Anyone swam with a pump or CGM in an aquapac in a pool before???
I have an aquapac and the Dexcom G4 and am heading out for a swim. I am very tempted to put the G4 receiver in the aquapac (which I do anyway to protect it) and rather than keeping it in my bag in my locker, putting it in my bathing suit right next to the transmitter on my stomach to see if it would pick up even intermittent readings. If it did, I’d be able to feel three vibrations for falling or low BG and two vibrations for climbing or high BG.
My pump is severely damaged so that’s not going anywhere near water. I feel like the receiver would be okay in the aquapac submerged in water, but of course I’m still nervous. The receiver is out of warranty, so I’d risk damaging it and having to buy a new one out of pocket ($700 CAD). I’ve swum with my pump in my bathing suit before so have zero concerns that it would get separated from me and lost.
Curious if anyone has done something like this before. I’ve read about the aquapacs and have read about people swimming with cell phones and cameras and never read about one failing.
I would not put the Dexcom Receiver in the water (in any kind of waterproof bag). My suggestion would be to keep it in a waterproof bag next to the pool and hope it sometimes picks you up and get out periodically to check on it.
How much do you trust the aquapac? Do you trust it for US $500 (or $700 CAD) ? I wouldn’t but my trust is usually much lower than anybody else.
Just bear in mind the Dexcom receiver may not even be splashproof. The warranty absolutely does not cover it if it gets wet.
In terms of the Animas Ping - we certainly appreciated how waterproof it was while we were using that.
I’ve heard of lots of people doing this, but my problem is that I can’t see well enough to monitor it. So any time I’m farther than a couple of metres away, someone could take it and I’d have no idea. I don’t trust people not to think it’s some type of cell phone and steal it.
I’ve run it under water (with the Dexcom receiver inside, and with paper before that) and it was fine. I usually put it in the aquapac to keep in my bag just so that if I reach in there with wet hands I won’t damage it. (I’ve put my pump in a Ziploc bag inside my swim bag for the same reason.) This was just an idea that I had, so I wondered if anyone had done it. I’m literally on my way to the pool and may not actually do it, I was just curious since my blood sugar has been so unstable lately.
My receiver is long out of warranty (the warranty ended almost two years ago). So it wouldn’t be covered regardless of how it was destroyed.
The Ping was fantastic to swim with, part of the reason I’m sad that they’re off the market. But with my current Ping taped up with electrical tape, there’s no way I’d consider it waterproof.
Surprisingly enough - I would trust the lifeguard. Could you give the receiver to the guard and ask them to notify you if it alerts? Maybe it will pick up up that far and maybe not. Sometimes the range is surprising (both ways - good and bad).
I usually do introduce myself to the lifeguards and let them know that I have Type 1 and am legally blind. I wouldn’t give them my receiver, because if they had to jump in the water I doubt they would remember to put it down first. But since I have a couple of supplies that I’d like to keep by the poolside (CGM receiver, glucose meter, inhaler, glucose tablets, white cane), I’ll probably let them know that they’re medical supplies and ask if they can keep an eye on them since I can’t see to monitor them. When I swam at my old university campus I used to keep these things literally at the pool edge rather than on a bench somewhere, so I may also ask if I can do that, then at least I could check on them every time I got to that end of the lane.
I ended up not trying it out in the water tonight. By the time I got there and changed and talked to the lifeguard about the layout of the pool (this was my first time there) I only had time for a 20 minute swim, since I didn’t realize the pool closed earlier than usual tonight. So I swam 500 metres and left. I’d suspended my pump for two hours prior to swimming (plus eaten a 10 gram snack without a bolus before going), and then I bolused 2 units after finishing. As you can see from the CGM, my blood sugar did very well, although that’s mostly because it was such a short swim.
My upper limit on my CGM there is 7.0 mmol/L, which is about 125 mg/dl, and my lower limit is 4.5 mmol/L, which is about 80 mg/dl (I have it set there so I’ll get warning before I’m actually low).
i am a swimmer, too, and i just get out of the pool every 1/2 hour to do a finger stick. works perfectly and i don’t have to worry about an over-priced dexcom getting wet. (and my Minimed pump is not waterproof either, so i leave everything in my locker where no one can steal it.) also, all the lifeguards at my pool know that i am D and they know where my BG Tablets are and what to do if i start to sink
Yeah - same. The numbers just don’t have an intrinsic meaning like the ones I am used to seeing. Sure I can convert but it doesn’t have the same immediate mental response.
But the lines on the GCM graph sure make it easier to read !!!
I like mmol/L better, because that’s what I grew up using, but there are so many people posting mg/dl online that I’ve pretty much gotten to the point where I can roughly translate between the two in my head.
I love swimming but have been out of it for a long time. As a teenager and young adult I used to swim regularly and was in a swim club for a while. I’m hoping to get back into a regular routine of swimming to lose some weight and get back in shape.
I don’t always know the lifeguards, since I travel so often swim in unfamiliar pools. Tonight the lifeguard did approach me when I came out onto the pool deck, probably because I was using my cane, and asked if it was my first time there (which it was). She explained how the pool and lanes were configured and I told her I had a glucose meter I was leaving at the edge of the pool.
All I had at the edge was my glucose meter and a tube of glucose tablets. The rest (pump and CGM) stayed in my locker.
how did the lifeguard respond to you? they all know me where i swim, so they know that i hop out to test and then hop back in and continue swimming. also, they ask me how i am doing (after i test) and they know where to find my glucose tabs if i should need assistance. they are very accommodating.
The lifeguard at this pool was great! When she saw me come onto the pool deck she came up and said hello and I asked how busy the pool was and how the lanes were laid out. I said I had a glucose meter and asked if it was OK if I kept it at the edge of the pool. Otherwise she didn’t interrupt me during my swim.
I also always wear a bright red MedicAlert bracelet when I exercise that’s impossible to miss as a medical ID:
I wear a regular stainless steel bracelet the rest of the day, but a combination of wanting to have something that was impossible to miss by the average person in an emergency and the fact that I’ve broken two or three stainless steel bracelets in pools because I sometimes hit the lane ropes or wall with my wrist made me decide to try this. So I’m not too worried about people realizing that I have diabetes and other medical problems should something ever happen. I was thinking tonight that I might get a red case with the medical symbol on it to keep my stuff in at the side of the pool, since that would probably deter people from taking it.
