Why I’m staying in a bad marriage

What? Oh. No. Not that marriage. I wasn’t talking about my marriage to Debbie. While it’s no secret that Debbie and I have had our challenges, like any couple that has been together for a quarter of a century, our marriage couldn’t be classified as bad by any measure. I was talking about why I’m sticking with Revel though all her cheating and drama and lack of communication. Bitch that she is.

And like many bad marriages, the answer is that I’m sticking with her because of the kids: Little Outpost and her bigger sib Sentry. Yeah, I could live happily ever after without their mother right about now, but the fact is, the kids need their mother. Literally, in this case. The mySentry system can’t function without Revel. And my long-time mistress of times past, the standalone Guardian CGM, isn’t qualified to be their Step Mom. She doesn’t speak the same language as Revel’s kids. The Sentry system only works with the Revel pump.

But at this point, frankly, while I like the Revel pump a great deal (and quite a bit more than I expected I would, given my CoZmo bias), I would have thrown in the towel a while ago were it not for the Sentry. Taking the bad marriage analogy to the extreme, where people begin to argue that kids do better in split homes than in homes were their parents are miserable, the same perverse logic works in this case, too. I’m actually, selfishly, doing what’s best for me. Because staying with Revel means the kids stay with me. All the time.

And in this case, my “kids” do more than make me happy. They keep me healthy. Quite literally.

The mySentry system offers me what no other medical device on the market today can: maximum safety from my defective diabetes-riddled hypo-unaware body. People can argue and wail all they want about how mySentry wouldn’t be necessary if the Med-T CGM alarms were just loud enough, but the facts on the ground are what they are.

And the facts on the ground right now, today, are that—other than death—I have two options: Med-T and Dex. I don’t care what things should be. Or what they might be in the future. My health can’t wait for the next generation. I need to choose the best system for me today because I’m a sick man today.

If you’d asked me pre-Sentry what my choice was, the answer was simple: Dex. Even though the device was less sophisticated, less flexible, and I couldn’t take a frickin Tylenol for a headache; it had the one indisputable advantage over Med-T: it was louder. Actually, not really quite loud enough for my comfort, but it was quite literally the best I could get. Now the balance of power has shifted. The mySentry is louder than the Dex. It has never once failed to wake me when it alarms. So now, like before, the answer is simple (but different): Med-T. More sophisticated, more flexible, and I can take a frickin Tylenol for a headache again.

So that’s the bottom line for me. These pump problems have been highly vexing, to say the least, but they’ve not threatened my health; while the improved CGM volume, coupled with the predictive alarms, have improved my health and even more importantly, my health security.

I worry less about what might happen.

Debbie worries less.

Even Rio worries less. He’s learned how to read the mySentry monitor and it’s become a bit of a security blanket for him. (During a sensor startup last night he freaked out because there was no CGM trace or glucose value on the screen.)

So, yeah, Revel isn’t the “wife” I might want. But I’m staying in the bad marriage anyway.