When I think of the phrase or hear the line “new toys”, this is the scene that comes to my mind.

I know, it takes forever to get to that line, by the time we get there, the nostalgia for Toy Story has kicked in and well you forget why you are coming to this post has kicked in.

NEW TOYS!!!!

But yes, the idea of new toys has us all excited. I’m not going to lie. The first couple of things does not have us as much excitement as the last idea is coming to pass, but yes life does get boring at times and new toys are always important. So I am going to show off my new toys to you.

Oddly enough these pictures are labeled Stickers. An obvious Cars reference. I need a vacation. More or less working non-stop since Easter, except for my week off. That’s not gonna happen again. So yeah, after much time of boring I have updated some of my tech. I wish it was a real upgrade, but to me it is. First the Dexcom receiver has seen some much needed love in that it has gone from Blue to Fun color. Wait…. Fun isn’t a color?? It is now. Thanks to Tallygear, I have given my receiver a face lift. Does it do anything? Yes, awesome is something. I am very content with the sticker, well yes and no. The sticker if you look at it has the website for Tallygear upside down. That drives me and my OCD fucking nuts. Thanks for that. But hey it brings a new level of fun to my Dexcom and for $9 I’m okay with that.

You can’t class up the Dexcom though without giving its home a little help as well. So I acquired a new case for it as well. The blue case I was sporting was beginning to show its age. You know how that is, the little fabric pulls and balls start to appear, so I thought it was time. Could I have gone with something simple and discreet?? Yes, but seriously, have you seen my socks and shoes?? Oh wait, you have.

I am very happy with the Tallygear case as well. It is very easy to use, it looks awesome, and it gives the Dexcom that added layer of cushion that could come in handy should you ever drop said Dexcom. Not that I would ever do that. Nope, no, not at all.

Finally, I have been joining the crowd when it comes to the idea of the CGM in the cloud or #CGMinthecloud. Many people write about this phenomenom better than I would and well why reinvent the wheel, plus well lazy and all. Here are a few good links from these sponsors. (Not really sponsors, I am just praising those who I have chosen to praise for the day.)

Sara

Lorraine

Kerri and Again

I know Scott K. Johnson, (You need the K or it doesn’t count.) has been playing around with the system as well. I haven’t seen him having written anything on it yet, but I just scanned his blog and I am in a time crunch right now, so I am being lazy in regards to reading all of his posts. I have a backlog on reading things right now.

Anyway, the newest toy I have been playing with is the Pebble watch and #cgminthecloud, which has been an interesting experience.

It’s very hard to take pictures of this. Oh well.  Everyone has a different take on using the CGM in the cloud idea. For each person it is different and the reasons why are different as well. So I can say what I say will be different from every person out there.

First off there are two places to go for information: Facebook or the Nightscout webpage. I am not talking about the details here, I am not talking setup, the rig, or anything like that. The Facebook group covers that well. If you have questions about cost and such, yes you can ask on the FB page, but so many people do that, without taking the time to actually read the Nightscout page, start there. I promise most of your questions will be answered.

Why is this good for me? Well there are a few reasons, because of the hypoglycemia unawareness, having that extra warning makes a huge difference, while pulling out my CGM is easy to look at, so too is having access to this information on my wrist, where I can look at things easier.

If I so chose, I could share the website with someone to “watch me”.

Will I ever send someone to that site? I truly doubt it. However, that option is available if I so choose. Who knows, maybe, maybe not.

The question of why though is this great for me? I don’t have a 100% fool proof reason why. Partly for me, is that state of mind and state of happiness of what is going on with things. Could I get that information from my CGM? Yes, but sometimes it is not convenient to keep pulling out one’s Dexcom to see where things stand. I am very happy for that. I am happy for the alarms that can happen. The Pebble vibrates constantly when you are below 60, which is nice. During the day it is a big pain in the ass. I can be honest about that. However at night, this is where things make a huge difference for me.

While, I have been very much on top of things in regard to how my meals affect things and also how to bolus and treat for most everything one eats, there are those surprises, I had a horrible low about a month ago. Something I should have caught. I sleep with Beepy McBeeperson right next to my head. Yet sometimes, I sleep right through the alarms. With the pebble on my hand, it is one extra bonus to wake me up. Not to mention if you have the NS Website up, it alarms as well. So having extra alarms could be very helpful. It is near impossible to sleep through all of that noise. Especially if one has their computer tied to a speaker at hugely loud noises too.

For me, it is not knowing the trends, which I can do and have been looking at stuff lately.

It is not having others see what is going on, however if someone is looking at my watch, they will see the numbers if that watchface is being shown.

For me, truthfully my safety is my biggest concern. Do I use this all the time?? No, not so much. I need to charge the phone. I have times that it is planned to be used and when I need to charge it as well. So is this 24/7? No, and I am okay with that. It makes me happy having this information, however it is not the OMG, I am dying to know everything. I don’t have a kid that I am concerned about. I am not stalking myself or anyone else. I am just getting extra protection up and running. Just to make sure that these pesky lows do not happen. Is it worth it? Some people argue yes, others argue no.

I live alone. I need all the extra help I can get at times. This is that extra bit of help I am looking for.

Lugging things around is always fun, the rig as people call it is pretty hefty, sometimes coming up with a plan does not always work. Thank goodness I wear hoodies as often as I do. Bonus pocket space. I like bonus space. Now the space is being used, most of the time. However, I do have it packaged so it could fit into most pockets, but you lose out on the space that you used to keep your wallet or gum or car keys in. Oh well, but it works.

Is this the greatest thing since sliced bread? No, those are Reese’s Cups. Is it helpful, for me yes. Is it for everyone, honestly, I don’t think so. I was talking to a friend this morning about this. And her response to me was, “you’ve never had this, Kerri, Jess, Scott…. have never had this. You survived. They survived. I think it’s too much, the info is too much. You can drown in it.” I agree, but again, what I am using it for verses what other people are using it for vary. So it is hard to say. Is it too much. For some people they should not have this information. That is all I am going to say about that. Yell at me now or later. I am off to work or fake it.