Kaylee is hooked up.. but I have a question

[Kaylee's Mommy]

I let it warm up for the two hours.. did our first calabration.. the rep said the first one is hard because you have no data to go by.. during the appointment Kaylee was high, plus she had ketones, so I had ato give her insulin.. plus she was drinking (only 5carbs for 8fl oz.. didn't even drink 8oz..) and had peanuts.. so we aren't sure what she was doing during that time.. everything was going great until about 4:30pm.. it had two arrows going up.. so I checked I got 165, sensor said 220ish.. still two arrows and the numbers jumped into the 280s.. it alarmed (set at 280) and I checked her finger 185.. hmm.. so I called the rep and she said its probably running a little higher because we really don't know what she was doing at that first calabration.. so we had to do our second cal within 6 hours.. we were headed to the 6 hour mark so I calabrated when there was one arrow.. but it quickly went to two.. how do you fit in the calabrations? she said not to calabrate with two arrows.. but I didn't have a choice, I HAD to calabrate then.. I corrected (she was in the 200s by this time.. seems the sensor is AHEAD of the mter.. but should be the other way, correcT?) and I pre-bolused for dinner (never ever do that! but its pizza:eek: and I knew she'd eat a slice.. but she's busy playing right now.. instead of eating because she hasn't seen big sis all day..) and now her pump has two arrows going down, but its still in the 200s.. so when you have a situation like this.. what do you do.. calabrate, or should I have waited.. she's been bouncing around the past few hours.. hopefully things settle down soon:)

just wanted to add that the sensor is sitting quietly at 200.. so I checked her just to see how that cal did the last time and it said she was 220.. :)

[Mama2H]

I try to calibrate at 11 PM and 11 AM those are the only times I KNOW that Hailey's sugars are fully stable. In this case I would just leave it alone and wait to calibrate at least 3 hours after she is done eating. Of coarse since she is having pizza it may still be a bit off :o I try not to calibrate if there are ANY arrows, even one arrow seems to make a difference. If it calls for a meter bg when I know she is not stable I go ahead and calibrate and fix it later.

[Kaylee's Mommy]

she seems to be good now.. we will do a calibration when she goes to bed:) and the rep suggested doing one when she woke up.. before she has anything to eat.. she suggested three times a day.. instead of two.. any reason why?

[WestinsMom]

If you calibrate 3 times a day you are never in a pinch for a calibration. There is nothing worse than knowing that you have to calibrate within 1 hour and your kid is low or high or arrows. If you miss the calibration you don't have a screen to look at to know when they are stable. (Of course, you can watch the isig number to see how stable they are.)

[Mama2H]

I know some of the reps are saying this but it was too difficult for us and honestly we get great calibrations at 11 and 11. Remember that you need to wait AT LEAST 15 minutes before you can eat or you will not get a good calibration. I figure if it isn't broke why fix it.... The days we calibrate more than 2 times (to fix a bad calibration when it happens) we usually do not have as good results.

[WestinsMom]

I agree. We usually only calibrate twice a day, but it never fails, like tonight, that we are watching like a hawk for those darn arrows to go away.

Tonight, about 1 1/2 hours from when we HAD to calibrate, Westin was low...and hungry (as usual). I got by with giving him as little as I could hold him off with and then started the waiting game for him to come up and stablize. We got to calibrate about 10 mintues before time was up.

I think setting the same times everyday would probably help. I know, for us, we are not on much of a schedule (homeschooling and all) that we have to take the opportunity when they come. And for us less calibrations seems to work better. It's a tricky balance.

[Kaylee's Mommy]

the rep said its a good idea to have set times, BUT to be a little flexible too.. if you see that she's good, no arrows and a decent number (she said between 80-200 is the best??) to do the calibration, because you never know what will be next..

I must say.. I've watched the thing a lot tonight, just very curious about what she's actually doing.. and for 5 minutes she'll be fine, no arrows.. the all of a sudden two arrows down, and then 10minutes later 1 arrow up.. the 2 up.. its crazy!! I just checked her before bed.. sensor says 210, meter says 270?? shouldn't they be closer than this? I'm going to calibrate in a few hours.. when she's been in bed for a while and all insulin is gone.. she had pizza AND icecream tonight:eek::eek:.. I know bad me bad me.. two of the worse things for BG LOL..

oh, it would be very nice to have alittle parent monitor to watch ;)

[Riley'sMom]

hi kim,
that is great kaylee is hooked up!
we don't ever calibrate when there is an arrow. if it calls for meter BG and she isn't stable, we just wait a little while, even though you won't see the BG again until you do. it will keep alarming and you have to keep clearing it until you enter a BG.
we usually end up calibrating every 8-10 hours instead of 12, otherwise it seems like we get almost to the 12 hour mark and then she is not stable. if we see she is really stable, and know that a calibration is due like within the next 4 hours, we'll go ahead and do it then.
the first day is the hardest, having to calibrate at 6 hours, and it is also always our most inaccurate day with the sensor.
the better your calibrations are, the closer the sensor and meter BG will be. like others said, make sure she waits at least 15 minutes before eating after calibrating.
good luck, it is so addicting!
jessica

