Who doesn’t love that phrase when it comes to d-tech? Well, I guess those of you who just got a new pump or CGM right before any upgrade or update was announced and you are stuck for a period of time with the “old” tech. The past few month’s have been a blur of excitement for those of us who have diabetes. From medicare approval to use the Dexcom on your smart phone to multiple pump updates and upgrades from Tandem, Omnipod, and possibly that company that shall remain nameless. Things are moving quickly. I think as of two or three days ago the Libre CGM has been given the push for 14-days of wear approval over the 10-days when they first started.

I think the biggest excitement that is out there right now is on the CGM front. Well it is for me. With the release of the Dexcom G6, I am seeing a faster progression of technology along with what appears to be less wait and issues with getting the FDA clearances for this stuff. I will get into the entire G6 process eventually, but I am very excited about all of the improvements to the technology that is out there.

I think in the past I have mentioned that I have a file on Dropbox to log every conversation that I have with insurance, Edgepark, etc when it comes to trying to upgrade stuff. The upgrade to the Dexcom G6 takes us back to May 8, 2018. Because I have had such unique interactions with Edgepark I figured I would see if I could go somewhere else or even use Dexcom directly. After multiple phone calls and inquiries I was able to confirm that my insurance would deal with Dexcom directly and I could say “Bye Felicia” to them.

Little did I know this process was not going to be as easy as I had hoped.

While there is no one to directly blame for all  of the issues I ran into, the biggest issues were both from Edgepark and Care Centrix.

The thing that bothers me the most was the amount of time I had to dedicate to this process. Thankfully I have the flexibility to do this. Between phone calls to sort out the insurance process, getting the prescription, getting the approvals, fighting with Edgepark/Care Centrix to get their ongoing approvals released so Dexcom could actually take over as my provider, we are looking at 26 different phone calls. Thankfully, I did not log the times I was on hold (that was mainly Dexcom when they were inundated with calls, but the hold before speaking to people was roughly 30 minutes most times.)

I wasted tons of time over the course of the days trying to resolve things. For the average family with people who are working all day, I can’t imagine finding the time to make these calls during breaks and lunch.

Finally, after month’s of work and phone calls, everything finally resolved itself and 15 days ago I started on the G6. I have to be honest with you. Things are very weird right now. After years of multiple finger pricks and needing to calibrate the CGM and all of that I am still somewhat out of sorts. I had a conversation with someone else about her experiences with the G6, since I was just a few days in.

Something that has become routine is no longer routine. The first sensor has been pretty spot on. Day 1 things were slightly off. But I also was very paranoid about trusting things.

Now, I don’t test as often, I have come to trust the sensor, and I feel a bit more freedom. The insertion process has been painless. I wish there was less bulky plastic waste, but I have seriously felt nothing and I now have more real estate to get to. As great as being able to use my arms has been, I haven’t been able to utilize all of the upper arm, due to arm flexibility and also the lack of someone to assist me.

I honestly have no complaints now that the insurance process has been handled and resolved. As I said in the beginning things are moving quickly, I can’t wait for the updated software for the Tandem X2. That process is only a weeks away from being a reality. Tech keeps moving to make our lives easier. However, do not become complacent in the overall process, technology is not a cure. It is a good resource to assist us, but it is not the end result. Keep advocating, but also keep fighting for the cure. Only when that has been realized will we see the change many of us have been striving for all of these years.