This week, the team over at Medtronic shipped out the mySentry Remote Glucose Monitor out to me for the 90-day trial that was offered back when I attended the Medtronic Diabetes Advocates Forum. I had a fun day of having to almost literally chase down the UPS driver. One tip: always ask if your packages are going to be sent with signature required. I forgot to ask and didn’t assume – which I should have – and it was attempted to be delivered while I was at work. After many phone calls with UPS to find out if I could possibly meet him somewhere to get it for a couple of hours, we finally met up and I signed and received the package. I didn’t think to ask if it could be delivered to my work address when all of the paperwork was being processed. BUT, in the end, I have it now and after having it set up for the last 2 nights, I want to give my first-impression thoughts.

(I’m going to use bullet points for now just because (1) I like them and (2) it helps get quick thoughts out in an organized manner.)

1. This thing is super super easy to use. Quite literally, all you have to do is simply take it out of the box, plug it up, sync the insulin pump and outpost to it following the on-screen instructions and you’re good to go. But, do read the instruction manual – you’ll be tempted not to because it’s so super simple to set up, but just do it.
2. Since it is a monitor, and not the CGM itself, it basically relays everything that the pump has. So, you can be away from it all day long (or your child can be away… whoever the pump user is), and when you come home and come into range of either the monitor or the outpost, after a few minutes, everything is on the screen. So, just say, your kid comes home and has a friend come over. They are playing some sort of game in the room or whatnot. Or you just don’t want to have to ask them for the pump to see how their day was. You can just go look at the monitor and see everything. I know that Erik can just go into the room and take a glance at it and see how my day went. Who knows, maybe I’m ill and instead of asking me how my bg is and risk possibly getting snapped at (yeah, I do that when I’m high – I’m quite snippy – and then I feel bad for it when I’m back “in range” and not a monster anymore), he can just go and glance at it and know that I’m not mad at him, I’m just not feeling well. Of course, that also just comes down to communication issues – which I’m working on… but back to the first look review….
3. ALL INFORMATION AT A GLANCE! Oh how I wish this screen could be on my pump. I wouldn’t even mind if the pump was just slightly bigger if it needed to be just to accommodate a screen that would give me this info when I look at it. To know just by looking how MANY units of insulin I have left, how old my sensor is, how many hours left til next calibration, and battery life. This exact screen shown above… that’s what I want. With maybe two modifications…
4. I wish it had two more feature for pump statuses : Temp basal time and Insulin-On-Board remaining. It does not have that. At a glance, before I go to bed, I want to know where my bg is, any insulin I may have left acting, if I have a temp basal set and if so, how much time left. All of this has to go into account before I know I can go to bed safely. I’m sure any parent would like to know at a glance, without waking the child up, if there is a need for a low treatment or if they are safe to coast. Let’s just say – Okay, Johnny had supper at 6pm, which was high-fat or carby (pasta or pizza?), so he had a combo bolus of 40/60 over 3 hours. He’s also been active, so he has a temp basal set at -75%. So, at 9pm when he goes to bed, he still has insulin from the extended part of his bolus working for the next 2 hours and his temp basal is still has 3.5 hours left. (yes, I know this is probably not a common occurrence, but just stick with me a minute) He goes to bed, with a relatively steady line and it doesn’t seem like there will be an issue. But you know that this is not a normal night with all of the pizza and activity. It would be nice to see how much time is remaining  to try and make a decision about whether or not to adjust that temp basal, or even cancel it, before YOU go to bed, which may be at 11pm. (And that probably didn’t make much sense at all, but I hope it sorta explained my thinking.)
5. The monitor is marketed to parents of the children who use the pump, but I think it is a great tool for anyone – parent, single person living alone, couple, or maybe a someone taking care of an elderly person on the pump.  Just last night, it woke me up to alert a low from my pump CGM that I didn’t hear my pump alarm. So I was able to get up and treat it. Erik likes it because if I don’t wake up from it or if I’m acting funny in my sleep, he can look at the monitor and see that either (a) I’m low or (b) I’m trending low on the CGM and that I need to get up and check my bg to see if I need a snack before I drop low.
6. Since I am the pump user and the monitor stays beside the bed, I don’t have to have use the outpost if I don’t want to. But, because I would like it to try to keep up with my pump where I mostly am in the house just so Erik can hear the alarm and know how I am without asking, I keep it plugged into the socket in my living room. On the first night, I felt like I was dropping a bit and got up from the couch and got a snack… something that used to be discreetly done, mind you. Then, my pump alarmed – it was against the pillow and I didn’t dismiss it right away, and a couple of seconds later, the monitor alarmed. Erik jumped and asked “WHAT WAS THAT???” I laughed and told him it was the mySentry and that I was dropping. Since then, when it alarms, he immediately asks me if I’m ok and if I need him to do anything.
7. In a way, I feel as if it’s made us more of a team where as before I tried to do everything on my own and he didn’t know because I didn’t tell him – it’s not his disease, and I felt like it was my responsibility - the mySentry is sort-of like my “tattletale”. Heheee.

I am excited to be trying the mySentry device. To get a first-hand look at how it works and how it can help improve life for those of us who either live with diabetes or care for someone who does. To help us feel more secure. I will give another update after a couple of weeks and then maybe about a month later. Then I might try to see about insurance coverage and let you know how that process goes.

Disclosure: As disclosed in my Medtronic DAF Recap post, I have been provided with the mySentry Remote Glucose Monitor as well as sensors and test strips  to be used as a part of the 90-day trial free of charge provided that I write and give my full, honest review of the product. The monitor system does have to be returned after the 90-day trial. Medtronic does not have editorial control over the content I post in regards to the system here on Sugabetic.me .

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