Continuous Glucose Monitoring System - a first review

Well, it's been a week since I got Pumpified. It's time for me to sit down and share my thoughts. But first, an interesting item.

My father is the Director of Rehabilitation for a local hospital. Last week he received an e-mail from some of the other members of his hospital stating that their facility was to become a corporate sponsor for the JDRF walk, beginning next year. Since the annual JDRF walk is coming up here in Las Vegas, that means there is to be a group of people visiting their hospital as a show of gratitude for the involvement.

It was asked if there would be any of the directors who would be interested in meeting with these people during a luncheon and speaking session. My father, who along with much of my family, is a significant donor to the JDRF said he would love to speak, and - in fact - has a son who is diabetic and just that day is receiving his first insulin pump.

Low and behold, now I get roped into this and get to meet the people who are helping out one of my favorite (and most personal) causes. My father asked that I give a speech in front of a small-ish group of Executive Board and JDRF members.... yes, a speech. Me, who has a propensity to drop the f-bomb a little too frequently has been asked to be a representative of a community that I only loosely feel a part of.

I've already started drafting my speech, but it doesn't look like I'll have Mac's Keynote (their Powerpoint alternative) to hide behind, so I'll have to convert it to be audio-friendly. And not include any f-bombs.

So... back to the reason for posting. My first pump - and CGMS.

The weeks leading up to my pump were filled with a lot of anxiety, excitement and READING - oh my the reading. A very sincere HT to the many bloggers who have already shared, and continue to share their experiences with the pump.

First and foremost - the pump. Getting over the anxiety of the first canula insertion was ok - I have been around needles before, so that wasn't a big deal. What I wasn't used to was the hyper-sensitivity that I would have about the tube that is now connected to me 24/7. It's like I all of a sudden grew a fragile appendage which only existed to be bumped, yanked on, or worse - yanked out. I'm doubly paranoid about it because it is also my life line.

I wasn't prepared for this heightened awareness. I'm sure it will fade as I get more and more used to wearing my pancreas like a real man (on my pants).

My blood sugars have been remarkably good. I may need to adjust my basal rate slightly to remove some of the "creeping" that I'm observing, but overall, the spikes that I readily saw with the CGMS (as written previously) have lessened dramatically. I won't say it's perfect, as I can still jack myself up very easily by mis-counting carbs, but overall, the "direct injection" system seems to be MUCH more effecient in its delivery.

The CGMS. I have mixed emotions about this. The sensors for the Minimed system are ... well.. I'm not going to Splenda-coat this - they're shitty. I'm sure there's a lot of technology and a lot of hard work that went into the design of the transmitter / sensor combination, but seriously - GET SOME FUCKING TAPE THAT STICKS.

I've had the CGMS strapped to me for a week now, each sensor is designed to last for one week. As of an hour ago, I'm on my 4th sensor.

I attribute much of the problems I'm experiencing to the overall "wonky design" of the sensor. It is affixed at a point with an abysmally small amount of medical tape (did I mention the tape sucks?) and then is left hanging. Imagine having something about the size and weight of three quarters affixed to your body with a small wire on one side, and a piece of tape about the same size.

This "floppy" design means the wire is constantly moving in your skin, causing irritation, leading to a desire to rip the dastardly thing out after about two days.

I've been taping down the sensor with a combination of tegaderm and medical tape, but it still likes to wiggle more that I desire it to.

All things considered, the data that the sensor gives me is fun to watch. There are periods where its accuracy is lacking, but for the most part, it is within 10-20 mg/dl of my BG readings.

In summary: pumping good, sensor hurty and not sticky - but gives good data.

I give the pump a B+, and the sensor a C-. There is a lot of low hanging fruit that Medtronic could address with the senors. Hopefully the next generation of them will have a better design.