Up and Running with my new Minilink!

Up and running with the new Minilink transmitter!

No problems at all. The new sensor came charged, so all I had to was remove the old transmitter, recode for the new transmitter and restart my sensor!

Here is the before and after!





I really enjoy how much smaller this new transmitter is! And no extra tape...I have been freed!! I feel like I should be taping down the transmitter, but for now - I will leave it be and see how it all makes out!

Wonderful BG day today! Stayed between 4 and 6, with several meals, Cinnabon and two random no deliveries with my infusion set while having coffee with a friend at Starbucks (guess I wore this one a little too long!)....wish all days could be like that! I felt immune :)

Its Here!

I just walked in the door, and the MINILINK is here!!

I am just about the crack the box....more to follow!

MINILINK IN CANADA!?!?!?!

I worked a night last night.....so picture this, at work....during a down time I was reading through my emails from the day. I came across several emails from Minimed. The first one was talking about a sale that was ongoing now on supplies. I called my buddy Clay over and we were chatting about what a small difference 5% off really makes! So together we sift through to the next Minimed email and both see the following words....

"Coming Soon! Be the first to receive our Next Generation REAL-Time Continuous Glucose Monitoring Transmitter! *
Order before April 27th, 2007 to reserve your unit and be amongst the first in Canada to use this new technology."

I was speechless......and excited! The minilink is coming to Canada!!

Of course, I faxed my form in this afternoon! $350 upgrade ($700 new). OUCH that is expensive, but I need this technology! My skin can not stand the tape much longer! (I have developed a lot of dry skin under the tape areas!!)

I hope all other Canadians received this emails. If not, just let me know and I can forward the email with the form and details! It is not on the Minimed Canada website yet!

Great news! Great technology!

Spring Spring Spring!

I am preparing for a very busy week.....so I took it easy today! Had a nice drive, took some pics, saw some friends...and tomorrow the week starts!

Cheers!

Good Sugars and Sunshine, can it get better??

Wow! 4 days in Toronto...what a whirlwind visit!

Went up to see John Mayer....hung out in Toronto two nights, and then spent last night with awesome family just outside of the city! What a great time!!

When I left Nova Scotia, it was rainy and storming. When I came home today, it was sunny and 16 degrees!

So after my multiple no delivery alarms, my Cleo 90 site was fine for two days. No delivery issues, good sugars (even though two days was spent walking around toronto!!).....but last night, well early this morning (4am) I had another no delivery alarm.

I went through my trouble shooting process, with no success. The issue was with the reservoir, as the pump would not prime at all. ARGH, so at 4am I did a site change with still 90 units left in the reservoir. Annoying....and such a waste!

This is the second time I have had a no delivery with a Cleo 90 set, resulting in an early change.....as on top of that those multiple no delivery alarms on the plane!

As it stands now, I have had 2 Cleo-90 sets with no problems, but 2 that clogged (?) early causing no delivery alarms. I am at a 50% success rate - not very good!! (and I find the thin-set reservoirs hard to fill bubble-free...!!!)

Any one else have problems with Cleo 90 sites?

I am almost to 7 years with minimed silhouette sites with never an issue with no delivery....

Curious how other people are finding the Cleo 90's!!

Aiming for Inner Peace

Do you think anyone finds "inner peace"? Well I want to try. I have been thinking about it a lot lately, seems things are not as "peaceful" in my life as I want them to be. Maybe let things roll off my back.....that will be the technique at work.....but this morning I laid and listened to the sound of the waves for an hour and decided it was time to find my inner peace. Lifelong happiness. Wow, how non-tangible!

Lets get back to business.....the business of diabetes. Yesterday I had 3 no delivery alarms on my pump! I was using the new-to-me Cleo 9 sets. My first one out of the box was fine....no issues at all. I put this second one in......9am ish in the morning....and went on with my day. I did not eat (bad girl, I know) until noon that day (sorry Devin, I know I said I would eat breakfast but it did not happen that day!). When I ate, I bolused. Half way through, a no delivery alarm.

"That's strange", I thought. I unhooked the infusion set and put a .5 unit prime through, it delivered no problem and I saw a bubble of insulin come out. I reconnected - and it seemed to deliver no problem.

I watched my BG rise and rise over the next few hours. I would have yanked out my site, but I was on an airplane and decided I would change the set when I landed.

I kept on checking my BG and bolusing accordingly. After that initial rise, it did not go up and more. It stayed level for about 30 minutes (Gross, I was up to 15mmol/L and felt like crap). It did return back to normal.

Do I trust the set? No. Did I change it? No....why? Still travelling....had to change planes in Montreal.

I had another 2 more no delivery alarm later in the day. Same solution - once I disconnected and reconnected, it delivered no problem.

I did not change my set because my BG values stayed fine and the solution always involved disconnect, reconnect and rebolus.

This morning - all was fine. Woke at a good level of 6.7....no delivery issues at all today. Yesterday was a very strange day. Very strange.....and if I were home, I would have yanked the set right away. I stuck it through - but let me tell you, I had a syringe and vial of insulin in my hand ready to go!

Alone in the diabetes world no more!

I was young when I was diagnosed, and did not know any other people with diabetes. I lived in a small town, and within a few years came across another girl with diabetes. She was a sister of a friend of mine. That was it, one person....who I talked to about twice a year.....she would tell me how she was skipping her insulin to loose weight.

