{"id":8780,"date":"2010-07-09T10:45:49","date_gmt":"2010-07-09T14:45:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=8780"},"modified":"2015-12-27T15:46:38","modified_gmt":"2015-12-27T20:46:38","slug":"an-appeal-to-its-mercy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=8780","title":{"rendered":"An Appeal to Its Mercy"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>I should have known.<\/p>\n

I should have known when I launched the Minimed Minilink Continuous Glucose Monitor’s javelin-sized sensor at my abdomen, and it stopped halfway in.<\/p>\n

I should have known when I tried to push it in that last half-inch, and I let out an involuntary whimper of pain as it refused.<\/p>\n

I should have known when I felt the resistance of some member of my anatomical self crying out against my increasingly teary-eyed attempts to get that villainous sensor in there.<\/p>\n

I should have known when I had to give up on that last sixteenth of an inch. And I should have known when I removed the needle to leave the sensor behind and saw large beads of blood forming around the sensor.<\/p>\n

And when, in the morning, I saw that the sensor entry point had bled in the night, trapping a brown, gunky residue under its plastic sheath, I should have known.<\/p>\n

I should have known the sensor would fail me, would lie to me, would lead me astray. But I left it, I tried to force it to work, so that I wouldn’t have to start again and punch another painful hole in my stomach.<\/p>\n

And I should have known that morning when the reported glucose measurements jumped around erratically– 99 to 106 to 92 to 105. Or the first time I was 140 and the CGM kept reading in the low hundreds.<\/p>\n

But I persisted; I kept trying, and hoping it would catch on, get into its groove.<\/p>\n

But it didn’t. And that night I was 171, with the CGM still reading 104. So I gave in. And I pulled the deceitful sensor out, then went running, hand-on-tummy, to stop the sudden flow of blood from reaching my white pants.<\/p>\n

Jerk. I trusted you. I tried. And you just couldn’t make it.<\/p>\n

And I replace the sensor, breathing deeply as I press the inserter’s button, crying out again as it goes in, appealing to my husband for sympathy.<\/p>\n

And I think of all the DexCom people out there, tsk-tsking, saying, “Our sensor is a charmer. A sweetheart.”<\/p>\n

And I begin to do the cost-benefit analysisL Minimed pump\/CGM integration minus the pain of the evil sensor minus reliability plus inertia plus the promise of a new, easier-to-use, second-generation sensor on its way. I of course won’t go CGM-less; but DexCom? How much better are the sensors, really?<\/p>\n

And I sigh. Stupid abdomen. Stupid Medtronic Minimed torpedo sensor. I hate you. I hate you I hate you I hate you I love you. I hate you.<\/p>\n

Please just love me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":53098,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1501],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nAn Appeal to Its Mercy: Making the Minimed CGM Work<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I should have known when I launched the Minimed Minilink Continuous Glucose Monitor's javelin-sized sensor at my abdomen, and it stopped halfway in.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=8780\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Karmel Allison\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=8780\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=8780\",\"name\":\"An Appeal to Its Mercy: Making the Minimed CGM Work\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=8780#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=8780#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ASL-Social-Big-Square-3.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2010-07-09T14:45:49+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-12-27T20:46:38+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/f5fcddf5f602b824791c194a1ab8d4d3\"},\"description\":\"I should have known when I launched the Minimed Minilink Continuous Glucose Monitor's javelin-sized sensor at my abdomen, and it stopped halfway in.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=8780#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=8780\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=8780#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ASL-Social-Big-Square-3.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ASL-Social-Big-Square-3.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":1280},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=8780#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"An Appeal to Its Mercy\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/\",\"name\":\"ASweetLife\",\"description\":\"The Diabetes Magazine\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/f5fcddf5f602b824791c194a1ab8d4d3\",\"name\":\"Karmel Allison\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/64faa2c004e005a70478b823e766a419?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/64faa2c004e005a70478b823e766a419?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Karmel Allison\"},\"description\":\"Karmel was born in Southern California, diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes at the age of nine, and educated at UC Berkeley. 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