Pump Successes and Failures
Yesterday I expereienced both the good and the bad of pump therapy.
I got to work yesterday and realized I only had two test strips with me. I've been incredibly sleepy lately (have I mentioned I'm writing a thesis and working full time?!) and have been pretty forgetful. Case in point: I realized at 4:30 p.m. the other day that I had two completely different earrings on!!
Anyway, I had two strips, when I usually use 4 or more during a typical day of work followed by thesis writing at Starbucks. Hmm. I had to trust the pump and just see how I felt. I tested at 11 a.m. 107 mg/dl. Had a bagel with cream cheese (such a no-no before the pump!) bolused for 75 carbs. At around 2:30 I had a small soup and a few Doritos; bolused for 30 carbs. Used my last test strip at 4:00 p.m.: 110 mg/dl. I still had almost 1 full unit on board, so when I had my nonfat, sugar-free vanilla latte at 4:45, I didn't bolus. When I got home at 7:00 I came in at 111 mg/dl. WOW! I love my pump :)
Before dinner I did a site change because I was down to 18 units in my reservoir. I didn't like my first site... so I pulled it around 9 p.m. and entered a new one. After a light dinner, at 9:30 p.m. my blood sugar was 244 mg/dl. Hmmm. A half hour later it was 282 mg/dl. I gave myself 2 units of insulin by syringe. Okay, I'll spare you the play by play of testing, bolusing and injecting... but at 11:30 I'd had it and called the support line at Smiths Medical.
Here's the thing, these highs after site changes have happened during my last three changes. Last Friday night I hit 400 mg/dl and felt TERRIBLE! I scared my husband, who'd never really seen me "sick" with diabetes. But, then the pump would kick in and be fine.
So, I talk to the support person and come to find out, I haven't been priming the pump correctly. I was basically doing all the right steps, but bubbles were obviously forming and thus I was getting air, not insulin, during the first 8-10 hours of each site change. This morning I remembered the post and comments on Jen's blog about bubbles in tubing. I was doing EVERYTHING wrong. Due to my hectic schedule, I wasn't often home long before I did a change, thus I was using very cold insulin straight out of the refridgerator. Also, I've also forgotten to fill the vial with air before drawing up insulin, I did it with my syringes too.
Well, I've learned a valuable lesson about pump set up now! I'll cut myself some slack, today makes exactly 2 weeks on the pump... I'm expected to have some start-up challenges, right?!
I got to work yesterday and realized I only had two test strips with me. I've been incredibly sleepy lately (have I mentioned I'm writing a thesis and working full time?!) and have been pretty forgetful. Case in point: I realized at 4:30 p.m. the other day that I had two completely different earrings on!!
Anyway, I had two strips, when I usually use 4 or more during a typical day of work followed by thesis writing at Starbucks. Hmm. I had to trust the pump and just see how I felt. I tested at 11 a.m. 107 mg/dl. Had a bagel with cream cheese (such a no-no before the pump!) bolused for 75 carbs. At around 2:30 I had a small soup and a few Doritos; bolused for 30 carbs. Used my last test strip at 4:00 p.m.: 110 mg/dl. I still had almost 1 full unit on board, so when I had my nonfat, sugar-free vanilla latte at 4:45, I didn't bolus. When I got home at 7:00 I came in at 111 mg/dl. WOW! I love my pump :)
Before dinner I did a site change because I was down to 18 units in my reservoir. I didn't like my first site... so I pulled it around 9 p.m. and entered a new one. After a light dinner, at 9:30 p.m. my blood sugar was 244 mg/dl. Hmmm. A half hour later it was 282 mg/dl. I gave myself 2 units of insulin by syringe. Okay, I'll spare you the play by play of testing, bolusing and injecting... but at 11:30 I'd had it and called the support line at Smiths Medical.
Here's the thing, these highs after site changes have happened during my last three changes. Last Friday night I hit 400 mg/dl and felt TERRIBLE! I scared my husband, who'd never really seen me "sick" with diabetes. But, then the pump would kick in and be fine.
So, I talk to the support person and come to find out, I haven't been priming the pump correctly. I was basically doing all the right steps, but bubbles were obviously forming and thus I was getting air, not insulin, during the first 8-10 hours of each site change. This morning I remembered the post and comments on Jen's blog about bubbles in tubing. I was doing EVERYTHING wrong. Due to my hectic schedule, I wasn't often home long before I did a change, thus I was using very cold insulin straight out of the refridgerator. Also, I've also forgotten to fill the vial with air before drawing up insulin, I did it with my syringes too.
Well, I've learned a valuable lesson about pump set up now! I'll cut myself some slack, today makes exactly 2 weeks on the pump... I'm expected to have some start-up challenges, right?!
posted by Kelsey @ 10:57 AM
5 Comments:
At 3:39 PM,
George said…
You are right about the challenges. I am still figuring stuff out and I assume this is a long process before we become "Jedi Pumpers."
Stick with it, it is awesome!
Congrats on your sucesses!
At 8:52 PM,
Johnboy said…
oh yeah, kelsey, you will have chalenges...i have too...not the ones you have coz the cold insulin was covered in my training, but i have had a site actually come out unbenknownst to me, and stuff like that.
some days i have corrected alot...others very little.
i'm not quite in a groove yet, but i am patient and expect to keep learning...i know you will too! :)
At 9:26 PM,
Scott K. Johnson said…
What a super job with the blood sugars even though you were short on strips! Amazing!
And let me tell you guys, even after pumping for 10 years, you are still figuring stuff out.
You did all the right things, and learned some valuable things in the process. That's what it's all about, learning.
At 4:52 AM,
Shannon said…
I think you're doing great so far!
A little trick we do to eliminate as many bubbles as possible is to pre-fill cartridges and set them in a cabinet. Everyday, we flick newly formed bubbles to the top and push them out.
By the time we're ready to change Brendon's infusion set, most bubbles are gone and we rarely have a problem with bubbles in the line.
At 6:20 PM,
Sarah said…
wow, I don't do anything special to eliminate bubbles....And I've never had a problem! Well I do fill the insulin bottle with air, but sometimes I use real cold insulin and sometimes room temperature. I never really pay that much attention to it I guess! And i've been doing this for 11 years! I feel kind of stupid!
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