Diabetes Tech Difficulties In The Form Of New LapTop Communication Issues~

I'll take some of the blame for being pre-occupied when I originally heard rumblings re: new Macs and cable issues. But my my niece had just died. I had a lot going on. 
Apple if you want to make med tech easier, great! Don't make it more difficult by not ncluding a cable adapter with new laptops. THANKS. 
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Medtech is a key buzzword - everyone seems to be jumping in and that's a good thing... most of the time. Technology, including med tech and digital diabetes are supposed to make our lives easier - except when they don't. And sometimes it's not the diabetes tech's fault.

If you're going to jump in the med tech pond, including the diabetes tech eco-system (I'm looking at and talking to you APPLE,) it would be great if your "upgrades" didn't cause communication issues re: our med and #diabetestech. 

Cut to last Monday's Endo appointment - which was both disappointing and a breakthrough. 
Disappointing because once again my diabetes labs weren't were they needed to be. 
And a breakthrough because I was like: You're right, I need help. I NEED HELP. 

I was tired of doing it all on my own and had put off uploading data and setting up an appointment with my Diabetes Education Specialist since April. 

Part tech related, but let's be honest, most of it was "I don't want too/I don't feel like it," related.

I was sick of struggling and I was burned out. I promised my Endo I'd upload my data and schedule an appoint with my Diabetes education Care Specialist. 

The next morning I went about the business of putting myself first and keeping my  promise.

I emailed my Diabetes Education Care Specialist on Tuesday morning and told her that as soon as I found my Omnipod cable, ( I’d organized my office desk and my Omnipod cable wasn’t where it was supposed to be,) I’d be uploading all my data (including Dexcom) to Glooko in the next few days and let her know that I'd also like to schedule a much needed "diabetes tune-up" with her.

Wednesday was hectic and I didn’t even look.

Early Thursday morning I found the misplaced cable, tossed it in my computer bag along with my Dexcom cable and phone charger and ran out the door. 

I’d upload my devices during lunch. Thursday was going ducky and I was getting lots done, I ate my lunch and was ready to upload. No excuses and no fear of showing my numbers. 

I was doing this!   

Except I couldn't. 

Cut to me staring at my newish mac and ready to cry. The same mac I purchased over the summer because my previous mac was on its last legs and I was afraid if I traveled with it one more time, it would implode. 

The same streamlined mac that would not allow me to upload my omnipod and dex data, (or iPhone and camera card reader for that matter,) unless I had an external adapter, because Apple no longer supported USBC to USBA cables. New Apple devices only support USB to USBC cables. 

And I was not happy. 

Then I started doing the math and I really wasn't happy. 

Almost $2000 for laptop: 

12 inch macbook $1599

AppleCare: $249

Minus $70 education discount)

Tax: $117.79

Total Apple Cost: $1895.79

All of the above purchased at an Apple store 50 miles away. 

Did I mention Apple had closed the local Apple store near me? The one that was a 10 minute drive? 

I'll take some blame. I remember hearing about new cable issues with Apple in January, but my heart had just broken in a million pieces (DAMN IT, LIV) and I forgot about the cable issues.

Then I factored in my diabetes tech - and the unhappy boiled over into furious territory. 

Omnipod: Roughly $800 for ppm, $30 per pod. $30 X’s 10 per month = $300. 

$300 X’s 3 months = $900. 

$900 x’s 4 = $3600 per year - before insurance.

Dexcom G6. One month supply of sensors: $349 (3 boxes per order,) = $1047. 

4 three-month orders per year: $4188 + 4 transmitter per year at $475 each, = $1900. 

Total Dex cost before insurance $6,088 

Back to Apple: It would have been nice if had included an external adapter with multiple cable options in the cost of my new mac so that all my diabetes external parts could be uploaded at first try. Same goes for my iPhone and Canon photo card.

And it would have been greatly appreciated if your Apple Genius (that's his title, not being sarcastic, but it fits,) at the Apple Store had reminded me of the change and informed me I'd need to purchase an adapter. I wouldn't have been happy, but I would have purchased it on the spot. 

