Living in the Gray

It’s been two and a half years since I started using my insulin pump and, for the most part, it’s been great. It’s given me a lot more freedom and flexibility when it comes to managing my diabetes. Given the opportunity, I would NEVER go back to injections.

Yesterday I added a new piece of electronics. My husband thinks it’s HOT that I’m slowly becoming a bionic woman, so that’s a plus. This new gadget is called a Glucose Transmitter. It’s a small device about as big around as loonie (for the Americans among us, that’s our one dollar coin) with a little probe about 3/4 of an inch long that is inserted subcutaneously. It continuously measures my blood glucose levels and transmits the results to my insulin pump. Having trouble picturing what that looks like? Something like this:

I’d take a picture of my own stomach but…BWAHAHAHAHA!!! AS IF I’D POST A PICTURE OF MY STRETCH-MARKED, SAGGY BELLY ON THE INTERNETS! HA!

The pager-looking thing is the pump which is attached to the Cannula by tubing. The insulin goes into my body through there. The Transmitter sends radio frequency signals to the pump (or, as my best friend likes to say, allows me to contact the Mothership). It’s not a closed system. It still requires me to tell the pump how much insulin to give me, and when. It maybe looks invasive and annoying to some of you. But I’m telling you that this is a MAJOR improvement on the seven injections a day I was taking before I switched.

This is not to say their haven’t been hiccups. The pump took getting used to. It took a while before I didn’t feel extremely conspicuous wearing this device on my hip all the time. I’ve also had to have it replaced under warranty 3 times already, which, if you ask me, isn’t a great track record. But the manufacturer has agreed to give me an extra year on my five year warranty and, for the most part, I feel they have responded promptly and appropriately to my problems.

Insulin pump technology has been around for quite a while now and is working fairly well for those of us who are using it (Really!  My thrice replaced pump is actually a fairly rare occurrence, I’m told.). There is always room for refining the technology, but overall, I’m quite satisfied. But the continuous blood glucose monitoring technology is still in it’s infancy. It has a long way to go before it could be considered great.

So why use it? People have different reasons. For me, the most important reason is to keep myself safe. Having been diabetic for fifteen years now, my sensitivity to low blood sugar is fading.  Sometimes, by the time I am feeling physical symptoms of low blood sugar, my brain is already starting to get wacky (read: I act like I’m drunk, until the loss of consciousness kicks in, which is a real downer). When this happens I behave irrationally and make poor choices. I am not always clear-minded enough to treat myself and this only lands me in deeper trouble. It puts me in life-threatening danger and it puts my children at risk. And while we are working hard at teaching our 4 year old how to dial 911, should the need arise, I’d prefer to just stay conscious and healthy and keep the kids from unnecessary trauma thankyouverymuch.

The transmitter is helpful in that it warns me of low blood sugar before I may be feeling it. It also warns me when my blood sugar is climbing and can tell me what happens overnight, when I’d rather not be getting up to test my blood (I used to have to get up every night at 3am to take an injection. It was not cool!).  It is useful in identifying trends and allowing one to tighten overall control of blood glucose which,  in turn, keeps a diabetic person healthier and reduces complications in the long term.

So the transmitter is new. And I have to say that I am a bit bummed about it right now. Which is dumb, because I am happy to have it. But there is an adjustment period. Right now it is annoying and feels  awkward and I’m very conscious of it. It causes my pump to alarm about 3840573248 times a day (it goes off when my blood sugar is too high, too low, when it needs to be calibrated [2-3 times per day], an hour before it needs to be calibrated and for a variety of other reasons). I feel like I’m constantly vibrating. It’s like a needy person, attached to my hip, and asking for attention 24 HOURS A DAY and, OH YEAH I ALREADY HAVE TWO OF THOSE!  But I know I will get used to it and some day I will probably say that I can’t imagine life without it. But today, well, it kinda sucks.