KITLIVING
continued over
Christmas. However, as soon as I became
pregnant I self-funded myself to use them
uninterrupted and have never looked
back. Because I'd already used Libre, I
was used to seeing continuous data - in
fact I was really grateful for it, and it made
the switch to Dexcom less overwhelming.
Dexcom is a continuous glucose monitor
as opposed to a flash glucose monitor
like Libre, which means that you receive
alarms when your blood sugars are going
low or high; in pregnancy, this was crucial!
Likewise, although the alarms can seem
annoying, they are there for a purpose.
One way or another, I found it very easy
to get used to."
What about performing, how
does that work with diabetes control?
"With the Dexcom, I simply used the
original handheld device; I didn't use
the Smartphone app when it became
available, as I couldn't see how I would
play the violin and perform while looking
at my phone all the time. Even on silent,
it would vibrate and would be heard. In
order to go on stage, I'd check my levels
before I went on and if it was low-ish I
have some sweeties. That might mean
I'd come off stage a bit high, but I'd get
through the performance. I still use insulin
pens for multiple daily injections (MDI). As
part of my work I am often performing in
TV studios where there can be an awful lot
of wires, I just found a tubed pump didn't
appeal. I thought I'd snag it or somehow
come a cropper!"
Back to babies and pregnancies,
Holland has some happy news. "Using
Dexcom, I found my pregnancy with
Barnaby manageable," she explains, "The
G6 lets you see the direction of travel as
well as patterns, which means you can
attempt to achieve greater control - a finer
balance using insulin. The first trimester is
when you are a little more likely to have