CGM Trial: 30 Days

So, I went to my doctor today and also checked in regarding the trial. I had to answer about a million questions about my experiences, but they also had some surprising questions about calibration time and about the size of the transmitter. Some of them were tough to answer:

• Would you prefer to have your first calibration and readings begin at 2 hours rather than 10, even if it meant accuracy might be compromised for the first eight hours of readings? Hmmm.
• If readings began with a first calibration at two hours, would you be willing to calibrate (with a finger stick test) every two hours for the first eight hours of readings? Hmmm again.
• Would you be willing to insert a new sensor and wear it with the old sensor on during the calibration period? Heck yea!
• If the transmitter was half the size, would you mind if calibrations began at 10 hours? Uh, no! I would love this thing to be smaller.
• Would you rather the unit length and width be reduced or the thickness?

I found these questions intriguing and they made me really happy. They are actually interested in what we think and may make changes based upon our collective comments. I am so glad I get to tell them my opinion, however the questions that were like the above had me really thinking hard. The biggest benefit of the Navigator so far is the accuracy. It is dead on compared to my finger stick tests (within 10mgdl). So, am I willing to sacrifice accuracy (even if it is just a chance of things being off) to get my readings sooner? Probably not, but I could not answer this question with a strong "no." Waiting 10 hours for calibration is a long time, however, if I insert the new sensor at 10:00 p.m., my first calibration test is at 8:00 a.m. Next calibration is at 10:00 a.m. The next is again at 10:00 p.m.

That is not so inconvenient. The real issue is when you insert it a 5:00 p.m. and you have to do a check at 3:00 a.m. and again at 5:00 a.m. There is a simple solution, instruct people to do it at night.

Two hour calibration would be nice though. There is a moment of great joy when the readings begin. My doctor made some basal adjustments today and I have been humming along in range (70-170) all day; just one bump to about 185 after dinner.

I also had a major "ah ha" moment, that I had completely forgotten about since before the birth of my child (that was six years ago). I run high a five to seven days before my period. I was around 200 the whole darned week. The day after my period started, bam! back to normal. I can't believe that it has been so long since I tracked those changes in my body. I really wasn't taking my sugar enough to notice the trend. Hence the brilliance of this little CGM. Doc helped me set a temporary basal patter with a .1 unit/hour adjustment for starters. We'll see how that works; I bet I need more.

One request I made in writing on my survey is that the study continue a total of six months, not just three. By the time I get my first HbA1C in March, I will have just gotten into the swing of things. I really want to see two readings, three months apart. I was in shock at my last reading--8.5; that is the highest it has been in 10, maybe 12 years.

I promise to post more pictures soon. I know, promises, promises, but I have been really short on time.