Dexcom Share2 begins shipping next week - All the details within!

Dexcom Share2: What is it? How do you get one? When will it ship?

What is it?

The Share2 is a Dexcom G4 Platinum receiver with bluetooth capabilities. You may hear it referred to as the Dexcom Share2, G4 Platinum with Share or Bill (I made that last one up).

With bluetooth built in, the Share2 receiver will be able to send your Dexcom sensor information directly to an iPhone or iPod touch. Why do you care about that? I''ll tell you...

After you install the new Dexcom Share app from the Apple app store onto an iPhone or Touch that will remain with the Dexcom wearer, the information being sent to that device will be magically transported to Dexcom's cloud server where it can be redistributed (if you want) to loved ones, caregivers, parents and if you heard my recent podcast interview with NASCAR driver Ryan Reed... even your pit crew chief - as long as they have an iPhone or touch with the Dexcom Follow app installed.

If you are more of a visual learner... check out this handy diagram I borrowed from Dexcom.com

How do I get it?

If you previously purchased the original Dexcom Share cradle you will be upgraded to the Dexcom Share2 for free. 

If you:

• Purchased G4 PLATINUM Receiver after January 1, 2015 — FREE upgrade to Dexcom G4 PLATINUM Receiver with Share
• Purchased G4 PLATINUM Receiver between March 1, 2014 and December 31, 2014 — Eligible to upgrade to Dexcom G4 PLATINUM Receiver with Share for $199
• Purchased G4 PLATINUM Receiver before March 1, 2014 — Insurance or cash pay prices will apply

Upgrade offers are good through April 30, 2015 - Orders can be placed beginning March 2, 2015 at 1-888-738-3646 or on Dexcom.com

When will it ship?

Dexcom is anticipating shipment to begin on March 2, 2015. It's posted on their website so I'd say that's pretty much a certainty even though they use the word 'anticipated' - I'd bet that just CYA. I'd be comfortable betting that it'll ship in three days from today on March 2nd.

Other stuff you may be wondering...

• Dexcom G4 PLATINUM Receiver with Share is approved for both adults and children as young as 2 years old.
• Your supply of sensors and current transmitter work with the Share2.
• If you are currently using the Share cradle, your Share app will need to be upgraded.
• The Follow app remains unchanged.
• Other than previous statements from Dexcom that it is being worked on and expected to be available soon, No word about when Android compatibility with be available.
• The Dexcom cloud service is free.
• Share2 does not need to be plugged into an electrical source, totally portable.
• Previous statements from Dexcom indicate that running the Share and Follow apps won't drain your iPhone/Touch batteries significantly. 
• Existing Cradle owners will be contacted by email but must call Dexcom to initiate upgrade process.
• (updated info) No preorders. Ordering begins March 2, 2015 

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My Interview with Ryan Reed

Fresh from his first NASCAR victory, 21 year old Ryan Reed sits down with me to talk about his type 1 diabetes diagnosis, racing with diabetes and what it feels like to win his first race. 

You really do not want to miss a second of my conversation with Ryan. You'll learn everything from how he reacted when a doctor told him that he couldn't drive a race car after his diagnosis, to what 190 M.P.H. feels like - and just how does he keep his blood sugar from crashing in a 150º race car?

Seriously, if you haven't tried my new podcast yet, this is definitely the week to jump in.

One your mark...

Get set...

GO! listen to the podcast

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Helping Children with Diabetes Gain Independence

This is the finale of the series. Links to previous posts are below, if you'd like to read it in order.

I was asked recently on my blog if I had any tips for a family that was considering Arden’s school day diabetes management plan. Anything that I hadn’t mentioned – perhaps a tip that would make the transition smoother. I responded in part by saying, “I didn’t know what I was doing when I started either.” I think that’s the most powerful message of support I could offer anyone. None of us know what to expect when we forge our own way with type 1 diabetes. All we have is the knowledge that we’ve been able to accumulate, but I think that’s a lot.

