Month: April 2021

Admittedly, I don’t particularly like having to wear any adhesive over my CGM sensor. I’ll usually hold off on applying an external adhesive for as long as I can, although I have been caught out once or twice in recent weeks. I only just managed to rescue last week’s sensor by the skin of its teeth (it was dangerously dislodged from my arm).

However, adhesives have become a necessity in order to get my sensors to the 14 day mark. Occasionally I’m able to get my sensors to 21 days, but I don’t find the readings too consistent or reliable.

I’ve been trying out the ‘Not Just a Patch’ adhesives in-between sensors over the past few months, which were gifted to me by the Not Just a Patch team.

Back in January, I had a brief Zoom chat with founder Pete, a fellow type 1 from Sydney. Pete went to uni in Perth and could instantly recognise the Fremantle Doctor blowing away as I sat on the steps outside the loading dock during my lunch break.

I guess what makes Not Just a Patch a little bit different from its competitors is that the patch covers the entire sensor. Pete explained that the biggest point of difference with these patches, unknown to me at the time, is that they are designed to be easily removed and replaced. Check out how easily they pull off in my video below!

Pete did warn me that G5 was a little more challenging compared to slimmer sensors such as FreeStyle Libre or Dexcom G6, and I did find these a little bulky to wear. On the plus side, they were much easier to apply and I liked not having to stress about getting the perfect application around the edges of my sensor.

You can find Not Just a Patch here. Pete’s also got a podcast called ‘The Dialogues’ featuring some familiar diabetes advocates, which you can also find in your podcast app.

It’s definitely been Easter week in my corner of the world. Hot cross buns and Easter eggs have been getting me through work and uni this week, counting down the days to a much needed four day long weekend. My personal picks are the yellow bags of Cadbury mini eggs and hollow hunting eggs. Bonus points if you picked them up on sale at Woolies last week.

This past week has been disgustingly humid. It’s the second spell we’ve had here in Perth this month that doesn’t seem to want to go away. You know, the kind of weather that sucks the life out of you, amplifies the irritating chirps of the crickets at night and also throws you some unexpected and nasty lows.

Like this morning, while I was in the midst of resetting my transmitter clock and replacing my sensor. I didn’t have access to reliable readings. I’d switched off my phone’s Bluetooth connection and Dexcom notifications earlier after persistent alerts to unreliable patches of readings that came and went. I’ve already been running reduced basal rates of around 10% for much of this month.

All of a sudden, I found myself struggling to go through the motions of my task at hand. My hands were clammy. I was sweating, but perhaps it had simply been mistaken for the weather. I reached for my meter, whose reading gave me a reaction of ‘yikes.’

I reached for a jukebox from the drawer, and guzzled it down. I had to sit down. I slowly began to feel warmth return to my body, but I was still craving something comforting and more pleasant than juice. I nibbled on a jellybean from the drawer, and eventually followed up with a cup of tea and biscuit.

If there’s one skill I’ve learned about living with diabetes, it would have to be learning to adapt to my surroundings and just going with the flow.

It’s Easter this weekend. There will be chocolate, there will be food, there will be drinks and there will be good company. I could choose to impart rules and strategies for how I will navigate Sunday lunch and the Easter egg hunt.

But quite honestly, just like every other day of living with diabetes, I think I’ll just go with the flow.