I wrote
last month about my diabetes diagnosis this year and my
difficult choice to wear a proprietary device (called a
CGM) on my arm 24/7
to continuously monitor my glucose levels. Like my friend and colleague,
Karen M. Sandler — who previously made a much higher-stakes choice to
receive a proprietary implanted defibrillator to keep her safe given her
genetic heart condition — I reluctantly chose to attach proprietary
hardware and software to my body.
Freestyle Libre was my first CGM and as soon as I had the opportunity to switch to Dexcom, I did.
Each new sensor was wildly low or wildly high, with no option to calibrate. It was really only good for measuring changes, not the actual glucose reading itself.
So "Oh, it’s going up, +5, +10, +20… probably accurate, but is it 80, 180, or 240? Use a finger stick to know for sure.