Two things, when your meter reads lower than you expect, do you do a finger prick tests to valid if so, and by how much? Of course, a sensor totally failing before it's time is pretty unequivocal, but it's good to have the context for Abbott.
Secondly, if necessarily, Abbott will hold and order for you, or deliver to an alternative address where necessary.
I once had one go flat-line "Lo" on me just a few days into it's life, and just as I was starting an overseas trip. They were even willing to send the replacement in the Tropics, but to be honest, importing anything there is a nightmare, never mind something they have no clue about.
In that case, they held the order, on my account, awaiting fulfilment until I gave them instructions. All I did was email them a few days before coming home and they sent it out to be with me a day or two after I got home. They were also content to send it elsewhere, if we had been due to have friends or family visiting us.
On that particular instance, I had ended up uncovering an email address, by a load of other emailing, as calling the helpline form overseas, and with a decent time difference seemed just a bit too much.
If all your efforts fail to sort out a solution, drop me a PM and I'll go searching for the email address.
I don’t finger prick as my doctor won’t even advocate any kind of testing for any of his T2 patients not on insulin, but with an A1C off 111 I made the decision to scan and test. I write for a living so finger pricking at least 9 times a day is really not terribly practical, especially as more than one person now has told me that a T2 Mellitus on metformin has absolutely no right to even use Freestyle (utter rot... I am sure Abbott’s will take anyone’s money!!!).
The issues I have are:
1) I am at a tournament and not in a position to have my mail delivered to the venue. Then I am straight up to schmooze and try and drum up some IT writing work in ... the exotic location on Manchester (go on, you are all so jealous of my globe trotting, I know hahah)
2) I am pretty sure that if I was really below 3MMOL each day for the last few days I would be barely able to get out of bed, much less be running back and forth between practice sessions, press conferences, transcribing, and cutting audio and video together. I have had enough “experience”with these varmints to know that this is a sensor where maybe the filament is not all the way in, but as it hasn’t reverted to continuous ‘LO’ readings, my dilemma is... do I use my last spare and order a batch first thing on Monday including ripping into them about yet ANOTHER short expiry date issue and failure, or do I stick it out because high carb stuff does push it up (but up is relative when it is starting on the floor!!!)
3) Do I remove it (because the low readings are not helping my overall averages) and just ride out the next 10 days with nothing and then start afresh hopefully with more reliable sensors.
I have trained my let DPD driver to FINALLY read the instructions on my door and to use my secure parcel box so at least I know it is likely to be there when I get back, but I am heading straight to Manchester after this tournament for a night and then on earlier for the rest of the week. But being away for 10 days means I can really only get one thing delivered in this time frame, so I am afraid I angered someone who got annoyed when I said that ordering a finger-prick tester online would not help as it would mean that would be the priority for delivery, not the new sensors.
An action obviously for once I am at home and can get to the giant Boots in my local town is to get a finger-prick tester kit for “emergencies”and it just annoys me greatly that my gut feel this sensor is dodgy is going to skew my readings/estimates,
Then again... since getting back from Singapore I haven’t really been able to get going with my plans for at least one solid LC meal in the evenings... so am I just better riding out this last push and then by then hopefully the dates on the sensors will be well into 2018...
I have been keeping a record and my first four were all 2018 dates and I had no issues at all with dodgy readings or skin irritation. Then again by BG was so high the numbers had no choice but to come down!!!
I have the spare, and as an aside this really hacks me off as I really needed to test the cavillon spray as a barrier to reduce skin irritation and now I have no idea if THAT is the issue!
I think for now I will keep it in and I will call them on Monday first thing st 8am and really give them hell.
My options therefore:
Wait for the little git to die, and use the spare then
See if when I talk/yell (j/k yelling gets you nowhere) at them on Monday they will send a gratis sensor with the order in a goodwill gesture for the three issues I have had thanks to their stupid short dates.
At the end of the day my last A1C is still high. I still have a long way to go before even getting close to what is termed pre-diabetic levels so despite what some have told me about being a blight on the NHS and their T1 rights of access to sensors (yes really), I will continue to spend my hard earned on anything that will help me manage my diabetes.