According to Apple's website and the Apple Tech I spoke with via the 800 number, the USB-C Multport adaptor I wanted to order ($69) was out of stock and wouldn't be available until November 29th and the single cable adaptor  ($19.95 plus S&H) would take a week to deliver.

Did I mention that I have $50 in Apple Gift cards in my wallet? 

I didn't want purchase online via amazon and had every intention of driving out to BestBuy on Sunday, but thanks to torrential downpours and flooding, that didn't happen. 

Yesterday morning I broke out my almost dead laptop, charged that sucker and rebooted it. Painfully slow in all dimensions because of longstanding software issues that could only be remedied by a complete laptop wipe and software reinstall. 

 It took 10 minutes to boot up and another 20 to reset the date and time, log in to both Glooko and Clarity, sync Glooko with Clarity and upload my devices.

Plus an additional 3 hours to make sure 3 months worth of data had synced up accordingly. 

Diabetes is hard enough, Apple communication tech issues don't help.  

Rant. Over. 

This Week My Diabetes Has Been Batshit Crazy.

My diabetes this week.
Image courtesy of Design By Humans.

This Week My Diabetes Has Been Batshit Crazy - and I'm owning it. 

Cut to Monday morning (which was my scheduled site change day,) when I woke up at 5:17 AM, with a fuzzy mouth and blood sugar of 336. I believe the words “FUCK ME,” were uttered multiple times. 

Omnipod site had gone bad in the middle of the night and I slept through Dexcom’s high blood sugar alarm. 

I’d had 24 units left in my pod before I went to bed on Sunday night, with15 hours left before it was empty. Shit happens and I know that. Yet I'm mad at myself for the site crapping out and not changing it out the night before. But all signs pointed to me not having to. Shit happens. Accept and move on. 

Speaking of.. I felt like shit. Downed a huge glass of water, calculated and administered a correction injection, and changed out my site.

5:20 AM 

New pod’s occlusion alarm goes off and I have to change it out. 

Once again I utter “FUCK ME,” followed by “WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?!” 

Now I’m BOTH pissed and annoyed.

5:26 AM 

Second new pod site of the day goes in. I set my alarm an go back to sleep

7:30 AM

I wake up and my bg is 289. I think to myself that it should be lower, give myself a correction bolus and sent a 3 hour increased temp basal rate of 45%.

9:20 AM  

Bg is 240. I AM NOT AMUSED. A correction bolus of 1.05 units is given. 

10:45 AM

Bg is 266 and going in the wrong direction. I make the decision to deactivate the pod. 

3rd new pod put in.

Temp basal rate of 60% for 3 hours set. Bg slowly starts going down. 

Small ketones, massive amounts of water consumed. 

I'd scheduled take Monday afternoon off last week, so I answered emails plowed through, and hoped things would kilter out by 1:30 pm. 

1:30 PM 

Meet a friend for lunch. Bg is 210 and I’m like: Hey OK, things are getting back to normal. Except they weren’t. 

I have mahi-mahi fish tacos or lunch. They are delicious and I bolus generously.

3:13 PM  

Blood sugar is 260 and my head hurts. Correction bolus 0.80 given. 

Temp Basal increased by 45% and for three hours, and I down more water. 

My friend asks if I want to get a pedicure. I do, I really do.  

But I decline. I don’t feel good. 

5:09 PM  

Bg is 323. Temp basal rate is increased and set to 60%. 

Correction bolus of 2.25 given.

I drink 20 ounces of water, set the alarm on my phone and take a nap because I am exhausted

6:51 PM 

Bg is 281, with a correction bolus of 0.45 units. No way I’m eating dinner. 

Trace amount of ketones detected, more water consumed. 

8:22 PM  

Blood sugar of 215, with a 0.30 correction bolus. I still feel crappy and watch Brokenwood Mysteries on Acorn TV. Started watching over the weekend and it’s pretty good with a great musical soundtrack. If you haven't already, tune in.

