Home Depot Hypo and frozen hair

It was 19 degrees Fahrenheit here yesterday morning when I got up. At my Endo's office in Santa Fe it was 12 degrees. The young girl who runs the front desk told me her hair froze while she was gassing up her car. She was freaking out worrying about it breaking off. Poor thing. That little incident has nothing to do with me or the Guardian, but I just had to share it with someone!

I for one love going to the Endo’s office. It’s like Christmas. There is always some sort of freebie or something I can mooch. I also get to talk diabetes with people who understand and care, another plus; and, of course, I always get learn something. But this time I really made out like a bandit.

In addition to scoring a bottle of Novolog U-100 ...and just when did they change the bottle from blue to orange? Nearly gave me a heart attack when I took it out of the box. I triple checked all the numbers, same stuff I’ve always had, just a new color. It should be illegal the change the color of a man’s medicine bottle! ...Oops. I digress, In addition to scoring a bottle of Novolog, and sample of adhesive remover, I got a brand-new-in-the-box MediSense Precision Xtra meter.

Now all of you are probably saying, wait a cotton-pickin-minute. He’s got a Guardian. He’s got a Cozmonitor. Why on earth would he want another BG meter? Because this one measures blood Keytones. Ahhhhh....now you understand.

It was funny actually, I was reading the product round-up in the latest ADA magazine before we left. I saw mention of this, and I thought how cool would that be...

So at my Endo’s office I asked Jane, RD, LD, DE, ABC, 123, etc., etc. about them. I told her, “It’s really a hassle dealing with peeing on a stick, especially when your out in public.” And she said to me, with a very straight face, “Well, William, if you look around a bit you can usually find a public restroom.”

Verrrrry funny, Jane. My wife is still giggling.

Anywaaaaaay, turns out, not only did she think highly of it, she had one sample left. It is now safely nestled in my "go bag" waiting for the next time my BG spikes high. On some perverse level I’m secretly hoping for a very mild high just to try it out. I know! Slap my hand! Devil go behind me, etc. New toys just beg to be played with.

On the more serious front I’ve been developing a mild rash on my stomach from the adhesive on the transmitter and sensor. I’ve never had a problem with infusion set adhesive so it surprised me. It also has caused me a fair amount of worry. What happens if I develop an allergy? How could I wear the system then? How could I survive without it? This little machine saves my butt at least three times per week....If fact, I’ve had two hypo alarms--about 45 minutes apart--while writing this post. The first at 79, the second at 73. (The first "dose" of candy took it to the high eighties, but then it dropped again...so more candy...yum!)

For the rash, Jane suggested I consider placing another IV 3000 under everything else. A good idea, as the IV 3000s don’t seem to bother me. So diabetic sandwich: IV 3000, sensor and transmitter, another IV 3000. But I remember seeing something somewhere in the Medtronic paper work about not inserting through anything at all. So I called the clinical support folks.
Sure enough, if you insert the sensor through an IV 3000 it can cause trouble (read: problems with accuracy). After some discussion we came upon a tentative solution that I’ll try starting tomorrow. I’ll punch a small hole in the IV 3000 dressing with a hole punch. The guide needle will pass through the hole to insert the sensor. The lion’s share of the senor adhesive (which seems to bother me the most of the two) will then be on the IV 3000 instead of in direct contact with my skin. Likewise, the entire transmitter pad will be fully on the IV 3000 dressing. Will the weight pull off the dressing? We’re gonna find out, aren’t we?

Other adventures (I had a long, fun, and interesting day yesterday):

My wife and I went to the little French Pastry Shoppe at La Fonda, right on the Plaza in Santa Fe, after we left the Endo. It has become a bit of a post doc-tradition. This place is home of the best French Onion Soup in the United States--35 carbs with the two little pieces of bread on the side. While there I lose telemetry. No problem. I do a search and regain. Then later, a few doors up a Street Feet (a shoe store you should not take your wife to if you value your wallet....but seriously, a wonderful store) I lose it again. So what’s up with La Fonda? Why am I losing signal there? I’ve actually had quite a few missed signals on this set. I think the problem might be where I chose to insert this time around. I put the set and the transmitter all the way over on my right side, to give my stomach skin a chance to recover. I wear the Guardian all the way on my left side. Is my body blocking the signal? Who knows. Today I moved it to the right side, just in case.

Later in the day we are buying Poinsettias at Home Depot when my hypo alarm goes off. Well, what do you expect? You get a lot of exercise in a Home Depot. I’ll bet big box stores kill off a hundred diabetics a year. My only hypo-caused ER visit happened thanks to Sam’s Club. But no ER for me today. I have been warned at the on-set. I eat some candy and we are off to look at paint chips for the living room with me none the worse for wear. A second alarm goes off as we get to the car. More emergency candy and we are on our way. It is soooooo nice to know that I’ll never actually suffer a hypo ever again.

The Guardian is worth every penny!