With a new toy comes rediscovered obsession.

Today I got hooked up to a Medtronic iPro CGMS.  Well I guess it got hooked up to me, in reality.  The iPro, while it is a CGMS, does not fit the bill in my mind.  When I think CGMS, I think of a Dexcom or a full-fledged Guardian system.  But no, the iPro is simply the sensor from the Guardian.  It does not have a readout to tell me what (it thinks) my blood sugar is.  It simply records the data it collects, which can then be downloaded after three days when the sensor is removed.

I think that’s crap.  When I heard the words “3-day CGMS study” come out of my new endo’s mouth (Yea, I got a new endo.  Seems pretty nice, the office is constantly behind schedule though, by at least 45 minutes), I was immediately inundated with daydreams of pulling a Dex out of my pocket, seeing a reassuring 97 on the screen, and smiling.  But no.  I’ve got the sensor, the data…. but no doohickey to pull out of my pocket to actually visualize the data.  This is crap.   And to add to my frustration, insurance may not be covering this $150 study, and the sensor is right above my waistline on the rear-portion of my hip.  And it is covered in about 8pounds of medical tape.  And it is uncomfortable.  I demand reconciliation.  I want a little piece of plastic to show me my damn 97.

I asked the endo if she thought I would be able to do a trial with Dexcom, she said that she didn’t feel comfortable with the idea since it’s not FDA approved.  So, that adds to my frustration… but I emailed Dexcom customer service to inquire about the possibility of doing a trial without the doctor (I’d get a prescription if necessary, but she wouldn’t be involved past that, and it’d all be between me and the local rep).  So I am currently awaiting a response from them in regards to that.

Anyways, since the “blind CGMS” truly shows me nothing in real-time, I’ve got to keep meticulous logs once again.  Feels like I was just dx’d again, and I’ve begun to obsess.  I’m tracking my carbs hardcore again (to the best of my ability), I’m tracking my sugars (to an almost obsessive level), I’m using Kevin’s spreadsheet again… I’m even tracking when I smoke cigarettes now (maybe the realization that I smoke too much will help me quit this time?).  Lots of stuff going on that I should be able to do all in my head by now, but it turns out I have forgot a lot of things.  For instance, I was amazed when I realized that a medium banana has an average of 26g of carbs in it, and a clementine has an average of 9g in it.  Seriously?  For some reason I thought I remembered it the other way around.  Time to go back to school on that subject it seems….  This study should at least show me some interesting curves.  So far I’ve been from 77 to 121 to 52.  That low seems to have come without reason too, which pisses me off since I can’t see the trend (and thus had no warning of it to make it not happen.  I thought that was part of the pro’s of a CGMS.  This iPro crap just doesn’t count as a CGMS in my book.)

In other news, Obama signed the executive order to release the restraints on stem cell research today.  Go team.  =)!  It is now time for me to calculate dinner (yea, I know it’s late) and get some food in my stomach.

Gute Gesundheit,
_TcB

Edit:  As Nikki stated in the comments, the Medtronic system for purchase (Guardian) is much different.  I do realize this, and am just frustrated that they only gave me half of the system and waved a magnet over the transmitter (to put it in receiver mode).  That’s the stem of most of this frustration.  Also, about 36 hours after insertion, the tape is half unstuck and the transmitter/receiver nub is sorta just chillin out half untaped.  We shall see how these results look. =)