Waterproofing my Dexcom cgms.......after drowning 2 already. aaaaack...Dex is dead!!

I have been blessed to have been using a Dexcom cgms for close to 4 years now and have religiously had my Dex by my side. Amazingly I have not lost it in all that time and have found it to be a great tool in helping me manage my disease. My most recent A1C was 5.9 woo hoo......and that is because with the pump and the cgms, I can make decisions and get feed back quickly.
In the last 6 months however, I have drowned 2 Receivers and have had to buy new ones because of it..
How.....well, let me paint the picture for you.
Yaaaaawnnnn.....stumble out of bed, clip my Dex to my pajamas.....stumble into the bathrooom, pull up my t shirt.....splash....Dex jumps right into the toilet. Pull it out within 1/10th of a second, and alas it is completely dead. It wont dry out, it just dies. The receiver is not anywhere even close to being water resistant.How did this happen....well, in my sleepy state, I probably got part of my tshirt caught in the clip and when moving my shirt, splash down!!!
It sounds stupid I know, but I am guessing this happens to folks pretty often when you figure the thousands and thousands of folks using them.
After recently spending a bunch of money again to buy a new one, I figured I would plan for the ultimate inevetabilty of my cgms getting wet again.Storms or dropped in puddles, or a sink....what have you.

I looked online for simple solutions....water proof cases and the like....but I couldnt find anything that was small enough, didn't look like a big ole box on my hip, or was inconspicuous.
My solution.....a small Hefty sandwich bag. I wrote "Reward" and my phone number on the back of the unit in case I ever mistakingly lease it some where. I put the cgms in the bag and slide and stuff it all into my cgms case from Descom. It is very simple and cheap, and effective. The cgms is still visible as the bag is clear and functionality is not affected. You do have to take it out to charge it however...but it's not a big deal. And you can replace the bag if you ever think its torn.
You may not even think it is a problem for you, and I didn't for 3.5 years with this never happening to me either. Not me..I said to myself. ..I am extremely careful, I wouldn't ever drop my cgms into water....Yeah right!!!!
I would recommend you do something....Trust me, you dont want to look at that dieing cgms and think Oh man, its over....Dex is dead......

Books on Diabetes...diabetes books...best diabetes books

Well after a recent google search on books about Living with Diabetes, I am amazed to see how many there are.....thousands at least. It seems that diabetes encompasses so many people that it also creates quite a few diabetic authors. I am happy to see so many books on diabetes that should help make it easy to help people find the Joy of Diabetes in living with the disease. As always, there is a lot of data out there that is not always easy to plow through. I wrote The Joy of Diabetes to try and help the common man or woman who struggles to get through not just the physical side of diabetes, but also the mental/mindset side. Diabetes management is definitely all in your head. You have to develop the right mindset in order to achieve success.

I was honored this weekend to be a speaker at Southeast Georgia Diabetes Fest. I am always excited to meet new folks in the industry and to get positive feedback that says what I presented was helpful. I am always happy when people say that they have renewed their desire to improve their control as they go forward.

Whatever books you can get your hands on, you should read and digest all that you can. It will help you in the long run.

Intense therapy might make things worse....huh?

Recent article from the L.A. times is worth reading. I think every story has to be looked at from many angles....read it and make up your own mind....

Aggressive measures to treat diabetics make many of them worse, studies show
Rigorous treatment to bring down blood pressure and cholesterol is not beneficial and increases side effects, researchers say.
March 15, 2010|By Thomas H. Maugh II

It seemed like a good idea. Diabetics are at an unusually high risk of heart disease, heart attack and stroke, so sharply reducing their blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar should be highly beneficial. But a decade of studies of thousands of patients show that is not the case.

Two new reports from a major nationwide trial called ACCORD released Sunday show that lowering either blood pressure or cholesterol below current guidelines does not provide additional benefit and, in fact, increases the risk of side effects. A third arm of the study, released two years ago, shows that excessively lowering blood sugar levels actually increases the risk of heart disease.
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The results are disappointing, researchers say, because they suggest that clinicians may have reached the limit of what they can do for diabetic patients without developing new therapeutic approaches.

But the good news is, the findings "reduce the cost and potential side effects of drug therapy" and mean that patients will not have to work as hard at reducing blood sugars, lipids and blood pressure, said Dr. Denise Simons-Morton of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, which funded the trial.

"The take-home message is that the standard care approaches are pretty good. If we try to go beyond them, it doesn't provide additional benefit," she said.

