation, skin maintenance, and scheduling, thanks to the dreaded Dexcom rash. My first skin irritation from the Dexcom sensor popped up in…
EVERYWHERE.
Dexcom, Diabetes Advocacy, Diabetes Community, Diabetic Mommy, Pumping Insulin, Robot Life“How long have you been on the pump?” He stood next to his car, holding the gas pump to his tank, filling up his car while I was putting my debit card into the console near my car. “I’m sorry?” “Insulin pump. How long for you? I just got mine a few weeks ago.” “Oh, I’m sorry! I thought you…
Do the “check my blood sugar” routine before bed, to see that my blood sugar is rising. Perform conservative correction. Listen to the Dexcom wail for a few hours as my blood sugar falls back into range. Wake up at 3 am to test again, to make sure I haven’t over-corrected. Looks okay at 3 am. Wake up at 4…
It’s been almost a year since the first itchy, blistering rashes showed up underneath my Dexcom sensors, but by taking a very peculiar set of precautions, the rashes are all but gone. Thanks to the use of the J&J Toughpad underneath my Dexcom sensors, I’m able to go a full seven (plus!) days without reacting rashly. So yay! for no…
“I really like Ironman. And Superman. And Spiderman.” She paused. “But not the Hulk, because he smashes things. Why he smashes things?” “He gets angry and that anger makes him turn into the giant green guy, and he smashes.” My daughter, thanks to her father’s affinity for all-things superhero, has developed a taste for the slate of superheroes and super…
“I’m going to draw a picture of Grandpa.” “Okay, so where do you start?” She put her finger to her lips, pondering. “How about … a head! With two eyes! And a nose with nostrils. And some cheeks.” Birdy pressed her pen against the paper, painstakingly drawing a circle for the head, and then two eyes, and a nose. Her…
BEEEEEEP! BEEEEEP! wails the Dexcom. Birdy, who is coloring at the kitchen table, yells back, “BEEEEEP! BEEEEEEP! Mawm, your Dexcom is making the beep sound again,” and she absently points her red crayon towards the bottle of glucose tabs on the table nearby. For the most part, I can rely on the Dexcom to be accurate when it’s throwing out…