My New CGM!



My Dexcom CGM



Three months worth of CGM supplies



Yay!! My CGM (Continuous Glucose Monitor) arrived and has completed my external pancreas! The CGM is a small sensor that sits in the interstitial fluid under my skin for seven days and sends glucose readings through a transmitter to a receiver every five minutes. This allows me to see blood glucose patterns and trends, so I can correct my blood sugars accordingly. It’s not a device that gives accurate blood glucose readings, but rather a device that shows me the direction I am heading, whether it’s steady, up or down, or rapidly going up or down. I think my CGM is almost cooler than my pump.

When I went to the Diabetes Expo back in February, I spoke with a Dexcom rep about the lag in readings and some other concerns I had about the device. She was very forward and honest with me, stating that the CGM does lag by five minutes and that finger sticks from a blood glucose meter are required to calibrate the CGM, but that both CGMs and blood glucose meters are imperfect devices. She reminded me that a blood glucose reading from a finger stick is usually off +/- 20 mg/dL, making both the CGM and blood glucose meters imperfect devices that work together to give me a clearer picture of what is going on. I am reminded again that I have to be the person to look at both the readings and trends, and make an educated decision on what my next move is going to be.

All in all, I am really enjoying my CGM. Just by observing my trends with this device, I am already planning on performing some testing periods (involving some fasting) to change my basal ratios, especially my night ratios. I would not have had this information to make this decision if I did not have my CGM… so awesome!