Diabetes has become a tremendous problem in the United States, with at least 21 million people afflicted with Type 2 diabetes -- in which cells do not respond properly to insulin produced by the pancreas -- and millions more at risk because of obesity. Most diabetics also have high blood pressure and high cholesterol, factors that raise their risk of heart attack and stroke to the same level as that of people who already have suffered a heart attack.

Many doctors have reasoned that aggressively lowering blood pressure and lipids below nationally recommended levels might decrease the risk of heart disease, and ACCORD, or Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes, was created to study the possibility.

In one arm of the study, Dr. William C. Cushman of the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Memphis, Tenn., and his colleagues at 77 medical centers enrolled 4,733 Type 2 diabetics with high cholesterol and cardiovascular disease or a high risk of developing it. They were randomly assigned to treatment regimens to lower their systolic blood pressure -- the top number in a blood pressure measurement -- below 140 mm Hg, the standard treatment goal for diabetics, or below 120 mm Hg, the target goal.
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Does drinking coffee raise your bloodsugar levels....?

I have posted on this before, but I think it's important. I used to think that was a crazy question. Now I'm not so sure. Tony at Dsainsights posed that question a while back and I told him I thought he had lost his mind. After paying attention for quite a few months now, Im not positive, but I think he is right. I have noticed that I do tend to trend upward pretty dramatically in the a.m. after drinking coffee. I can't prove it 100% but it sure seems like coffee is the cause of it... Adrenaline and all that......

Keep an eye out and see what you think. Watch it over time and see what your conclusion is....

oh yeah, and chocolate mocha latte doesn't count.... I'm talking coffee coffee....the straight stuff with just cream or sweet and low...
let me know ...................

Does coffee raise your bloodsugar levels....?

I asked this question before, and I used to think that was a crazy question. Now I'm not so sure. Tony at Dsainsights posed that question a while back and I told him I thought he had lost his mind. After paying attention for quite a few months now, Im not positive, but I think he is right. I have noticed that I do tend to trend upward pretty dramatically in the a.m. after drinking coffee. I can't prove it 100% but it sure seems like coffee is the cause of it... Adrenaline and all that......

Keep an eye out and see what you think. Watch it over time and see what your conclusion is....

oh yeah, and chocolate mocha latte doesn't count.... I'm talking coffee coffee....the straight stuff with just cream or sweet and low...
let me know ...................

Sweets for your Diabetic Valentine....Ummm, not so much

Valentine's Day Gift Ideas for Diabetics'....Sweets For Your Sweetie…?

Ummmm,......... Not So Much

..what do you get your Diabetic loved one for Valentine’s Day?

Bob Hawkinson-a 47 year old successful lifelong diabetic and author offers some thoughts.

The growing number of Diabetics in the United States (estimated at around 23 million) means that more and more people are affected by this disease. Not only the folks who have diabetes, but the folks that love them are affected too. How do you give a Valentines gift that won’t negatively impact your diabetic loved one?

Here are a few of Bob’s suggestions:

If you must give candy, know what’s in it. Your diabetic loved one can often times include that piece of chocolate that has 4 grams of carbohydrates, but he or she must know it has 4 grams. Individually wrapped/marked pieces are easier to work into their diet than a monster piece of candy.

Going out to dinner should fall within their time schedule. That fancy restaurant that is hard to get into can play havoc with a diabetic’s schedule. Maybe go to the restaurant earlier than when the big crowd hits. If your loved one needs to eat between 6 or 7 o’clock, a 2 hour wait at 7 may not be a good thing.

Alcohol plays havoc with a diabetic. Although that bottle of wine may be romantic, check with your loved one or their diabetes team to make sure not to overdo it. Alcohol may be able to be included, but be careful. If it can be included, …less is usually better.

…..Of course jewelry, flowers, or fine automobiles are usually always a good choice J

Bob’s book “The Joy of Diabetes” is not only inspiring, but it also educates with a lighthearted and pithy approach. Bob who is 47, was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at age 1. His goal is to help other diabetics grab hold of this disease by the horns, and wrestle it to the ground.” To order his book, go to www.joyofdiabetes.com

Swine Flu Vaccine...H1N1..

To vaccinate or not....Well, I chose to....
I always get the flu shot every year as some of my most horrific illnesses have been bouts with the flu. As a diabetic, it is very difficult to get the flu and not get wiped out. Usually, I will be down and out for a few days and my bloodsugars will vary widely. A few years back, I chose to forgo the flu shot....needless to say, I won't do that again. I was sicker than a dog and was completely out of control of my diabetes.
For me.....Vaccinate!!!!!