Ok started last wednesday with this dexacom on my 8 yr old son. If it could go wrong its happened. A sensor ripped off at the county fair by seatbelt of a ride. Hit a blood vessel. And just replaced it twice since our wednesday training two sensors have failed in two days. Is this a bad batch?? Getting very discouraged here and so is my son.
Kim
First of all, congratulations on the Dexcom! Once you get the glitches sortted out you’ll love it.
Second… call Dexcom and they’ll replace the failed sensors. Their customer service is fabulous.
Check out Bill’s video on inserting a Dexcom Sensor. He has more videoson his site that might be helpful as well.
I don’t know where you’re inserting the sensor, but experiment with various sites. Make sure it’s at least 3" from the pump site if he uses a pump.
Sorry you’re having such a hard time… hang in there, it’s worth it!
Things like this will happen from time to time. As far as bad sensors save your packages when you insert them and when one goes bad give Dexcom a call they are really helpful with bad sensors and send replacements if that is truly the case.
I ripped one out one time and didn’t have it in long enough to calibrate. I have had about 3-4 bad sensors since Dec of 2010.
Don’t get discouraged it is a great tool. I have dropped my A1C by 2 points since Dec.
Though it does cost a lot of money to keep going it, it is well worth every penny.
Thank you all for replying. We are on our fourth sensor in a week and a half. Between 2 failed sensors, hitting a blood vessel and one getting ripped off…we are trying to hang on. I now have the new sensor on his stomache and I hope this one works out. I dont know what I’d do without you guys support. Your all I have to keep me going. Thanks again.
I’ve hit a blood vessel a couple of times. Once, i knew I hit a blood vessel because I could see blood, but it didn’t hurt so I left it in and it worked just fine. The other time, I knew I hit a blood vessel because it hurt and never stopped hurting, so I took it out. My advice would be if you hit a vessel and it doesn’t hurt, leave it in and see if you can get it to calibrate properly. If you hit one and it does hurt, just take it out and start over. Also, if you’re having problems getting it to stick to your son’s skin, there are things out there you can use to help (skin-tac, I think?), but you’ll have to see if someone else on this site can help with that, as I’ve never had any experience using them. Hang in there, it is SO worth it once you figure it all out!
ugh! Sorry to hear you are having a bad first impression. I was very spectical when first using the dexcom but now I think it is more important than the pump… it should get better! Good Luck.