New Guy

1

Hey folks. I've been getting a bit ahead of myself -- adding to threads before I have made a proper intro of myself out here. Sorry about that...

Since I originally logged in here at TUD with my fB account you know my name (:wave:). I'm a Type 1, dx'ed just over 30 years ago with late onset IDDM (1.15.82 at Scripps Clinic in La Jolla when I was 23). I've been on MDI since day one (currently shooting Lantus and Humalog/Novolog), and I recently got a Dexcom Seven Plus CGM which has already opened my eyes to all sorts of things going on inside me. It's a very cool little device, and I am learning a lot from all the folks here in the Dexcom Users group. Thanks for all the info! Hopefully I can add to the mix.

I saw my endo this past Tuesday and my A1c was at 6.7, which is just fine. Anything below 7 is good to me (I've always hovered right around 7). My blood pressure has gone up a wee bit over the past year (first time I think it has ever moved on me), so that may turn into a concern, but I am doing well on all other fronts. I am lucky, considering some of the things I have read here that some folks are dealing with.

I've always been concerned with the amount of medical waste I could generate being diabetic. After reading an article in Diabetes Forecast in the mid '80s about a field hospital in Africa where they were very short on supplies and were using a single hypodermic point per patient for up to 30 days and had never had a single infection in the 10s of 1000s of injections they had administered, I now use a single point for each of my insulins for up to three weeks (I kind of lose track using them so long, but my average is at least 20 days or so). That might alarm some of you, but I am quite used to it, and my endo is quite fine with it. I swap points once they become uncomfortable to use any longer.

I'm a Systems Administrator for Disney Animation in Burbank, CA, but am also an avid mountain biker and semi-pro photographer (my site is at mmcphoto.com, such as it is -- it has only a home page as I figure any prospective client would be able to see what I can do with a DSLR from that one shot there). I do a lot of solo riding in the mountains where I live, so the Dexcom is really helping out on that front to let me know how I am doing, especially the trending. Last thing I wanna do is bonk out in the hills when I am by myself, and the Dex is really helping with that.

So, enough for one message. I look forward to participating as I can.

Best,

/\/\

2

Welcome to the club. This group is very inforamtional with lots of active users.
hope u enjoy pumping..

3

Welcome. You are hardly a newbie. There are others here who just have stayed with syringes. Some think they are just less painful. I'm not sure I'd reuse them, but your doctor seems fine, so whatever.

There is an active Dexcom group and if you really get into it, there is also a Flatliners group.

I do look forward to your contributions.

4

Nice to meet you too! I like biking but mostly on streets/ limestone trails, nothing too wild.

I totally agree with you on the syringes. I had 2, duct tape to mark the R one and an N one and would just use them until the paint wore off and I couldn't read the numbers any more. I have a pump now and the amount of garbage that comes with them is truly astonishing...

5

Hey thanks for the replies folks.

acidrock23-- I gotta be on the trails! Self-portrait I did a while back on a trail just a few miles from me called 'Gaspipe':


It's a burly descent..

I should have said that I use my points until they hurt OR until the numbers rub off!! Ha. Too funny. Yeah, that happens sometimes.

Thanks for the welcomes.

/\/\

6

woah, that is definitely burly! My in-laws live in Carlsbad and I run out there when we visit but the highest point in Illinois is like 2300 ft so there's not a lot of geography like that here!