Frustrations
Yesterday I had one of my few "I HATE diabetes" days!
Here's what happened:
Work has been crazy lately! I just switched positions in my department and now I provide administrative support to 50 people, instead of 7. I'm busy ALL day! Plus, there's a bit of a learning curve, so I'm dealing with goof-ups a few times a day. Plus, I'm PMSing, which always makes things better!
On Monday night I have a bedtime snack, thought I'd covered it with insulin and had a 350 mg/dl at about 3 a.m. Great. I proceeded to be "high-ish" all day yesterday. Hmmm. I was too busy at work to think much about it. At 4:30 p.m. I tested: 397 mg/dl. WTF?!?! Okay, time to check the pump which indicates that there is still 40 units of insulin in the reservoir. I try a "Fill Pump" and get a "blockage detected" alert. I call Smiths Medical. Got a very helpful rep on the phone. He walks me through opening the reservoir and trying a "Fill Pump" without the tubing attached. Got the same blockage message. I remove the reservior and comment to the rep, "It sure looks like its empty." I turned it upside down... it was completely dry!
Apparently my faulty pump set-up skills made the reservoir count off. Great.
I drove home from work (since I'd worked through lunch, I'd already put in 8 hours anyway) and called my husband and my mom crying. So frustrated!
I love my pump, really I do. I'm just going through all the growing pains of starting out. It wasn't that I was frustrated with the pump, I was just frustrated with diabetes. I had planned to do some thesis writing after work, which I couldn't do because I didn't bring any insulin to work with me (aside from in the pump). I HATE when diabetes interferes with my life.
Anyway, I'm over it now and my pump is happily pumping along. So, here's another potentially frustrating diabetes moment, that was kinda funny too:
On Sunday my husband and I took a walk down to Seaport Village. This is one of our favorite places in San Diego, and luckily walking distance from our apartment. I was at 190 mg/dl before we left, so I did a correction bolus and brought my meter and some raisins along. A couple miles into our stroll, I decided to test: 283 mg/dl! What?!? HOW?! Totally frustrated and thinking my pump must be malfunctioning, I did a correction of almost 2 units. We kept walking a bit, and suddenly I remembered: when I put some raisins in a small baggie, I had raisin gunk on my fingers... I even recalled licking my finger afterwards. Which finger did I just test?! So, I tested again: 130 mg/dl. Oh boy! Since the correction bolus had already completed, I did a temporary basal rate of zero and we headed to the cookie cart!
My sweet husband patted me on the back for being so quick to remember the sticky fingers, so that I caught the potential low before it happened. Yeah, well not quick enough, I thought.
Well, at least it was an excuse for a delicious cookie :)
Here's what happened:
Work has been crazy lately! I just switched positions in my department and now I provide administrative support to 50 people, instead of 7. I'm busy ALL day! Plus, there's a bit of a learning curve, so I'm dealing with goof-ups a few times a day. Plus, I'm PMSing, which always makes things better!
On Monday night I have a bedtime snack, thought I'd covered it with insulin and had a 350 mg/dl at about 3 a.m. Great. I proceeded to be "high-ish" all day yesterday. Hmmm. I was too busy at work to think much about it. At 4:30 p.m. I tested: 397 mg/dl. WTF?!?! Okay, time to check the pump which indicates that there is still 40 units of insulin in the reservoir. I try a "Fill Pump" and get a "blockage detected" alert. I call Smiths Medical. Got a very helpful rep on the phone. He walks me through opening the reservoir and trying a "Fill Pump" without the tubing attached. Got the same blockage message. I remove the reservior and comment to the rep, "It sure looks like its empty." I turned it upside down... it was completely dry!
Apparently my faulty pump set-up skills made the reservoir count off. Great.
I drove home from work (since I'd worked through lunch, I'd already put in 8 hours anyway) and called my husband and my mom crying. So frustrated!
I love my pump, really I do. I'm just going through all the growing pains of starting out. It wasn't that I was frustrated with the pump, I was just frustrated with diabetes. I had planned to do some thesis writing after work, which I couldn't do because I didn't bring any insulin to work with me (aside from in the pump). I HATE when diabetes interferes with my life.
Anyway, I'm over it now and my pump is happily pumping along. So, here's another potentially frustrating diabetes moment, that was kinda funny too:
On Sunday my husband and I took a walk down to Seaport Village. This is one of our favorite places in San Diego, and luckily walking distance from our apartment. I was at 190 mg/dl before we left, so I did a correction bolus and brought my meter and some raisins along. A couple miles into our stroll, I decided to test: 283 mg/dl! What?!? HOW?! Totally frustrated and thinking my pump must be malfunctioning, I did a correction of almost 2 units. We kept walking a bit, and suddenly I remembered: when I put some raisins in a small baggie, I had raisin gunk on my fingers... I even recalled licking my finger afterwards. Which finger did I just test?! So, I tested again: 130 mg/dl. Oh boy! Since the correction bolus had already completed, I did a temporary basal rate of zero and we headed to the cookie cart!
My sweet husband patted me on the back for being so quick to remember the sticky fingers, so that I caught the potential low before it happened. Yeah, well not quick enough, I thought.
Well, at least it was an excuse for a delicious cookie :)
posted by Kelsey @ 10:00 AM
4 Comments:
At 7:10 PM,
Minnesota Nice said…
Hey sister - you are flexible and adaptable and it's not fun to have plans disrupted but you handled it well. Your attitude is superb.
Build on the victories.
At 9:29 PM,
Christine said…
I went through a LOT of emotions when I started pumping. I was fairly new to diabetes anyways, but I totally felt like I was starting over. I can't imagine what it would be like if I had an mdi regimen I was comfortable with too when I started.
At 12:40 PM,
Kerri. said…
Very appropriate phrase - "growing pains." Those first few days/weeks/months of pumping can be emotionally chaotic. But, despite how frustrated you might feel sometimes, you are doing a commendable job. It's a lot to learn at once.
I like Minnesota Nice's perspective once again: Build on the victories.
I hope things are going better today!
At 4:23 PM,
George said…
I am still going through those growing pains. Stick with it!
BTW I love Seaport Villiage! When I was in High School (many moons ago) we used to go to National City once a year for a Band Competition and we would always end up performing at Seaport Village. I gotta get down there and take the kids.
Good luck!
Post a Comment
<< Home