Good to know. We’re going on a cruise to Alaska at the beginning of August, and I hope we are up to speed on the pump by then. I’m a little nervous about doing something new so close to a big trip. Then again, there’s always something “big” around the corner, so we might as well just jump in and do it.
We’ve been logging everything for 8 months and the doc has approved us for the pump - waiting for it to ship as we speak.
Thanks for chiming in!
Unfortunately it is something we have to do! And I have the added bonus of being numerically dyslexic! I hate it with a passion! Worse than the diabetes itself. Logging and daily notes is the only way for the medics to see what has been going on and see if there is a pattern to his ups and downs! Better that he gets into the habit NOW, earlier rather than later. I was diagnosed at the grand old age of 37 and have been struggling with it a long time!
I have just got a meter that is supposed to download information - but I am darned if I can work it out! Cannot get it to download. Grrrrrrr.
I assume he has access to a computer? If he has a smartphone, there are lots of applications he can use to log. Might be much more ‘fun’ than pencil and paper.
I see your point, but other than downloading his meter when he goes to the endo, no one looks at the data. His meter has a memory, so why do we need the redundancy of writing it in a notebook? When he gets his pump, won’t it have an exact duplicate of everything he would be logging anyway?
Good luck with that meter download - I am a numbers person, so I think all the graphs and trends you can create from the meter are pretty cool.
I’ve been diabetic since I was a little kid (almost 20 years), and I’ve almost never logged. When my doctors wanted me to log, I would just go through my meter’s memory 10 minutes before my doctor appointment and write down whatever numbers my meter said. That said, even when I did log (I went through a period a year or so ago where I felt super-ambitious and was writing everything down), I never felt that logging was too useful, because I generally remember all my sugars and know what caused what episode. In fact, the alst time I saw my CDE, she told me logging was pretty much pointless, because meters keep track of all of that information.
However, if you feel that logging is of benefit to you/your son, then I think you should do it. If you think it’s a waste of time, then don’t do it. Just because it works for some people does not mean it will work for you. (And I think that’s true of most things relating to diabetes.)
You can download your meter to Carelink as long as it’s one of the supported meters. My problem with downloading meters is that some of the meter cables aren’t compatible with Windows 7. So I had to use an old Windows xp laptop to download my meters. But once downloaded, the meter results integrated well with Carelink.
I have the Revel which defaults to no calibration for CGMS and therefore all of my Minilink readings end up in Carelink. I actually bought a second Minilink meter because I always use two meters. Now I never have to worry about downloading any other meters to Carelink. Works great.
Update: My son had his quarterly endo visit today, so I asked about logging. We actually saw the PA today rather than the endo and she said that, like everything with diabetes, the answer depends on who you ask (our endo might have given a different answer). Her opinion was that logging is useful when you are having problems, but, for the most part, we can depend on the meter and soon the pump to collect our data. She suggested downloading twice a week and reviewing it. If I have questions or notice that he’s not testing when he should or if I notice numbers that are out of whack, discuss them after those twice weekly downloads rather than making them constant topics of conversation. She did not see a need to continue with a written log unless we felt it helpful or if we were having an issue we were trying to figure out. For now, I’m going to leave the log book on the counter, but I’m not going to bug him about it when I see blank spots. He keeps his meter on the counter, so I can always take a peek when I’m curious. Once he gets the pump, I should also be able to see his carb & bolus amounts.
As a side note, his a1c went from 6.1 at his last visit to 5.8 at this one. Maybe adding the pump will help him get it down even a bit more.
Thanks to all of you for providing your input on the logging.
Wow, whatever he is doing its working because 5.8 is great! (so is 6.1 for that matter)
Keep up the good work
shh…don’t tell anyone but, I do not log. my cgm and pump keeps track of my bgs and how many carbs I ate and how much insulin I took. I do not think logging is a “bad” thing per say but, it can become tedious. When ill or looking for trends or when you suspect something is wrong, download the meter/pump and see. Also, (I’m not sure how old your son is) if you have a smart phone in the household, there are apps you can use for logging. If you feel you have to log, this MAY make it “funner”. Good luck!