Well, actually it was the end of my sensor session. Pinkie (my Dexcom G5 CGM) and I have just returned from a 5-week trip through Europe and Tokyo, and I miss her.

(This photo is my two dear friends putting extra tape around my Dexcom adhesive to keep her in place. We are in the women’s bathroom at a bookstore in Tokyo. Yes, we got some strange looks.)

The last sensor that I wore on my trip lasted 17 days. That’s the longest a sensor has ever lasted for me – a week longer than usual. For the first time I had put Pinkie on my arm.  I’m not sure if it’s where I placed Pinkie that gave her extra life or this was just a stellar sensor right out of the bag. I’ll know better when I put the next one on, on my arm again.

I feel a sense of loss going it alone these days. I find myself reaching for my iPhone several times an hour to see where my blood sugar is. My hand moves without thinking toward the phone and I have to stop myself. When I forget, I stare sadly at the G5 app screen telling me, “Tap to start 2 hour sensor warm-up.”

Yet while I miss Pinkie, I need a few days off. Just for the freedom of it. No doorways to worry about knocking into. No fear hoisting my knapsack over my shoulders full with groceries. No itching where the adhesive and extra tape have been placed. It’s a joy to feel light and unencumbered again. Still, I think of her through the day.

I wonder has anyone identified CGM withdrawal as a condition? Do I need a 12-step program? Is there a study being conducted on long-term addiction ramifications? Is it a good thing? A bad thing? Or just a thing?

End of life care for humans involves making people comfortable and pain-free during their last days and hours. Perhaps there should be end of life care for CGM wearers when they are between sensor sessions.  It would begin when your sensor gives you the “7 remaining hours” alert message.