Kyle and I decided to go ahead and order the continuous glucose monitoring system (CGMS) from Medtronic. After a nearly 6-month process, our insurance company finally sent word that it approved the CGMS as a “medical necessity,” which means that the $1000 purchase will count towards our $2500 deductible. Score!

We knew we would reach that deductible in less than 3 months with the staggering cost of my pump supplies, test strips and insulin so it was money we would be spending anyway. We had already succumbed to the reality that we would have to put the $2500 on a credit card, so it made sense to bite the bullet.

Once the trainer comes and hooks me up, I’ll be the proud, slap-happy, “interstitial blood-glucose level” aware wearer of this:

(A is the insulin pump and where the blood glucose readings and graph will be displayed, B is the infusion set and tubing where the insulin is secreted into the bloodstream, C is the glucose sensor that is inserted under the skin, and D is the transmitter that sends the readings to the pump…pretty cool technology, huh? I already wear A and B, so C and D will be the new additions.)

It’s no secret that I have desperately longed for this little piece of gadgetry that will give me a real-time report on what direction my blood sugar is headed in. I’ve wanted the CGMS since I was lucky enough to wear it during the Cleveland half marathon last year. I didn’t care that it left a bruised, bleeding mess on my belly that took about 2 weeks to completely heal. I didn’t care that it made my pump’s alarms beep incessantly. I didn’t mind that I still had to use finger-sticks, even though there was a sensor attached to my stomach. I wasn’t using it for the number it showed on the screen…I was using it to predict where my sugars were going, and to see what would keep them in a nice straight line (the goal of any person living with diabetes). The highs and lows of this disease drastically affect your mood, which in turn affects your patience-level, which is something a stay-at-home-mama desperately needs to get through her day without having her head pop off before noon. The CGMS will hopefully help keep my head firmly in place…good news for Kyle and the kids.

As a runner, the CGMS could drastically improve my performance if I can learn to use it to predict how speed, nutrition and distance affect my blood sugar.  It will be most beneficial as I train with the system and see the data and trends over time, which will allow me to set out on race day with an arsenal of information at my disposal, and a deeper understanding of how running affects diabetes and vice versa .

As a mama, the CGMS could be our ticket to much more enjoyable and uninterrupted outings. Hopefully, I won’t have to force the kids to stop playing in the splash park and come over to the bench while I test and treat a low blood sugar, as they whine and complain and fume with envy watching the other children play happily, wondering how they got stuck with the mom who has diabetes. If it works correctly, I will be alerted ahead of time that my blood sugar is plummeting and I can adjust my basal rate so that the aforementioned scenario will be avoided altogether. The kids get to stay in the water and I get to avoid the looks of other moms wondering why a grown woman pulled her kids from the fun so she can scarf down a juice box in front of them, and all will be happy in the world…well, at least in our little world because we all know that a CGMS can’t help with global warming, world hunger, our nation’s healthcare crisis, rising fuel costs and failing economy…