[Diabetes-Talk] My first experience with the Dexcom G6.

Tue Jul 3 12:59:23 UTC 2018

Diabetes Talk Representative,

My name is Andy Langbart and I am an NFB Member who is also looking into 
getting a job as a health coach.

I would love if someone could contact me to let me know how I can become 
more involved with the "Diabetes Talk" section of the NFB.

My contact info is:

  * langbarta at gmail.com
  * My cell number is: 516-708-6771

Feel free to call, text, or email me at any time.

Thank you very much and I hope to hear from you very soon.
Andy Langbart

On 7/2/2018 6:56 PM, Veronica Elsea via Diabetes-Talk wrote:
> Hi again!
> Okay, my curiosity got the better of me this afternoon and I went into the
> calibration area on the app. Wow is it better than the G5. It pops up with
> the usual edit box and there is a save button at the top of the screen. Then
> it comes up and says, confirm and it repeats the number you entered and you
> have a confirm button. None of the stupid ghost save cancel stuff. So far
> I'm really liking the G6 app a lot. Well, other than that first sign in
> page.
> I will keep all of you updated on how it behaves. I haven't been swimming
> yet but it's survived fine through one shower. <grin>
> Veronica
>
>
> "Guide Dogs, First Hand", Veronica Elsea's classic album is now available on
> iTunes, along with other music from her and from the Guide Dog Glee Club.
> To learn more, visit:
> http://www.laurelcreekmusic.com
>                  Veronica Elsea, Owner
> Laurel Creek Music Designs
> Santa Cruz, California
> Phone: 831-429-6407
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Diabetes-Talk [mailto:diabetes-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
> Eileen Scrivani via Diabetes-Talk
> Sent: Monday, July 02, 2018 10:27 AM
> To: Diabetes Talk for the Blind
> Cc: Eileen Scrivani
> Subject: Re: [Diabetes-Talk] My first experience with the Dexcom G6.
>
> Hi Veronica,
>
> Very interesting to read about how you made out with and your experience
> with operating the new G6 CGM. Thanks for taking time to write this up.
>
> Eileen
>
> From: Veronica Elsea via Diabetes-Talk
> Sent: Monday, July 2, 2018 1:00 PM
> To: 'Diabetes Talk for the Blind'
> Cc: Veronica Elsea
> Subject: [Diabetes-Talk] My first experience with the Dexcom G6.
>
> Hi everyone!
> Oh boy! What a day it turned out to be.
> First, the general process. When everything works, it's easy. But man the
> inserter is big! It feels like a computer mouse shape but there's like this
> big horn sticking up. Beats me why. But the tape part is really easy. It's
> on a flat bottom and when you peel off the backing, you get to just peel
> straight and slap a flat thing on your body. No more wrinkled tape. Yay!
> Once you stick it to your body. You break off a little piece from the
> inserter, quite obvious, then push an obvious button. You hear a really big
> clunk and then the giant mouse just pulls away. What you're left with is
> thinner than the G5 sensor, but maybe a tiny bit longer. The transmitter
> feels totally different from the G5 one. You just snap it into the sensor.
> That's the hardware.
> You do have to get a new app, called Dexcom G6. The first thing that happens
> in the app is that you have to enter your account information. I have to
> say, the user name password screen was a mess for me. I eventually figured
> out that I came up in the password field but I don't think those edit boxes
> were properly labeled or something. Once past that, the app behaved quite
> nicely.
> The app does automatically import the settings from the G5 app, which was
> nice. Before you pair the transmitter, you get to enter the famous code for
> the sensor. The sensor comes in a hard plastic package with paper that you
> peel off to open it. If you set the package down so it's resting on the
> paper, you can use Seeing AI or a sighted person to read the code through
> the plastic. When the sensor is out of the package, in theory you can tell
> the app to take a photo and get the number that way. I had a lot of trouble
> doing this because the target area is really really small. I couldn't seem
> to line things up and the thing kept timing out on me. So I ended up
> entering the number manually. I did get the transmitter to scan with the
> camera though. Well, the first time I did it. <grin>
> After the sensor is inserted, you have a start sensor button. The cool thing
> is that it now tells you how much time you have left in the warm up phase.
> Then when it finishes the two-hour warm up, you get a notification that it's
> done, you hit an okay button and off you go.
> The app screen looks a little different than the G5. No more menu. You just
> have a settings button right there. So far I haven't run into any unlabeled
> buttons.
> And now for my reality. When I inserted my sensor, umm, the button didn't go
> down and the inserter jammed. So there I was, sitting with this giant thing
> sticking out from my belly wondering what to do. I tried to call Dexcom but
> their phone lines were overloaded. So I forced it off and busted the sensor.
> I had to pull it off and start over. That was fun in the app because it was
> sitting on "pairing transmitter" and the only way I got it to give that up
> was to fool it into thinking I was going to pair a new one. On the second
> try, I was more frazzled and had more trouble getting the camera lined up on
> the transmitter box. So I got the number off the back and entered it
> manually. Sheesh! The second sensor behaved well and inserted easily, as it
> was supposed to do.
> At the end of the warm up time, it started and I decided to see how it
> compared to a finger stick. Oops! My meter said 240 and the Dexcom said 179.
> Not even close! The short version is that it seemed like it took the sensor
> about 4 hours to completely sort itself out in my body. By this morning, the
> difference between the meter and my Dexcom is only 9 per cent. I ended up
> spending a total of 2 hours on the phone with Dexcom and they're replacing
> my first sensor. Good thing since I only got three. If the number had been
> off this morning, we would have replaced this one too but it seems okay now.
>
> I did learn one interesting thing during all my phone time though. If you
> call tech support and tell them you're blind, they'll send you tape
> overlays, with the hole in the middle already cut out that can go over the
> main tape to help hold it on. These are not commercially available so you
> have to ask tech support for them.
> I haven't yet gone into the calibration screen to see what that looks like
> yet. The receiver is a bit bigger than the one for the G5. It has one button
> that feels like a home button on our phones. It definitely comes with a wall
> wart so probably needs charging. I haven't actually tried to play with mine
> yet because yesterday was so taken up with getting started. And in the midst
> of all of that, I had to change a pod too.
> But the tech support people were really good and told me that these kinds of
> problems were definitely not their intent. Duh! And I've already heard the
> urgent soon alarm. It's more annoying than the actual urgent low! It seems
> to hit when I'm in the sixties. It says urgent low soon. You may be at 55
> within 20 minutes. So I'll see if it makes any difference for me.
> But I sure hope my start was just a fluke. The sensor is comfortable to wear
> and I'll let you know how the tape holds out.
> I'll probably do the occasional finger stick just so I can decide whether or
> not I completely trust this for dosing decisions. Stay tuned.
> Veronica
>
>
> "Guide Dogs, First Hand", Veronica Elsea's classic album is now available on
> iTunes, along with other music from her and from the Guide Dog Glee Club.
> To learn more, visit:
> http://www.laurelcreekmusic.com
>                  Veronica Elsea, Owner
> Laurel Creek Music Designs
> Santa Cruz, California
> Phone: 831-429-6407
>
>
>
>
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