Consider how little you knew on the day that your child was diagnosed and remember how your doctors only began to scratch the surface when they explained diabetes care. Now, you probably have more diabetes knowledge than three doctors combined. I know that I am the foremost expert on my daughter’s physiology. I can, with great accuracy, predict how her body will react to insulin, exercise, stress and all of the factors that we pay attention to. I didn’t learn these things in school or at a doctor’s office, I learned them by experiencing diabetes – and that’s how our kids are going to learn.*

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I want to caution you to not get too comfortable and to always keep a watchful eye as our children take over more and more control of their day-to-day diabetes health considerations. Because even though they are some of the most courageous and levelheaded kids a person will ever meet, they are still kids. I think they want and need to know that we are here. “We” doesn’t have to mean just parents. If you end up trying Arden’s plan in school, please remind the teacher that your child’s diabetes independence doesn’t mean that they don’t need an adult to be concerned and watchful at times. My friend’s new book reminded me recently that sometimes the most responsible children tend to get forgotten and that space can lead to apathy for them. Sometimes the trust is easy to take advantage of, especially if the child is experiencing diabetes burnout. It can happen to anyone and it will, so always remember to be a presence during those formable years.

It’s my sincere wish that this series has helped you to feel powerful and more in control. I hope that something I’ve shared has given you a new perspective and made you feel like the idea of anything being possible isn’t just something you read on an Internet meme. I also want to thank you, because I learned something from writing these pieces. I learned that I was getting too complacent and that we should be taking what we’ve learned from the last year of managing Arden’s diabetes from school and make something new happen.

I’m very excited to share that by the time you read this Arden will have gone to a concert with her best friend and her friend’s mother, without me or my wife in attendance. I’m going to take the things that I’ve learned from Arden’s diabetes management at school and use them to let go a little more. I’m going to use them to give Arden more freedom, so that diabetes can be a smaller part of her life. It may take a lot of self-control not to drive up the interstate behind our friend’s car and sit in the parking lot of the stadium, but I’m going to use the same courage I felt in an e-mail one of you sent me recently. If you can read about what I do and find the strength to try… so can I.

Thank you so much for reading!

My best,
Scott

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READ THE SERIES

part 1
part 2
part 3
part 4
part 5
Currently reading

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Dexcom G4 Platinum Continuous Glucose Monitoring System WITH Share

Dexcom receives FDA approval for their G4 Platinum Continuous Glucose Monitoring System WITH Share, "faster than expected" and that's great news for tons of reason. 

On Monday January 26, 2015 Dexcom announced in a press release that their G4 Platinum Receiver with Share built in was approved by the FDA in under 120 days (Thank you FDA!). Later in the day Dexcom held a webcast to make the announcement. I've listened to the webcast, pulled out the most interesting parts and included them for you here in my third and final microphone test before my new podcast officially launches. 

If you listened to the audio you just heard that there is some crazy exciting news coming out of Dexcom's headquarters this week that's going to benefit everyone who uses a Dexcom CGM. 

If you weren't able to listen here are just a few details from the announcement plus links to Dexcom's complete press release and webcast.

• The Share receiver is anticipated to ship to new patients in early March 2015.
• All patients who purchased a Share cradle will receive a free upgrade to the Share receiver.
• All purchasers of a G4 Platinum receiver from January 1, 2015, until the Share receiver is shipped, will receive a free upgrade to the Share receiver.
• There will be a low cost cash upgrade to the Share receiver for those patients who are still under warranty with their existing receiver.
• The Share receiver will be compatible with future generation Dexcom sensor systems.

The entire press release is here

The entire webcast is here

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I'll be officially launching the Jukebox Podcast very soon - more details are coming. The Jukebox Podcast is on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter - please follow!

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The Marathon Runner Who Jumps Over All Hurdles

We all get knocked down from time to time -- that's just life. Robin Arzon has perhaps experienced this more times than could be considered her fair share. The story of her life reads like the written account of a heavyweight boxing match that won't end -- because nothing keeps Robin down for very long.

