HE DID IT! HE DID IT! HE DID IT!
I can not express how excited I am that he went through with putting the DEXCOM Continuous Glucose Monitor (bionics) on. To be honest, I’m so proud I could pretty much cry at the drop of a hat any time I talk about what a big step he just took. In my last post he had decided that he was ready. We read through everything and set the device up. Saturday evening we found a video to watch of another little boy going through the process for the first time and he watched that twice. (Bless that little boy for saying ‘that didn’t hurt at all.’) Then he and Cory talked through the process and it was time.
I couldn’t believe how fast it was done.
He’s so excited that we have called Grandma and Papa Olinger, Grandma Martin, auntie Misty, auntie Haley and Miss Jessica. I love how he was so nervous and now he is so proud.
I think, correct that, I know that I was more nervous than he was and he was pretty nervous. My stomach was still in knots an hour after.
It’s been 4 days now and I feel like a stalker. (It’s ok to be a stalker if it’s your kid and you are doing it for their health, right?) It is amazing watching the data come through. I no longer worry, as much, when I’m at work because I can see his numbers anytime I want. The DEXCOM Continuous Glucose Monitor has done exactly what we wanted. Not only can we see his number 24/7 but when his blood sugar drops low we are notified as soon as he drops low instead of waiting until we see a sign or he recognizes a feeling.
As crazy as it sounds for a 5 year old, we did end up getting him the iPhone and an Apple watch. I had to be convinced for the watch, for heaven’s sake, what 5 year old needs an Apple watch. I hate to admit it (and I won’t tell him, wait…he has to post this and make it pretty for me) but he was right. The DEXCOM talks to the receiver and Monkey has an app on his phone that tracks blood sugar, food and insulin and he has the same app on the watch. The DEXCOM app also has a follower app that Cory and I have on our phones and my watch. This app allows us to follow him during the day.
Although I agreed to the watch, I wasn’t convinced until he and Cory set it up. He took immediate ownership of his blood sugar level. I came downstairs from vacuuming and he was running around. When I asked ‘why are you running monkey?’, he turns his wrist over and shows me the number on the watch and informs me that it isn’t where it is suppose to be so he is running to bring I down. He also loves the activity app on the watch that shows him how his day is going for activity.
He is so proud of the decision he made. It’s like he aged in front of our eyes. I can see that he feels some ownership of his diabetes and that’s empowering to him and exactly WHY we do what we do.
It’s all under control, just not by me. Monkey’s still in control.