Deary me. Been cruising along rather nicely on the pump of late (I’ve been pumping for over two months now, practically a veteran ). I made it through Japan for two weeks without any major issues (quite a few hypos but I blame that more on the carb guesswork than anything), and through the usual spike at a certain time in the month etc etc.

This afternoon we went to a BBQ round at some friends’ who have a new addition to the family. They asked me how the pump is going and I answered with confidence that it was going brilliantly and I’ve not looked back. Then, about half an hour before lunch I tested my glucose. It had been 7.0 about two hours before, and somehow it had gone up to 17.3 – puzzled, I thought through what I’d consumed that morning, etc. I put it down to having two strong coffees and programmed in a large correction bolus. Then, just as lunch was being served up, I tested again. CRIPES – I’d hit 23.9. This was when I knew something was wrong.

Thankfully I carry around a spare cannula with me at all times, but I use the Cleo cannula and because of their size I only carry one. And I also hadn’t packed any extra tubing. So I figured I had one shot at inserting the cannula in a new site and hoping that the spike had been caused by a blockage. I guided it in, then attached the tubing to the new cannula, and pulled out the old one. Instantly I could see (which was a relief) that the old cannula was causing the problem: the 0.9cm tubing was bent in half.

How this happened, I have no idea. I changed sites yesterday and the pump had been operating smoothly since then. I’d not been doing any vigorous exercise around the tummy area. I’d not been given the heimlich manouvre by anyone that I could recall in the last 36 hours. Somehow, some way, the tube had been bent in half while inserted under my skin, and any boluses I’d been giving myself had not gone in.

So – I’d isolated the problem. But by that point I’m sure my BG had hit something like a 24 – gah. Gave myself a massive bolus (the last one didn’t work, remember) and tested, tested, tested over the next few hours to make sure it was coming down.

Interestingly, it took about an hour to move down to around 17 again (as I say, it probably went up before it went down again), and it took a whole two and a half hours to return to 8.1. By which time all the lovely BBQ food and salads had long since been put away, and we’d all hopped in our cars homeward bound. I was left hungry and grumpy. My poor husband.