[Kaylee's Mommy]

I've got a quick question.. for the most part her sensor seems to be 20 points above her meter readings (give or take a few.. ) but at one point tonight she shot up to 271, by her meter reading, checked against the sensor it said she was 224.. why wouldn't it have gone up furthar.. is it possible her bg shot up and came back down quickly and the sensor didn't keep up.. she did have two arrows in there quite a few times tonight.. but I don't remember if it was on that particular number.. its been pretty consistent.. saying she's hanging around 200 and meter says 180ish for the most part..

also, is there a data page that will show the sensor again the meter? that would be nice to see..

thanks for al lyour help.. :)

[Mama2H]

Carelink has a page that you can compare the two (can't remember which one at the moment). As for the lower than the high, yep sounds like bg went back down before sensor caught up.

[Kaylee's Mommy]

I found the one that shows the meter against sensor.. its the very first one.. duh.. i was looking in the sensor area where all the other ones were.. for the last 15minutes she's been at 194.. at least I know she's steady:)

tomorrow I'm taking a trip to radio shack.. I thought I'd be ok going without a system to make the alarms louder.. but I can't LOL.. she'll be in our bed in about 4 hours anyway.. but part of the point in getting this system was so that I could sleep more.. like that's ever gonna happen..

[KarenRI]

We're pretty new to CGM. My son Nate started on 10/29. Hang in there...the first week or so for us was very similar to what you are going through right now. I really began to wonder what the value of having CGM was!

The only other tough time we had was due to a bad sensor last week, but since then, it has been fantastic! We have a good sensor, and we're getting better at calabrating (everyone's advice here is absolutely correct). We are on Day 3 of this particular sensor, and it has been running close to what his actual BG readings are.

And you will get more sleep! Again, we started on 10/29 and it took some dosage adjustments and fine tuning, but last night was the third night in a row that I was able to sleep ALL night! No alarms, no highs, no lows. I also have the Radio Shack set-up and it has given me peace of mind so that I can actually sleep without wondering what is going on.

You're going through the tough part, but hang in there. With practice and dosing adjustments, it should get better.

Good luck!

[Kaylee's Mommy]

hmm.. not sure if anyone is around.. but I need calibration advice.. she's 240 right now (you can see a nice steady increase of 130 at 5:30am.. BUT, I'm not so sure its her basals, I think DH gave her some milk because thats the time he leaves.. so I need to check with him first.. and if he did.. I'll tell him not to do it tomorrow.. I really want to leave it alone for a few days and see what our basals are.. ) OK.. onto my calibration question.. I need to calibrate.. the rep said to it first thing in the am because there is no BG change rapidly.. but when I go to put in that 240.. I'm going to do a finger poke and it will correct her if she's that high.. is is OK to calibrate right now? I know she shouldn't eat within 15minutes of a calibration.. but what about a correction?

thanks!:)

[WestinsMom]

I don't like to calibrate that high. I would tend to correct and wait to calibrate. Others might have other ideas. When we first started, I had that same question about calibrating and correcting at the same time. I tend not to. I will be interested to see what others say.

[Kaylee's Mommy]

I did end up calibrating at that time.. I figured the insulin wouldn't start working for 1/2hr or so.. so she should stay steady.. I just checked her for breakfast, sensor says 201, bg reads 197:) with .2 active insulin from that correction.. I'd like to get her out of that 200 range.. she's been sitting steady around 200 since we started yesterday with a few dips..

[WestinsMom]

I am glad that worked.

[Mama2H]

I will calibrate and correct at the same time as long as the number I am correcting has been steady. So glad it worked of you.

Oh and I won't calibrate if I am correcting a low, just a high. Like you said, takes 30 minutes for the insulin to start working but correcting a low can happen alot quicker.

[Kaylee's Mommy]

the sensor and meter have been pretty close today.. I remember the rep saying if you get 1 bad cal it take 3 good cals to cancel it out.. I see the difference in a cal when you are stead and one when you are jumping around.. and its only been 24hours lol..

you guys have been SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO helpful!!! thank you:)

[Rachel]

Yeah!!!!!! I've been following your posts but haven't chimed in yet. So glad that it is working for you.

When the calibration isn't quite right, I just adjust in my head (and in directions for my dh and babysitters) when to test. So with a well calibrated sensor, we test for anything 100 or below (or sometimes 100 if it is really really accurate). But today, for example, we have a Day 1 sensor (which is always a little off) combined with a bad calibration at 4 am (I was too sleepy and calibrated when it wasn't steady) ... so it is off by a good 30+. So I am having the babysitter test for anything 140 or below or 160 with double arrows.

I have found you have to get to know each sensor. I've written before it is like they have little personalities, like the 7 dwarves, but I can only think of 4 - Happy (really accurate), Lazy (just never keeps up with the highs), Finicky (inaccurate or auto re-starters), and, based on LuvMyTwins experience, Downright Rotten. We mostly have Happy or Lazy.

Hi Ho Hi Ho - hoping yours continues to be a Happy sensor!