About Getting Your Dexcom G5

I called Dexcom to order the new G5 the second I heard about it on tudiabetes.org. Like everyone, I was curious to find out if we were eligible for a free upgrade. (No such luck. :blue But Dexcom was unsure whether we qualified for the $199 upgrade or not because we've been getting our Dexcom stuff through our "preferred" supplier, Solara, so Dexcom didn't know exactly when we received our bluetooth-enabled Share system (and I couldn't remember when, either.) They said I'd have to call Solara to find out. Short story long, I phoned Solara and they said we qualified for the $199 upgrade (unless we wanted to wait longer for a free upgrade when our Share was out of warranty?) Waiting has never been my strong suit when it comes to my daughter's T1D, so out came the VISA. The nice lady at Solara said she'd talk to the nice folks at Dexcom and take care of everything for me.

My impatience mounted to an unbearable peak this morning and I decided to check in with Dexcom. (I don't completely understand these relationships between our supplier, Solara, and Dexcom and Insulet [my daughter is a Podder].) Glad I decided to call Dexcom instead of Solara...

After a 25-minute wait, I lucked out and got Amy. Started out the conversation by asking when we could expect to receive our G5 transmitters. She said that Dexcom was not currently filling any orders because they ran out of stock. What? Then how come some people I "know" (on this Forum) have gotten their G5's? Because those people get their supplies through a distributor and there are no problems with the distributors' supplies. So I told Amy that we've been getting our Dexcom supplies through Solara. Thank G_d she checked on our order through Solara, because she found a mistake with how they placed our order. She told me that she would be straightening out the problem and that we'd receive our G5 by 10:00 a.m. tomorrow morning.

Hopefully, this will actually happen. (Heck, I'd be happy with the end of the month, but if they want to overnight it to us at no extra charge, I'm not about to stop them.) So my reason for this long-winded post is to let you know (based on my understanding of what Dexcom Amy told me) that you may be in for a wait if you are obtaining your G5 direct from Dexcom. And if you ordered yours through your "preferred" supplier, you may want to telephone them (or Dexcom directly) to check on the status of your order and to make sure that your supplier did not make the same mistake our supplier did. Hope my post makes sense, because I don't completely understand everything Amy told me...

 

I get supplies shipped directly from dexcom and I ordered the transmitter on Sept 28 and got it on Sept 29 so as of last week they had the transmitters. I was initially told I could not order because they were only processing upgrades and not insurance covered orders until at least Oct 1. However, I had the rep talk to his supervisor and he came back and said he was wrong and they were now processing all orders.

 

I guess it depends on with whom you speak... Before I told Amy that we get our Dexcom supplies from Solara, I asked what she meant when she said that Dexcom was not currently filling any orders because they ran out of stock. She said that all stock already went to distributors and that no more orders were being sent out directly from Dexcom. When I asked her how long before Dexcom would resume filling orders, she said No one knows. I countered with "What are we talking, months, years?" Best I could get was No, not years. We don't know if it will be weeks or months, though.

Has anyone spoken with Dexcom since I did this morning?

 

So YOU were the reason I was on hold for so long!!!!!!

 

Guilty as charged!irate:

 

Good thing we are happy with the G4 sensors! We just started with the Animas Vibe and love this system, so we will patiently wait for the new system when we upgrade. (In four years) Maybe they will have all the stuff worked out. I wish you all the best because I had to do so much fighting with the hospital and insurance to get our stuff done, so I feel your pain. My fingers are crossed for you!

 

I've heard this same thing from others. I'm hoping everything has calmed down by the time we're ready for a new one through insurance in December. My fear is placing the order and then having it back ordered into January when our deductible resets. I'm also hoping our current transmitter makes it until December. Oh well, I'll jump off that bridge when I come to it. :wink:

 

Most time when there has been a technology upgrade like this, they have a period when they fill new customers orders before they'll process upgrade orders. When we went from the 7+ to the G4, we had to wait 6-8 weeks after they started shipping for them to fill new orders and then they started on upgrades, so I'm not surprised that the upgrade program has delays.

 

I just called Dexcom. Since we are in the free upgrade period our order goes directly through them not our usual supplier. They blamed manufacturing and said that they are 1-3 weeks behind but that we are still in the queue. Personally I can handle 1-3 weeks if it really is just that. I just hope it doesn't become 4-6, 6-8 etc . . .

 

We ordered ours weeks ago. Then last Friday I needed to talk to them and while I was on the phone I learned that it was not booked. After re-booking they told us it would be here in three days. That was yesterday. We will see...