The daughter of immigrant parents, Robin originally planned to follow in her father's footsteps and become an attorney. She chose to get her undergraduate degree at NYU's Gallatin School of Individualized Study. Robin didn't take the course load that one may expect of a prelaw student, opting instead to take her father's advice, "You will learn how to be a lawyer in law school, take the classes you want to take." 

About a year before she would graduate from Gallatin, Robin met a couple of friends at Bar Veloce in New York's East Village. A casual, fun night out with friends soon turned into a life-altering experience that would propel Robin to a new direction, years later. That night a ranting man armed with three hand guns, a sword, kerosene, a lighter and the desire to "choose when he dies" was out on the street exacting his plan to die in a fire while killing as many people as he could. The gunman approached and shot a man on the street. The wounded man took refuge in the closest place he could find, Bar Veloce, and the gunman followed him into the business. Upon entering the bar the gunman forced all of the patrons, Robin included, into the back where he huddled them together and soaked them in kerosene. 

Early on in the confrontation the man spoke of wanting to talk to the police, and Robin served as his line to the police while being held as a human shield. Afraid but not wanting to give up, Robin spent that time trying to talk to the man in the hopes of ending the nightmare. When the police arrived Robin was being held by the madman by her hair, still soaked in kerosene, with a gun and a lighter being held to her head. Two patrons tried to jump the man as he held Robin; one was shot but the commotion of the struggle was enough to allow the police to storm the room and subdue that man.

This harrowing experience took a toll on Robin, but she got back up, graduated, went to law school at Villanova and practiced for seven years at a prestigious firm before making her next decision that flew in the face of conventional wisdom.

It was during law school that Robin found, very much by mistake, her passion for running and fell in love with it. She describes that in the years after much of her time in the law office was spent "counting down the minutes" until she could go for a run. This is all from someone who was made fun of on the playground for how she ran and who was forging notes as a teenager to get out of gym class. Robin then made a choice that not many could, she quit her safe life, one that she worked very hard for, to follow what her heart was saying.

Initially Robin worked at being a freelance sports journalist and had "no idea what I was doing." Robin started a blog, interviewed Olympic athletes with her cracked iPhone and surrounded herself with like-minded people -- kindred spirits who love to sweat. 

Robin realized that if you put the work in, you can become whatever you want to be. Robin created a new life as an "Ambassador of Sweat" -- becoming a running coach, cycling instructor and ultramarathoner. 

A believer in her mother's words that she is from "resilient stock," Robin says, "Resilience and willpower can seem finite but they can be recharged." Those theories would be tested last year when Robin was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at the age of 32. 

Robin thought she was jet lagged after returning from India with her mother and sister. Her mother, who is a physician, was worried that her symptoms could mean something more and she sent Robin to have blood work. Two days later she had an endocrinologist and was taking insulin to manage her blood glucose. Robin's first thought wasn't why me or what next. Robin isn't the type of person to worry about obstacles, all she wanted to know from her doctor is what tools she would need to be healthy with Type 1 diabetes while being able to continue her life as an athlete. Her doctor put her on an OmniPod insulin pump just days after her diagnosis because of its tubeless design and a Dexcom continuous glucose monitor so she could watch her glucose values in real time.

My story on Robin also ran on Huffington Post Healthy Living and has been picked up by Yahoo and AOL. Thank you for all of the great support!

Robin made good use of both tools recently when she finished the New York City Marathon, her fourth marathon with Type 1 diabetes. The NYC Marathon was the first marathon she ever ran, four years ago, and now she says Type 1 diabetes has made her stronger because it has made her more determined to accomplish her goals. 

"I really believe we need to trust our struggles," says Robin. "It can be hard to find reason and rationality in a disease like diabetes when you think your body should be doing what it's meant to do but it doesn't. Trust your struggle. There's always light through the cracks. Find inspiration online, from friends and family, from the community, and it will reinforce your power."

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