Dancin' to the 'Betes: December 2012

Just when I thought we were in the flow of the latest technology, along comes the Dexcom G4! We got Cham "wired" in last night and it is the coolest thing ever. I think I looked at her levels all night long just to watch it trending. It alerted her that she was low right before bed and she said, "I don't feel low." Once she stood up, she felt it. After we gave her juice, I watched the Dex screen rise every couple of minutes until we were back in the safe zone. She stayed pretty even until she slept in this morning. We changed her rates for the winter break since she won't be dancing as much.

Why are we using a CGM now? She's been having some weird lows and highs and at our last Endo visit, our doc wanted us to try it so that I could fine tune her basal rates. For example, yesterday she dropped to 35 - yes 35 - and didn't catch it in the way she felt. She took her BG before lunch and said, "Thirty five - I don't feel thirty five!" As she's growing, I think she's ignoring or maybe not recognizing her lows like she used to. I could see it in her face that she was low, but I'm not with her all the time. So, Dex will tell her if she's low or high and alert her to treat it appropriately. This will be great for dance, too, because her dance teachers can look and see that she's dropping and have her take the pump off if it's dragging her down. We'll use it to track trends and she won't wear it all the time (maybe). She is hooked up to a lot of technology and I know how stigmatizing that could potentially be for her. So, just long enough to set and correct basal rates.

AND because she's carrying around so much stuff now, we had to find a fun new 'betes bag from Stick Me Designs! She's seen below with the Bulldog Betes bag. It carries it all and has room for her phone, snacks, and even an insulated pouch for insulin. I ironed her name on it (in pink) because I wanted it to reflect how tough and girly she is. She loves it. We also ordered the Bio Flips from this site, too! Cham is always throwing her used strips back in her bag, and I'm constantly telling her how gross it is. So, now she has her own little "trash" can to put all her used strips or lancets in if she's not near an actual trash can. They're super cute!