This has to get easier!

A bumpy start to the new CGM.

On Monday, it was time to change the sensor. We decided to remove the old one in the morning, and rather than having the nurse have to do the first two calibrations (one after 1hour and one after 2 hours), we would put the new sensor on that evening.

So, in the morning we go to remove the old sensor. WOW - Gracie was in tears. It hurt so bad to tear that thing off. That's something they didn't tell us or give us any guidance on. It was not just like ripping off a band-aid. This baby was stuck on there good. VERY bad experience. So, it was good that we decided to wait. There is no way she would have let us insert a new one.

After school/work, we decided 7:00 would be the best time for calibrations, dinner, snack, shower, etc., etc . This was when everything went downhill - again! We got everything out on the table and ready to go. I started to talk to Grace about the new sensor and she (understandably) started to freak out. Running away, crying, saying NO NO NO. In the last 3 years since her diagnoses, she has (maybe) done this one or two other times. She has never literally run away. By now, I am trying to hold it together. I was willingly causing this my mental trauma in her life. But, I continue to calm her down & help her remember that it was taking it off that hurt so bad. Not putting it on. I promised her that I would look into & order some adhesive remover. I knew it had to exist, I had heard about it somewhere in my pump research. So, after some time, Grace was calmed down and she agreed to give it another chance. Great - here we go.

Mom & Dad: Wait, isn't there another piece that goes with this? I don't know. I can't remember. Yeah, look in the book, we're missing this piece. What piece? Oh the transmitter. Yes - it says right here in the manual in bold caps letters. Be sure NOT to throw away the transmitter. Yep - we threw it away & guess what else? It was trash day. It was definitely gone. Well Grace, no monitor tonight. Grace to bed, mom in tears, dad distraught. What a night. On to Tuesday . . .
I called the nurse to let her know we have no idea what we are doing and after a trip to the hospital, I was able to get a new transmittor. No more replacements allowed, so hope these things don't usually go bad.

Tuesday night: NO, NO, NO. I do not want it on my arm, my leg, my belly OR my bum. Why are we doing this? Moving forward a little bit-->everyone is now calm. Here we go with the insertion. Good, not so bad, done. Or are we? The actual sensor was pulled away from the "sled". We really do not know what we are doing. So, we put the transmitor on and pray for a connection. 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes - error. No connection. The meter read "remove sensor and replace with a new one". So, off came the sled with more tears. This was on good because we used the extra stick glue to keep it in place.

OK, so we are thinking now what. Grace never wants to do it again, Dad is so upset to watch his little girl hurt and I am all over the place with my feelings: Why does it have to hurt, why can't it be easier, why did we not do the insertion right the first time, how are we going to continue with the study, why? why? why? why? So, we take a break and think about nighttime snack, reading our princess stories and we chill.

An hour later, I start talking about trying one more time. Another amazing act by my little girl, she lets me go for it. Everything went smooth as far as the connection, but wow there sure was a lot of blood. I don't know if the tranmittor will work. We gave it a try an NO LUCK. Well, I wasn't about to tell Grace this, so we went about our routine and she hopped in the shower. The transmittor fell off while she was in there & I told her to really soak the location of the sensor. I even used extra soapy suds to try to get under the tape. I was just going to leave it on her arm hoping the tape would peel off until our adhesive remover shows up in the mail. Again, moving forward --> Right before bed we checked it out & the bleeding seemed to stop & the shower cleaned the whole area. Why not? Lets reattached the transmittor & see what happens. wait, wait, wait - beep, beep the monitor read "was a new sensor inserted?" YES YES YES. It seems to be working. Then we had to wait an hour for the first calibration to see if we were back in action. Sweet Dreams baby girl. I tell Grace "just so you know I will be doing a couple sugar tests while your sleeping." It seems to help if I let her know ahead of time, she doesn't pull away after the finger prick as much. 9:15 calibration brings flowers to the monitor which means it is reading data. YEAH!!! The 10:15 calibratin works too. Yeah baby! This has to get easier. I know it will be great information in trying to manage Gracies diabetes. So, after this really long winded blog, I am done with my rant.

Until the next insertion:)