Hey everyone, so last Thursday I went out of town for the weekend. So as usual I packed my suitcase and my pouch with all the supplies needed glucagon, extra dexcom g6 sensor alcohol swaps you name it.
Friday my sensor kept giving me errors and all the beeping is really annoying to me and my friends. So I decided to replace the sensor with the spare I brought.
After placing the sensor I pressed start new sensor like I always do. 5 minutes in again sensor error ugh. 15 minutes later the error went to sensor failure.
I freaked out at that point no pharmacy nearby and no extra sensor back to poking fingerpricks. So I removed the sensor like always slowly and carefully but no wire to be found I double checked the sensor and I even opened up the applicator to see if it got stuck in there. But no no wire to be found.
My arm did hurt and I had the feeling that the wire was under my skin. I came home Sunday night and I directly placed an sensor on. Called dexcom and they are shipping 2 new sensors but about the missing wire they didnāt seem to be to concerned. On Monday morning I called my doctor and explained to her the situation and I was able to come in and get X-rays taken I asked the radiologist if I could see the pictures I seen that there was something there so the doctor came in and said she didnāt see anything. I questioned her answer by I think I seen something on the X-rays so she tried to open it up on her laptop but the program wasnāt working so we walked to the big screen TV and I asked her what that hairline was and she said that it was a scratch on the X-ray so I asked her to open the second picture and there was the hairline again but from an other angle she said it is 1 inch long and that canāt be it. I pulled up an x-ray picture of the g5 wire up from Google and it was the same thing. She was stunned by the results and was wondering why itās on the inside of my arm. THE SENSOR WIRE MIGRATED. Now I need to get an urgent surgery on Thursday to get it removed before it migrating to other places in my body (heart lungs brain ect.
I called dexcom to report this issue and they are making up a medical report and someone is going to call me back to let me know how to go further.
I have insurance but I already paid 30$ copay for this visit and Thursday I have to pay another 40 dollars for the surgery. I hope dexcom is reimburse me for this inconvenience. But I doubt that I even wonder if it will be reported to the FDA.
Iāll keep you guys updated
And to those out here always check the sensor and that the wire is out.if you have any doubts see your doctor!
Really seems like Dexcom is having more hardware QC issues of late, maybe having to do with ramping up G6 production to supply to the Medicare market. Iāve now had two insertion fails in the last 6 weeks or so, after never having a single one since I started using Dexcom CGMs 5-odd years ago. One was similar to yours, in that it involved the filament not behaving correctly on insertion. In my case it inserted but the whole transmitter ātrayā wouldnāt detach from the inserter, so I had to yank everything out. Fortunately the filament came out with rest, but Iāve read that sometimes it can get left behind as you experienced. Yuck. Iād be surprised if your insurance co. doesnāt expect the whole procedure to be covered by Dexcom. Theyāre usually pretty determined about that kind of thing when thereās an injury thatās the fault of a third party.
Havenāt spoken with the insurance company yet because if they decide to not pay out then Iāll be screwed lol so Iāll see what dexcom is doing first.
I mean last Time I had a foreign object in my body they called me to ask what happened and if it was work related . But that was just a splinter that broke off under my skin haha. Dexcom medical team supposed to call me but so far no call yet.
Hmmmm, what makes this kind of murky in my mind is that I donāt believe in this particular case the sensor was applied in an approved Dexcom location (see op quote :āMy arm did hurtā) unless the unapproved applied location had been specified by the doctor in advance of this incident. It will be interesting to hear end result.
Itās in my arm on doctorās advise because thereās no fat on me lol. And I did try it out but had bad readings on my stomach. Dexcom is one with it being on other locations as long you have good readings. The only thing they have is that dexcom is FDA approved for the belly and buttocks and with kids the arms. Itās just that they didnāt want to make the effort to get that side approved. Still a wire that is getting loose during the insert is always bad weather it is in the arm or butt lol
But if their lawyers get freaked out about it, they could use that argument. Is use other than abdomen for adults in their user instructions or company documentation somewhere? If it is, they own it.
Could be correct of course, IANAL, but my thought is that the insurer would be the entity making the case for reimbursement not the patient. At least thatās how it has been for me when Iāve been injured due to another partyās negligence (both auto accidents where the other person was 100% at fault). I never had to be involved; it was all the insurance companies talking to each other. Of course this isnāt an auto accident, but itās also pretty worrying for Dexcom from a marketing/PR standpoint (not to mention medical). Plus I think itās a āknown problemā for themāI encountered a warning about it when my stuck-inserter incident occurred. Anyway, hope @Robr doesnāt end up out-of-pocket for it; he really shouldnāt.
@DrBB haha sorry to I aināt gonna pay anything lol. No itās not my fault and I think that dexcom has a failure rate calculated in. Unfortunately itās me this time.
I think itās fair to say that out of the 1million sensors 1 or 2 can fail like this and itās oke Iām not to worries about it itās just that Iām making costs to get it removed. And I wonder whoās going to pay for this me my insurance or dexcom.
My daughter may have 2 sensor wires still in her right arm. Theyāre from the 7+, which was known for broken sensors for a while. (The children with diabetes forums had quite a few posts from worried parents trying to decide how to treat them. IIRC, FDA sent a letter to Dexcom about the issue.) Iām not sure if theyāre still in the same place or have migrated. 4 years ago when she had X-rays for a broken arm, they were still in the original locations. Itās also possible they worked their way out on their own. Sheās not had any pain from them. She had a 3rd one that worked its way to the surface after a week or so. I removed it with tweezers. After comparing notes, we all decided there was less chance of a break if you remove the sensor at the same angle itās inserted. My daughter had a habit of just pulling the tape edge that was easiest. She started pulling from the bottom & we havenāt had another broken one since. She does examine the wire after removal each time.
ETA: I never thought about insurance refusing to pay for the visits, but there was no surgery involved either. They paid the office visits with no issues.
Google broken Dexcom sensor wire & youāll find a 2 yr follow-up on kids with broken wires left in the skin. Iād post the link but Iām apparently no longer allowed.
Iām not sure what explains this glitch but Iāve read a few other members make this same complaint. Iāve flagged your comment so that the moderators are aware of it.
Hello @tiaE, can you please try it now? We made some changes on the backend the last couple of weeks while we were dealing with some trolls. YOu should be able to post it now!
I recently had a G6 inserter fail to āreleaseā the sensor, and no matter how many ways I tried, the only solution was just to pull the whole thing off and insert a new one.
I changed my sensor this morning and the sensor wire didnāt pull out completely with the transmitter holder. The sensor wire was partially protruding from my skin so I was easily able to pull it out. I always use my abdomen and this is the first time Iāve seen it. There was a bit of dried blood at the injection site, but Iāve seen that many times.
This particular lot of sensors was manufactured in June last year. Not sure whatās going on at Dexcom, but I donāt think itās a recent manufacturing issue caused by Medicare demand.
Same for me. Someone on FB says whack the inserter with a wooden spoon and that causes it to release. Well, maybe next time. Hopefully there wonāt BE a next time though.
. But that was just a splinter that broke off under my skin haha. Dexcom medical team supposed to call me but so far no call yet.