Seldom do things actually rifle As planned when it comes to living with diabetes.

Whether it's ordering essa strips or pump supplies, searching for answers from our policy companies, or exactly the daily hurdles of trying to finetune carb-tally and insulin dosing — it's non often things go American Samoa smoothly as we hope they might.

Hope for the top, but plan for the last-place — that's the motto I've always kept in idea for the amended part of my 30 years with character 1.

Now, it seems we derriere add Dexcom G4 Transmitter replacements to that number.

If you remember, the late G4 Transmitters are smaller and brainier than the older version, so they only comport a six-month warranty rather than a full yr, like the previous Seven Plus models did, and likewise the G4 Receivers still do. The argue: they have more technology inside and use up more battery life thanks to the improved truth and longer distance range they offer betwixt the Transmitter and Receiver. Sol Dexcom abridged the warranty specifically to assure they would be replaced regularly.

At the time of initial order, customers are told aside either Dexcom or the third-party distributor that they're submitting two Transmitters for insurance "pre-approval" and that it won't be a job getting that renewal once our first sender batteries poop out. The product's low battery warning is supposed to flash as soon equally the battery begins dying, and the user templet says we should have at any rate a week ahead it totally drains (depending on how more we enjoyment it, from what range, and so happening).

But that's not forever happening, we'Re audition.

Some folks in the Diabetes Community of interests report that their Transmitters aren't showing the warning in the least, while others say they but contract a sidereal day or two out of the Transmitter once the low-battery message flashes on the iPod-esque Recipient screen.

We're also quick-eared that some Dex users are running into problems obtaining a switc Transmitter either because of paperwork delays or due to "pre-approvals" not being submitted to indemnity companies as they were supposed to be at the metre of initial order.

Unrivalled PWD facing these issues is our personal Wil Dubois, who's a longtime type 1 and happens to be the 30th person in the U.S. ever to begin using a CGM when they first appeared on the panoram back in 2005. Since then, he hasn't been without his CGM for a Clarence Shepard Day Jr. — until recently when he got only 39 hours out of his Transmitter between admonition message and total barrage fire death. Thanks to Dexcom non processing his replacement paperwork correctly, Wil was without his CGM for the first clock time in almost a decade, and of course this happened even as his family was about to start traveling during his son's Spring Crack. Being wholly sodium thiosulfate-unwitting, Wil found this to be a dangerous and unacceptable berth.

Wil's been writing about the experience on his personal blog, Life After Dx, and he tells America that the problem was plain: someone in the Dexcom ordering department didn't manage what they were supposed to meter of his first bargain.

"Last summertime, I was told the the approving was supposed to back two Transmitters, just apparently someone curbed a wicked box on the form so I was approved for the G4 with only one transmitter," he said. "The Dex folks several times told me not to worry, that when I got the warning thither would be 'plenty of time' to have the favourable reception and that it would last for a hebdomad or maybe even many. This concerned me, because I had detected rumors other than."

Wil says that when Dexcom submitted the replacement Transmitter request to his policy troupe more recently, the insurer replied with a statement that they were backed up at least three weeks on "pre-authorizations" so this customer wouldn't pick up a successor before then.

As it turned out, a Quaker in the DOC — the great Kelly Close of DiaTribe — was able to help taboo where Dexcom couldn't. She had an extra Transmitter present and was able to post that to Wil to use until he got his new one from Dexcom. Way of life to go, DOC!

Sadly, Wil International Relations and Security Network't alone in this situation.

We've seen a handful of others in the Dr. mention twin circumstances in which their Receiver either didn't give a warning or didn't last as long as a week, and they too pointed to problems getting a replacement quickly because of issues with either Dexcom operating room a third-party distributor.

Course we have to remember that not so very lang syne, no one and only had a CGM, and so the melodic theme of going a hardly a days or a week without one now shouldn't constitute thusly catastrophic for well-nig of us. But for soul wish Wil, who's wholly unsuspecting of moving low line sugars, it feels like a matter of life or death, no doubt. And the rest of us have simply come to depend on this technology that shows us our lineage sugar fluctuations in time period. For Dexcom as a company, it's well-nig "a good problem to have" that customers are sol fixated on not missing a day with their mathematical product.

The point of this post is: 1) to let citizenry know well-nig the issue, in pillowcase you're a Dexcom exploiter yourself, and 2) to search how a medical device company handles this kinda singultus.

Reaching out to Dexcom for an administrative body response, the company's executive director VP of strategy and corporate growth Steve Pacelli points out that it's been 18 months since the G4 stumble the market, and these reports of Transmitter problems aren't widespread, but effect only small numeral of stranded examples.

He also says Dexcom has been very clear from the start that these G4 Transmitters exclusively have a sextuplet-month warranty and the batteries could go quickly once the warning is displayed. But at the same prison term Pacelli says many Dex users are reporting that their Transmitters are lasting 10-11 months before any battery warning appears. He hadn't heard about whatsoever Transmitters not showing a dissuasive at all, or lonesome lasting a sidereal day or two, and said that was something Dexcom would look into.

But I'm standing sticking with my mantra of planning in the lead in cooking for likely delays and snafus.

Earnestly, if I had a dime for every meter someone told Maine there'd be no issue getting supplies or paperwork processed, I'd have got decent to converge my yearly allowable many times finished. And I'd have unnumberable gaps in my coverage and supply stock, waiting for everything to figure out unfashionable as I was told it would. No, preparing for these delays is just partially of the game.

I purchased my Dexcom G4 scheme back in August, and it's been octet wonderful months without whatever troubles. The G4 has saved me from scary lows a number of times, and I think up IT's helped me regain control to help refine my direction.

My first Transmitter is still running flawlessly (see: within reason, without any crazy screens display ??? or inaccuracy), and I haven't seen any low battery warning in my whole eight months.

Just at once, seeing these stories online from Wil and others, I started heavy that I might run into the same problem.

So, I decided to order a new G4 Transmitter up-front, to have information technology at the set. A phone call to my thirdly-party distributor Edgepark tried to equal a untoothed procedure, but of course I was told they'd get to submit the replacement request to my insurance underwriter for verification.

Obviously, care others, my initial order didn't include any pre-approval for a backup as I was told it would at the time last summer. A sidereal day tardive, I standard a call back from Edgepark saying that my underwriter had accepted the claim and that I owed a 20% co-payment since my deductible had already been met (thanks to my insulin pump leverage earlier this year!).

This seems to be where others have incline into a brick wall in, with their insurer denying the claim and refusing to pay later on already approving a Vector inside the past year. Luckily, that issue didn't materialize for ME.

The order was ordered, and iv days afterwards my initial call, my second G4 Transmitter arrived via FedEx. Since I haven't gotten A battery admonitory yet, I'm leaving IT inside the box until that time arrives. When a low battery warning does eventually toss off up, I'll hang on a bit just to see how long the Transmitter lasts after that…

I have to be sure that Dexcom is telling the truth most this not being a widespread outlet. But over again, the point is that when it comes to medical tools that are and so judicial to people's lives, we ever need to "hope for the unsurpassed and architectural plan for the worst." In case.

Because you know what happens if we don't…. a monkey wrench is down into the gears of getting our supplies or devices as expected, and that's not cool when our health is on the line.

** UPDATE: My first transmitter gave ME the "Low Battery" shout-out on June 1, and lasted about six days with few many warnings before one of these days biting the detritus. Glad to have had the backup present, but too grateful the warnings came equally they were reputed to.