Dexcom finally up and running! DAY 1
Back at home after installing the sensor and transmitter at Harvard Vanguard. I found out today, 8/22/06, that I am the first Harvard Vanguard patient to use the system. The Dexcom rep told me that they have about 900 patients on it.
As you can tell by the ballcap I'm wearing, I'm a Boston Redsox fan, sticking with the team as usual, despite yesterday's 5 game sweep by the Yankees, the first 5 game sweep of the Sox by the Yankees since 1951. Likewise, I plan to stick with the Dexcom. On this first day I'm just watching how it goes, taking a lot finger sticks to compare. I'll have more to say in the following days on this. Like the Dexcom rep said, remember that the CGMS is at the early stages, akin to black and white TV's and rabbit ears. Remember the horizontal and vertical hold controls you had to constantly adjust to get a stable picture? Now we have HDTV; we've come a long way in a few decades, I just hope and pray it doesn't take as long to develop the HD version of the CGMS. Since I'm an engineer and I like to tinker, I'm sure I'll do a lot of it with the Dexcom.
This is a picture of me wearing the Dexcom on a relatively hairless spot on my abdomen. For men of the hairy variety, she suggested either shaving an area to ensure good adhesion, so instead I opted for the bare skin placement. She advised that putting it on a hairy area might mean poor adhesion and some pain at removal time. Unisolve was recommended to make the removal eaiser, particularly if you've got cave man syndrome.
3 comments:
Hi Gary, It's nice to hear that you've joined this "leading edge" club!
As you know from the IP mailing list, I am also a Dexcom User... one with spectacular results :))
I don't know of any other users who get so much time from their Sensors, and hardly anyone seems to get as much accuracy as I do. But a consistent thread appears among Dexcom users, so I'll offer this hint: To get good results, you need to keep the Sensors REALLY FAR AWAY from old and active infusion sites (much further away than the 1" which their manual says).
I was gonna send it back after many failures with Sites on the Belly, chosen per the manual. Now, using my "love handles" (on my sides, straight down from my armpits) I get fantastically good results, and Sensor lifetimes of well over two weeks.
I suspect that upper butt cheeks are also a good choice for people who infuse on the belly.
Looking forward to your reading future postings on your Blog, I've just bookmarked you. Thanks, and congrats on your picking up a CGM!
Rick wrote:
>I was gonna send it back after >many failures with Sites on the >Belly, chosen per the manual. >Now, using my "love handles" (on >my sides, straight down from my >armpits) I get fantastically good >results, and Sensor lifetimes of >well over two weeks.
Thanks for the info, Rick! I think I'll give the handles a try, but what do I do when they are gone;>
I've been working out almost daily for 6 months straight, and the handles are almost the last to go. Must be the middle-aged metabolism.
I may try the sensors for 7 days at first, and then extend it a day or two each time; opposite sides for the infusion set and the sensor is my plan.
So far I think the Dex is great; now how do I stop looking at it every 5 minutes?
Who knows where to download XRumer 5.0 Palladium?
Help, please. All recommend this program to effectively advertise on the Internet, this is the best program!
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