Dexcom shower covers

In the batch of photos that I published earlier about the Dexcom, one of the photos shows a trace of the redness left after using a shower cover. Now this was after I'd worn the sensor for about 4 days. So I'd have at least 3 shower covers applied in the same place.

Here's that picture again. And if you jump to Flickr, you'll see where the red mark from the shower cover is visible.


I'd read somewhere (don't remember I'm afraid) that the Press n' Seal food wrap worked pretty well for shower covering. So I decided to invest in a box and try it out. Here's a picture of the results before a shower.



Overall it's worked pretty well for me, and I've tried this three times so far.

Now this isn't a perfect alternative to the Dexcom shower covers (about $0.60 each). First of all, you need to trim the wrap because it's too wide. And I've found that even with a sharp scissors this is difficult. Also it's hard to get a tight seal all around the edge. You'll probably get some amount of water in behind the wrap.

But it is much easier on my skin. The last time I used the shower cover it was really sore to take it off. I've heard that the Dexcom shower cover does seem to work in swimming pools, so that's a benefit for those.

I've also tried showering without any cover over the transmitter. After I'm done I've found that sometimes there's very little water behind it. Sometimes there's a lot. Immediately after the shower, I take the transmitter off the sensor and dry carefully both the transmitter and the sensor. Then I reattach the transmitter. I try to do this at some distance from the Dexcom receiver so that I don't send it strange readings that might throw it off. So far that's worked fairly well the 3-4 times I've tried it.

Can I point out another CGM benefit? My wife likes that she can see where things are by simply looking at the CGM. Sometimes when my blood sugar gets low I get very uncooperative. I think in situations like that it'll be nice to have something where she can quickly see what the number is right now and where it's been for the last hour or so.

The way I've described it to people that I meet (I love yakking about this thing) is that it gives me a much better feeling of control. I hope that my A1C will actually reflect that.

I'm meeting with my endo on Wednesday and I'm going to start the paperwork for the insurance reimbursement after that.

I have two minor issues with Dexcom support. First of all, I still haven't received the download software. It's been over a week since I paid for all this and I can't download readings and see what the software's like. That's really irritating.

Second, I tried to call the Dexcom support number on Friday morning to talk about getting an extended period of "---" results. I wanted to see if they had any suggestions for resolving this. I spoke to someone (after about 5 minutes on hold) who took my number and said that a support person would call me back shortly. In the end, I got the callback over 90 minutes later, when I wasn't there to talk with them. If the Dexcom sales take off substantially, how will they deal with the likely increase in support calls? I'm hoping this is a once-off issue.

Labels: CGM, Dexcom, experience

posted by Bernard @ 3:47 PM