Research

It was tempting to rip the packaging open last Wednesday and click-click a Dexcom sensor into my daughter.  My cautious nature stopped me.

In fact Dex is still nestled in its packaging, though not as tightly as it was last week.  

I've taken it out and set the time, set up the alert parameters, and played with the different sound choices.

I've read through the start-up info and viewed the online tutorial.  

This is where I keep getting stuck:

This terrifying looking contraption will insert the sensor onto and underneath my daughter's skin.

Every time she looks at it, my daughter says, 'that thing's just scary looking.'  It's not really said with terror, just as a matter of fact. And she's right.  

I spent some time yesterday trying to alleviate my apprehension about this process by typing 'dexcom sensor insertion' into my trusty search engine.

Guess what?  It worked.

This video from Diabetic Danica and this one by One Happy Diabetic were the best for what I needed, which was to see how to use this thing on a real person.  I needed it explained step by step in a peer-to-peer sort of way. Watching multiple videos taken from multiple angles was helpful too.  One person, for example, made it very clear how to tell if the transmitter is clicked into place perfectly by checking the two little tabs in the back. Others showed helpful adhesive advice. This one from Arden's Day was uniquely great since it shows a dad putting it on his child.  It's the one I'll show my daughter before we begin.

Blogs were helpful too.  Bigfoot Child Have Diabetes' kid is in my kid's age range, and she's funny, so her recent dex experience was helpful to review again.  Diabetic Advocate's  tips and tricks were clear and practical.  As always,I consulted  D-Mom Blog and SixUntilMe too.  

I read and watched and skimmed countless other resources, and every one had something helpful or reinforced the key things to remember as we start up this week.  

So in a nutshell, 'Yay Diabetes Online Community!'  Advice from the manufacturer and our medical team is, of course, paramount.  But seeing and reading about real people using this gizmo in real life was the extra piece I needed.  My confidence has been built.  Thank you!