Everyone would be aware of the ability to have your blood glucose monitored continuously through a sensor that sits under the skin and a transmitter that sends the readings over to the receiver. Either a stand alone device or in my case to the Medtronic insulin pump. The benefit to using it with the latest model pump is the ability to shut the pump off automatically if the blood sugar drops below the set level. I don't know about you but that ability is a piece of mind especially during those night time periods when you want certainty while asleep.
This technology is massive step forward however with big steps forward there is a price tag. Unfortunately for as long as my government do not see it as a necessity then it stays as a luxury item for me.
One of the great opportunities that I have had is to have access to a transmitter, on loan, and one sensor for the 6 day period. Where we have the ability to manually adjust our settings on the pump the access to the CGM allows for a detailed view of trends and and proof of areas that need changing, or even adding.
As we know T1D has the ability to change or do different things even if everything everything you do is the same. It had been roughly 3 years since my access to a sensor and to tell you the truth I had made changes where necessary and things were going well. Unfortunately stress was an unknown factor in my life along with new medication for MS so I had the chance to get a sensor to get a detailed view of what was happening.
The chance to see my rises, falls and steadiness in real time was reassuring and scary all at the same time. Reassuring because I was able to see what was happening at any given time and the ability to set alarms for rapid rises and drops would hopefully allow for stopping hypos and hypers before they become a problem. Scary because where I thought I had good control (and this is probably the perfectionist in me) I could see where could be room for improvement.
After seeing that that I would usually have large uses after eating we knew instantly that the insulin to carb ratios were off. We adjusted them across the board but in doing that we had to be careful with the basal rates because if there was more insulin in the body for food then the basal rates may be too high. We also noted in the times where there were large gaps between eating the basal rates were on a slight decline so it was decided that we would cut back the basal rates to compensate for the increase of I2C rates.
As stated previously this was a welcome tune up and baseline for my pump settings and to tell you the truth it was a very successful 6 days.
With the auto shut off features and the ability to set your rise and fall rates this would be of great benefit each and every day but with it being out of my reach financially then the tune up is a great way to get everything back into line and maintain the best control ever.
Out of interest for those of you on Medtronic insulin pumps and in Australia they currently have a free 6 day trial offer for the transmitter and sensor. All you need to do is give them a call and mention the 6 day free trial and they will organise it with your health care team and yourself.
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