Sensor stuck in abdomen

Please tell me someone has done this with a quick remedy.

Iinserted the sensor, pushed the needle down, FORGOT to pull it back and took needle out. Then ripped the tape off when I realized I messed up, and NO sensorr. It was left in stomach. Dexcom said to relax and it will work itself out.

Can I relax?

Please advise.

thanks

Lisa

I’m not sure I understand… if you pulled out the needle… and took off the tape… what is left in your stomach??

the sensor. she pulled the tape off when she realized she messed up and said the sensor wasn’t connected to the tape…so it’s left in her body.
that would freak me out!! But i’m glad the dex people didn’t seem worried, like it happens all the time or something! yikes!

From what I know about diabetes and the physiology that I took this summer (no official medical training!):

Your body will recognize that you have a foreign object in it. It will slowly push the object out and you will wear the topical layers of skin off.

Think of it like getting glass caught in a cut. Sometimes it take a week or more. I had a roommate in college who got glass in her knee. It took 6wks to get all of it out (and she was not diabetic).

My concern would be if you start noticing redness or tenderness around the area. At that point, I would go see a doctor to see if it was a skin/puncture wound infection. If not, give your body a chance.

BTW, cute cats! :slight_smile:

Did Dexcom ask you any more questions? Dexcom has had this problem for awhile now and has been warned by the FDA that they need to report these instances as adverse events involving their medical device. If they did not interview you at the time you called, I suggest that you call again and remind them of their obligation to report to FDA-this makes all of us safer. I believe that FDA also told them to advise you to see your physician about the event, but I’m not positive about that. I’ll try to post a link to the warning letter below. Hope it shows up, because it did not when I first pressed ‘save’ under my reply. http://www.fda.gov/ICECI/EnforcementActions/WarningLetters/ucm213414.htm

Interesting, thanks for posting Bob.

They assured me that the sensor was human grade surgical item and no need to worry about a thing. It will work its way out eventually as all foreign bodies do. They thought a visit to tthe doc was waste of time. I do not have infection as of today, and the sensor is not out yet. Just a red , little nic at the site.

Will keep you posted.

Please communicate this to the FDA yourself if Dexcom has not told you that they will be doing so. I love my Dexcom and would not give it up, but this adverse event reporting is part of why we can trust Dexcom and other manufacturers (to the extent that we can trust them) to do the right thing for us. They might be right about it working itself out and you may be safe, but if sensors are breaking off more frequently than they should be, and our watch dog is not aware of it, then we’ll all be at greater risk of breakage, occasional related infection, or that one instance where the foreign body does do some damage.

Dex is doing the best they canI imagine. We must remember we are dealing with technology, human error etc. I think back on days of boiling syringes, testing urine. I am grateful for what we have and know that nothing is perfect. I will however, call them again and discus the matter.

thanks for input.

Just be mindful when you insert and mindful when you rip the tape off. I was not totally focused when I did this stupid thing.

I had read some of the reports before I began using the Dex, so I have been super careful when removing. I take a cotton ball with “goo-gone” on it to help get the tape unstuck, and that seems to let me work it out slowly, being able to keep an eye on the sensor itself as it remove everything. Then clean all with soap/water, and I always but a bandaid with antibiotic on the site for the rest of the day.
I sure hope all “works out” for you.