Dexcom G4 Platinum has landed at our house!

Katie has a new tool which is going to be super helpful in managing her diabetes!  These little devices are NOT cheap.  Our insurance discounted it down to $1600 roughly and $300 a month for supplies.  After we meet our deductible it will be covered 100% though (that is what we are waiting for!)

A continuous glucose monitor (Or CGM) is what Katie is now wearing.  It inserts via a catheter-type needle and stays on her body for 7 days.  Before we got this CGM we were testing her blood via a traditional glucose monitor about 12 times a day or more.  I don't think people realize- but diabetics must test their blood before every meal and bedtime.  In addition to this, because Katie drives she has to test it before she gets in the car also.  Then she needs to test when her numbers seem low or high.  We go through strips (at a $1 a strip) like they are water.  A CGM will enable us to only have to calibrate it every 12 hours and then test the normal 4 times a day.  It's important to note that this will show us trends...but that the device is giving us blood sugar levels from her interstitial tissue- NOT her actual blood.  So it has about a 15-20 min delay.  But it can tell us when she's rapidly increasing, decreasing or hitting lows.  She can then test with a traditional meter and compare levels.

The important thing for Katie is that this device will beep at her incessantly when she's sleeping until she wakes up when she's low or high and deals with it.  This is key for someone who does not recognize her low blood sugar.  She's had a few episodes at work before this CGM where she didn't recognize she was getting low and thank goodness her fellow employees did and got her to sit down and get some carbs into her system.

This device allows her to live more normally.  It checks her blood levels for her every five minutes.
I will say that the set up is clunky.  I can only imagine it will be smaller and easier to insert with every new release.  She has to put this sensor on and it has a sticky pad that sticks to her stomach and then at first it's got this plastic tube on it.  That tube houses the needle.  She needs to push it into her stomach and the needle then stays in place.  The sensor is waterproof and she wears it for 7 days before she makes a change. The receiver itself is good for about a year before you have to replace it and is NOT waterproof but she can keep that nearby.  She currently wears it like a pager almost.  I hope future versions will eventually link it to a cell phone so you don't have to have that big pager thing with you.

When she gets a pump she will have two devices she will need to carry.  I'm so grateful that Humana approved this CGM.  I finally got a good night's sleep knowing that it would beep at us if she had a severe low.  We will post more information as we learn more.  Right now we are working on getting the software on my laptop and then the receiver will download data for us that we can see trends on.  She can enter carbs and insulin units also and the device will calculate what is going on and when.  So priceless..

This is a way for her to check her blood sugar and make corrections while on the go.  She can check when we exercise, she's out running errands, at work, etc.  Priceless!!!