Not that Dino
Not that Dino... Dino, Arden’s DexCom rep. Dino is working his (aw hell let’s follow through with this) purple tail off trying to get Arden’s CGM through the health insurance process and things are looking real good! I just submitted Arden’s pump records to Dino, they along with Arden’s endo’s prescription should be all we need to seal the deal and start Arden on her continuous glucose monitor - which by all accounts should significantly aid us in keeping her BGs where they should be and stave off frightening lows and life-altering highs. I’ll talk much more about all of that as this process moves forward. For now, let’s hear it for Dino!
What is a CGM
Yesterday I visited Arden’s endo and we reviewed the data that was collected last week from her CGM study.
A CGM (Continuous Glucose Monitor) is
From dexcom.com: “A CGM system is a device that you wear to measure glucose levels in real-time, day and night — even during sleep it's watching out for you. This is like seeing up to 288 fingersticks daily, but unlike fingersticks, you see so much more than just a number. You see continuous glucose information, the direction your glucose is headed, and the speed it's moving.”
Arden completed a 6 day blind study last week which provided us with second to second information about her BG levels. Much was learned! The first thing that we learned was that her BG sometimes gets very low overnight, which is troubling. Even though she may wake up at a safe or even elevated level there are protracted times overnight that she is low. We also were able to see exactly how different foods, activity and moods effected Arden's BGs. This data was enough for us to realize that Arden should be wearing a CGM full-time.
So yesterday I put the necessary paperwork in place to start the process, if all goes well on the insurance side (and I think that it will) Arden should be wearing her own DexCom Seven Plus in a week or so.
I started this new section on Ardens Day so that I can track the learning and implementation of Arden’s newest piece of life improving and saving technology. I’m green at this CGM thing so we will all be learning together.
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Here we go...