Sometimes things don’t work!

It’s never boring in the life of a type one diabetic!

It was time for Payton to change her Dexcom. What should have been a quick sensor change turned into a much larger event. It would appear that we have a bad transmitter. We have done everything suggested by Dexcom and it still just will not work. Sometimes this happens. Sometimes things just don’t work the way they should. It’s frustrating because it is your child’s life. Without the CGM readings my poor baby will be doing finger sticks at school all day. Her pump will have to be in manual mode because it won’t be getting glucose readings. There is no telling what her sugar will look like over the next few days/week. We’ve had to go back to waking up at 2 AM to make sure she’s not low or too high. We are back to constantly asking her how she feels. I’ve always wanted a service dog for this exact reason! Unfortunately they are super expensive and not all insurance will cover them. So when we have a week of this stuff, we just pray it all works out. We become helicopter parents.

What to do when your Dexcom fails you?

Call Dexcom!

Dexcom is pretty good about replacing the sensors when they are bad. They can be a little harder to deal with when it comes to the transmitters.

Unfortunately the G6 is two separate parts. Insurance will only allow one transmitter at a time because it should last 3 months. It is also more expensive upfront because it covers three months. Big Pharma, am I right? So, if you get a bad transmitter you’re stuck in limbo because insurance doesn’t cover spares. Dexcom will send you a new one but it will not be without headache. You will having to send the old one back to them (at their expense thankfully).

I can not wait for Payton to be on the new G7! I won’t have to worry about the transmitter problems anymore. It will all be in one device! If it doesn’t work that’s fine. We will just change it and call Dexcom for a new one. No more missed days! I’m also really excited about the countdown window. We won’t even have a 2 hour waiting gap after installing a new one anymore! Okay, so she will have two on at one time creating an overlap for about 2 hours… BIG WHOOP! It’s better than the guessing game for two hours! She’s excited about it too!

So anyways, I just wanted to let everyone one know how things are going for us. To also encourage you that you’re not alone. We all go through it. It isn’t fun. It’s not always convenient. Just take it one day at a time and You’ll be stronger for it! We all will!

I look at Payton all the time and think, “She is so strong!”. Sure I get frustrated with her. She’s a 12 year old girl! But what she deals with everyday on top of everything else is just amazing to me. She works hard at school and makes good grades despite her having to leave the classroom here and there. She plays sports and never gives up. She is not fond of change and will fight you on it. But honestly, I don’t love change either! If I couldn’t control anything in my life, I would probably have a breakdown or two as well. I try really hard to have grace, patience, and understanding with her.

If you guys have any questions, comments, or maybe you have some helpful advice for other type one families out there please feel free to reach out! Also feel free to leave a comment below, it just might help another reader!

Thank you guys for continuing along with us on this journey we call life!

Brittany