 

While we're all waiting (ha!) I'd love to discuss confirmatory fingersticks. Here's what's on Dexcom's UK page. http://www.dexcom.com/en-GB

The accuracy data (scroll down) is pretty good and comparable to the newest meters per http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3317395/

Will you feel comfortable dosing off this?

 

Good question and for me the answer is......I'm not sure yet. And for me at least, the question/answer is not really a straightforward one.

We are still new to CGM and pumping and what I have seen is that the CGM and the Pod PDM are not often close. Now I do realize that the CGM will most likely lag behind the PDM result, but I am still not convinced that the PDM is all that accurate. Or maybe it's the Dex that is not accurate. How do you know? I don't really like comparing numbers from different meters, but I think what I need to do for my own peace of mind is dust off the One Touch meter and do some comparisons against the Pod PDM.

But let's say the PDM is "accurate". There are times when the difference between the PDM and the Dex is 70 points. So for example if she is going to eat and the CGM says 200 but she is really 270, I would do less of a correction than I really needed to, based on the CGM #. Maybe it is not enough to make a difference but I am very interested to hear what other people do.

 

How do I know if my insurance is going to cover the G5? Did any of you have any issues?

 

I still had/have an in warranty G4 transmitter and receiver but I didn't want to pay the upgrade fee if possible. I called the supplier I use and asked them to run a test claim which they did while I was on the phone. It went through and I asked them to repeat the test claim and it again went through. Having them do it twice confirms it really will go through when they bill for it so I told them to put the order in. I already had a G4 rx on file which they said I could use for the G5. I go through pharmacy insurance coverage but use a supplier (foundation care) which processes the order and then sends it to dexcom who ships it. I received it less than 24 hours after I placed the order. I use the pharmacy coverage because I have united healthcare and they can be annoying about the process of approving cgm. My pharmacy coverage (express scripts) is separate and does not require prior authorization for CGM.

 

This is the closest to our situation and similar to what we were told as well. Late October to late November is how the rep framed it to me. I said I wanted to verify we are properly booked and in line and she gave me a seven digit order number. We are happy G4 Sharing so I can wait the month, just hoping it's closer to a month than two months. Getting the improved algorithm and getting rid of the need for wifi will be very helpful to us. Good luck to everyone!

 

Side note: had to laugh, after posting this, noticed my signature and realized it's been a while. Just short of two years since my last post. Nothing like the promise of new technology to bring em out of the woodwork!!

 

I'm not embarrassed to admit that, once I saw how accurate my daughter's Dexcom readings were compared to her meter readings, we pretty much started using her Dexcom readings for dosing decisions with the following exceptions:
>before treating a low she didn't "feel"
>after treating a low
>before treating a "mystery" high
>after the first 12 hours or so after starting a new sensor (and sometimes after re-starting an old sensor if it was looking kinda squirrelly)

I'll feel even better about doing this after getting the Dexcom G5 (which should be waiting for my daughter by the time I get home from work today). Now if I can just get her to calibrate twice daily without having to threaten her with the loss of cell phone privileges...

And thanks for the link to the article dealing with the accuracy of 5 different meters. Always nice to get a link to a reliable source that covers a topic germane to real-life treatment of our kids with T1D!


ETA:
To be honest, when her PDM meter numbers aren't reasonably close to her Dexcom readings, I trust the Dexcom over the PDM meter unless I have a good reason not to...

 

I tried to call Dexcom, but I was on hold forever. Here's what I wanted to ask them: My G4 transmitter will turn 6 months within a few weeks. It's covered by my insurance. When the time comes to replace it, will Dexcom send me a G5? Does anyone know?

 

I have a similar question RE replacing my daughter's Dexcom receiver because the new puppy got ahold of it and chewed it to crap. Don't know how much longer it's going to live (the receiver, NOT the puppy) because pieces of the screen are literally missing. (I know that the receiver is unnecessary with the G5, but I'd like to have a backup in the event my daughter drops her iPhone in the toilet or bathtub again.

This is what I do before calling Dexcom:
1. Use the restroom, even if I think I don't need to.
2. Gather together at least several hours' worth of delinquent paperwork with several pens that are not on the verge of running out of ink.
3. Keep a supply of survival food and water within reaching distance.
4. Once I'm on hold, switch to speaker mode to free up my busy little hands.

If at all possible, do not call on Mondays or Tuesdays because those are the "highest volume" days.

 

I guess that is my question.....how do you know which one is actually the most "accurate"?