UNTIL I went to diabetes camp when I was 9 years old. What an amazing experience! Every summer until I was 15, and then I worked at the camp until a few years ago. That one week a year was all I was given to experience living with other people with diabetes. We tested together, we went low together, we shared our fears and hopes....and then we all went home.

What an alone world diabetes can be!

The internet did bring support - the blogging world is AMAZING....I read people share experiences that I can relate, and that brings comfort. I can share in the experiences!

But now, for the first time in my life, I have a full time diabetes buddy. I talked about Clay before, but today - I stood back and appreciated the joy of having another person in my life who also has diabetes. Oh don't get me wrong, I am really sorry that Clay was diagnosed with diabetes - I would not wish it on anybody, but I must pull good out of his diagnosis! I have another person in my life who understands, and no words are needed.

The lows....and the tired feeling after correcting...
The rebound highs....sigh....
Eating when not hungry....
Having people watch you test

BEEP BEEP BEEPing.....eating....beeping.....eating....

We have a secret language, and for once in the past 22 years I have a full time diabetes buddy in my life!

WOW!

(late entry....of course, Jen A is the ultimate diabetes buddy...long standing and she is a lifesaver for me!! If only I could get her to sit by me at work too HAHA!!)

Lancets are cheap, why do I use one until it hurts?

Seems so simple.

Lancets are the cheapest part of the daily diabetes requirements - so why do I insist on using one lancet until it hurts!?

Yesterday I was at the gym, and needed a calibration test. That is an easy request! Grabbed my meter and my handy dandy lancet thingie.

As usual, poked my finger - but this time, the lancet end got stuck in the end of my finger and I had to pull it back. OUCH, what the heck was that??

I certainly got enough blood - the sort of volume you would have needed for a home blood test in 1984. I could not lick this blood off, I needed kleenex intervention!

This is a direct result of not changing my lancet! Pure laziness.....!!

I will make a strong effort to change it more often. I said I should change it every time I do an infusion set change. Not the textbook answer, but a realistic answer! I think I'll return to that technique and see how it goes.......

(added note at 1:50, I just changed the lancets in all three of my tester kits! Fresh start!)

Easter!

It was a yummy easter....and no high glucoses!

On my team at work there are 3 people with diabetes - so I found it only fitting to add a few extras to the tray of chocolates as I went around the room offering easter goodies!

Sleepful night

YIPPIE!

Great sleep last night....just wanted to let you all know! Went to sleep at 6.0 mmol/L and woke in the morning at 7.0 mmol/L. What a difference a working site makes HA! (but I did have very weird dreams!!!)

Sunny warm day here today, went to visit family for the Easter weekend - got home to an email from work warning of a big storm here tomorrow. SNOW! Hmmm....I thought that was over with, I was even considering taking the winter tires off the car!

Happy Easter to everyone! I am working the next 4 days so I will send my wishes out early!

Take care!

Sleepness Night.....

**YAWN**

What a sleepless night last night! Guess I'm having a wee bit of bad luck with my last two sites! First site I YANKED out the other night at work (whoops!!....yeah, I usually use tape on my leg sites but went without that time...good reminder!!!)

So last night I went to sleep, everything seemed fine. BG 4.6, felt good and sleepy!!

I woke at 2am to my high BG alarm. I have it set at 8.0 mmol/L. I did a test to confirm, sure enough.....so I took a small correction bolus and told my pump to stop waking me :)

Couple hours later (it's all a little fuzzy.....was in a deep sleep!!) my pump had the nerve to wake me again!

This sensor told me I was passing my high BG setting again! What's up? Again tested, and had to take an even bigger correction bolus....back to sleep I went.

I woke in the morning to a higher then normal BG. I was sucking back the insulin all night, why was I high still??? Hmmm.....low reservoir....maybe a bubble? I was not out of insulin, just low.

So this morning started with a cup of coffee and a site change. I pulled out my well secured thigh site and a large outflow of insulin went running down my leg. OH LOOK, there is my boluses.....not in my blood stream where I wanted them, but nicely stored right around my cannula and now mobile around my knee.

That explains everything!

No kink in the line....just lack of absorption.

Fresh new site in now!! It is another 13mm silhouette, trying sample #2. Good insertion, I have high hopes :)

Spring is here...maybe!?

I hope this is spring!

It is 6 degrees out today....beautiful and sunny. I took the garbage out this afternoon and got hooked!! Hooked to the fresh smell of the air, the sounds of the crashing waves. Hooked on the feeling of the sun on my skin, and to the feeling of the breeze. I hope this is it! No more snow, no more ice....I hope!

I was given two samples of the new 13mm silhouette infusion set. I decided last night I would try! It is shaped differently (more oval) and a different shade in color....but other then that seemed the same! No problem inserting.....was normal.....and all seemed fine!

I had the site inserted on the outside of my right thigh. Sure enough....murphy's law.....last night at work I was in the washroom, and when I pulled my pants down I yanked the fresh site right of my leg!

This does not happen often - but a risk of the side thigh sites!

SOOO, I had to tap into my emergency supplies at work, and put in a fresh site. So much for testing out the new infusion set HA! Guess that is why they sent me two!!