Technology FAIL!

So I get up this morning and my DexCom sensor is starting to flake out. Inaccurate readings, it keeps loosing communication with the receiver, no direction arrows. So I take a deep breath and I restart the sensor. No big deal, after all I am on my 13th day with this sensor which is the longest I have gotten so far. So I pack up my stuff and head out to meet a friend for lunch at Red Lobster. I am envisioning cheddar bay biscuits and more carbs then I usually eat at lunch, yummy! Plus I am excited to see my friend.

Fast forward to sitting at the table after ordering lunch. I pull out my trusty One Touch Ping meter to check my sugar and bolus. Oh oh, WTF? The meter is on?!?! There is an error code?!?!?! Here is what I saw:

I start hitting buttons, pulling the batteries out, looking for a reset switch. No luck, the only way the error goes away is if I pull the batteries out which means the darn thing won't work. Then my DexCom receiver begins to beep at me. It is time to put the 2 start up blood sugars in so my CGMS will start working again. Houston, we have a problem here, the darn meter is out of commission! Of course I don't have an extra glucometer in my purse so I have no working meter and no CGMS data to use. There are 3 One Touch meters at home but that is not helping me. So I start to panic and worry that maybe there is something wrong with my pump too. I pull it out and see it is OK. So I bolus for my carbs, just guessing what my sugar might be. I am going to eat lunch out, I haven't eaten out in ages! Lunch goes well and off I go to get back home.

I get home and grab the One Touch Ultra Smart meter I use as a back up and calibrate my DexCom. It won't calibrate, I keep getting a sensor error. ARGHHHHH! TECHNOLOGY FAIL! So I put in a new sensor and I am now waiting for the sensor to be ready to go. Meanwhile I call Animas about the error on the meter and I am transferred to LifeScan techs. Turns out they have to send me a new meter, this one is toast. I will receive the new meter next week sometime, probably on Wednesday.

Maybe there is a down side to being so reliant on all this technology? Or maybe this was a good lesson about what I need to carry with me in my emergency supply kit that I carry in my purse. Now a One Touch mini, extra strips, and a lancet device are crammed in there. Lesson learned this time :)

Those Red Lobster cheesy biscuits sure were good though :)