I want this!

I don't know why we have never tried to get a CGM (continuous glucose monitor) before. We have been doing a lot of research lately about getting Superboy an insulin pump, and this wonderful device has become a point of (can I say) LUST for me. The more I read about the Dexcom G4 the more and more I feel like I need it.

And there he is. Oh Dex, you could make my life so much easier!

Superboy was diagnosed almost exactly a year ago. We have been taking our time to get familiarized with all the new technology, and actually just getting to know the old technology. We have been giving our little man injections, Lantus and Humolog and well, the shots just keep adding up. We 'poke' him to bolus, to correct highs, to give his daily dose of Lantus. He gets about 6 shots a day. Which is a lot for a little 2 year old. He is super tough though. Half the time he only mouths the word "ow" when he gets his shots, the other half of the time he is wiggling and fighting to get away. It isn't so much of a pain to give him a shot for food, since I do it while he is busy eating, he barely notices. The times when I hate giving him his shots are when I am trying to correct a high blood sugar. I get upset at myself for not dosing him properly for his meal, or for giving him too much to eat. It gets confusing sometimes on busy days when I forget who had seconds during lunch and who hasn't. Not that little Dex could fix all my problems, but I know that he could make my life less of a mystery.

CGM's are awesome! This little gadget tracks blood sugar every five minutes of the day. Then it nicely graphs the readings it recieved so you can look at it and see if he is on his way up, down, or doing fine. This of course doesn't take the place of pricking Superboy's finger, but with Dexcom's accuracy, it can tell us how we have been doing all day. This little device also has little alarms that will sound if his blood sugar is below a set level, or above a set level. This way we can avoid any crazy highs or lows. We can get the full picture rather than little snapshots of time throughout the day. I am very much looking forward to this.
We are currently in the process of working with our doctors to get one of these babies. We have signed all the paperwork and sent in the necessary forms so now we are just waiting to find out if our insurance will approve it.

We are choosing to go with the Dexcom G4 rather than some of the other well known CGM's out there for a few reasons. The Dexcom has a very streamlined easy to read at a glance screen. It maps everything out for you, with nice colored graphs so you don't have to sit and try to make sense of the lines, numbers and dots. Medtronic does have a pump that is integrated with a CGM, so you don't have to type in the blood sugar levels, it also will have the option this December that will allow it to suspend the insulin distributor if the CGM tells the pump that your blood sugar is too low. This would be super handy, but we are so tired of the outdated screens, and basic technology that they offer. This is the 21st century, is it too ridiculous to expect that life saving devices such as insulin pumps and CGM's should be much closer to the top of the line. Also, since our little Superboy is only 2 years old, we are not worried at this point about the extra step to type in the glucose into his pump when bolusing. Hopefully by the time he starts helping to manage his diabetes they will be able to update the technology further.

We have been hearing some wonderful things about the Dexcom G4 from current users. Especially from parents of other young Type 1 Diabetes kids. Poor Superboy spends most of his time with his blood sugar in the high 200's every time I check him. Which is baffling since I have reduced myself to measuring, weighing and carb counting his food so carefully. I triple check how many carbs are in each food item before I dose him, but I find that he still manages to be much higher than I want him to be. With the Dexcom's awesome tracking skills I am hoping to see if I need to up his carb to insulin ratio, or if I am just checking him at not great points of his day, or whatever I may be doing that is adversely affecting his blood glucose levels.

I will be crossing my fingers that we can have everything in order and get the Dexcom G4 within the next few weeks. Please Universe, think those good thoughts!