I also check PeriodTracker and confirm that I am ovulating - which normally causes elevated numbers for a few days - but not even close to this current batshit craziness. 

9:13 PM 

Bg 198, 0.85 correction unit given. Drink club soda with a splash of juice and a few crackers because I have 3.3 units of insulin on board and the arrow on my Dex is pointing in a south east direction. 

Speaking of arrows, my graph looks like… well I don’t know what the hell it looks like, but doesn’t look good. 

12 AM Tuesday morning: Blood sugars have evened out and now in the 120s. 

The insulin tally for Tuesday - 71 units of insulin. I normally average somewhere between 39 and 47 units per 24 hour period. 

I turn off the temp basal rate, eat a few more crackers and officially have zero fucks left to give, and head to bed. 

7 AM Tuesday morning: Wake up with a glucose of 240. 

Whatever the hell is going on with my body -  be it hormones, fighting off a cold or allergies, or just because it’s freaking Tuesday - my body requires a higher temp basal rate and more insulin.

Numbers hover between 180 and 215 all day and my 24-hour old site (my leg,) starts to hurt after dinner. 

I don’t want to change it out - but in my heart I know it’s crossed over and become a zombie infusion site. 

10:42 PM Tuesday Night: Change out site and numbers immediately start to depart zombie land. I stay up late to make sure every thing is stable re: my numbers and watch the final episode of Brokenwood, season 5. Bummed it was the final episode and looking forward to season six. 

As of today (Thursday,) I’m still running a temp basal rate that’s increased by 15%. 

Not sweating it, though. My numbers are on the decent side of normal and I know for whatever reasons, my body needs the increased basal rates right now.

I know this to shall pass and I have too much adulting to do to pinpoint the why(s).  

Hello 2019 And How The Hell Is It Already Friday?!

I’m not sharing all my goals for 2019 - at least not right away ;) 

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First - HAPPY 2019! 

It’s been a hard week getting back into the swing of things. 

I’m still on holiday time  - meaning I’m still having difficulty getting to bed at a decent time and I’m thoroughly shocked that it’s Friday. Seriously, how the hell did that happen because it feels like freaking Tuesday?  

I can relate. 
image via the interwebz. 

And of course, getting back to normal food and blood sugars - but I’m doing it. 

And instead of New Years resolutions, I have goals. 

For starters - I want to go up a few levels in certain areas of my life and have my a1c go down a few notches. I want to exercise my body and brain more - which means writing more. 

I want to embrace change, doing what I fear first and with gusto.

And like everyone else, drop some pounds (10 lbs by May,) and get back to eating healthy after the holidays. 

The last one has been easy - mostly because I normally eat healthy and I actually really like eating healthy. Also, I’ve reached my wall of Enough, when it comes to big dinners and Christmas cookies multiple times a day. OK, that last part was only the last two weeks of December :)  

I’m craving healthy meals - I’ve been snacking on veggies for the past few weeks and more so than usual. Organic Rainbow Carrots have become a staples in my house for almost a year. 

Also: Give them a try because they are fabulous! 

And btw, I’m not the only one who thinks they are fab - so does Time Mag. 

And I believe the same thing will happen with mini Persian Cucumbers - which have less seeds and more flavor and crunch - also they are hydrating.  Also since November I’ve been digging Green Giant’s riced veggies.

All of the above make it easier to eat healthy - but more on veggies and healthy eating in another post. 

Embracing Change: After my last a1c, I had a talk with my Endo and agreed give Dexcom a try - and I’ll be starting on it soon - like very soon. 

I have mixed feelings about it - being attached to something else - sharing my info with loved ones … or not, embracing something different.  

But my Dr. and I agreed that Dex doesn’t have to be a full time and or permanent thing. 

We need to work on getting my a1c in a better spot and he feels dexcom will help us  troubleshoot. So I'm trying it for 3 months and taking it from there - and I will share my experience with you guys. 

And I will also ask your for advice an support because you guys ROCK - so thanks in advance!