Ohhhhhhhh. Bleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeurgh. Have had the worst night in a long time overnight. My trusty insulin pump gave up the ghost at 10:20 last night as I was driving home after dinner with friends. I did all the things the manual says to do and got it going for about 20 mins at a time until 11:30-ish when after the sixth time it screamed its siren at me and went blank I gave up on it.
Obviously, being reliant on basal insulin going in every three minutes and not having that means if you don’t do something quickly, you will test and be at an 18 or 20+ mmol/l within a couple of hours. Which is not an option. Particularly when you are 18 weeks pregnant. I texted my pump rep and asked him to call me first thing this morning.
Meanwhile, I got up every hour in the night to check my blood sugar and administer small doses of insulin. I am ABSOLUTELY SHATTERED today.
I talked to my pump rep and the error is pretty much un-fixable over the phone so he’s sending me a replacement ASAP. Unfortunately that’s not going to be til 4pm. So I’m going to be taking a LOT of injections today. My BG is currently 14.7 and I feel yuk, plus soooo hungry and can’t eat anything til it comes down.
Boooooooooooooooooooooooo. And zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
EDIT:
The one silver lining to this cloud is that I had a long-standing breakfast date with two of my fave T1s – Aaron and Flash. So when I turned up and told them what was going on they were (1) Awesome; (2) Understanding; (3) Awesome; and (4) Awesome.
Thanks so much guys.
Posted in Hypos & Hypers, Insulin Pumps, Pregnancy
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8 comments have been made on this post
Sianne wrote
Bugger Nic.
Hopefully your day gets better
I heard my pump is on its way hopefully today or tomorrow. I’d lend it to you but it won’t be here on time
Spoke to my insurance coy about my pump. They said its insured under home and contents and I don’t have to declare it on my policy. This worries me. What do you guys think?
Sara-M wrote
aaaaaarrrrggggggg, grosssss
you poor thing, what a drag.
I was just explaing to a nurse how if you go high that the yuck high feeling liggers longer than the BG reading, and that it sucks…..booohoooo,
tommorow will be a GREAT day….oh how you will appreciate your pump again!
aaron wrote
Hey Sianne,
Get it in writing. I had to nominate the pump as an item and there are all sorts of conditions attached to it’s cover so be really careful (obviously). If you have it in writing from them then they can’t argue it later!
Sianne wrote
Yeah thats what I thought
aaron wrote
Good news all – replacement pump just arrived with Nic 18 hours later…ahh.
Sianne wrote
Not bad
Chris wrote
Nic,
Firstly, backup is indeed very important in a circumstance like you had – I had a similar thing happen to me about 4 and a half years ago. I rang my pump trainer at 5 on a Saturday morning. She lives an hours drive from my place and she was here an hour later with a loan pump. Was I thankful!
Secondly, my insurance company says it is no longer necessary to declare insulin pumps separately. They changed their policy last year. This was by phone when I got hearing aids $9500.00 (ACC funded!). I then queried my pump (which I had listed separately) and was told that it was no longer necessary to declare that sort of thing. I was (as usual) untrusting, so called into the local office a few days later to confirm that it is now the case.
Nic wrote
Thanks for your messages guys…. I have never been so relieved when I was finally re-united with a new, operational pump at about 4:30pm on Friday. Unfortunately, on Saturday night – when I was conveniently isolated on Waiheke Island – the ‘new’ pump started to siren as well. My face just drained of all colour as I face the prospect of yet another night like Thursday night. Took the battery out and cleaned the battery shaft and crossed everything in the hope that it wouldn’t break again – and thank goodness it didn’t. Will definitely be talking to my pump rep again on Monday though as I can’t handle this sort of stress.
Sianne – I had the same feedback as Aaron re listing the pump but that was in Sept last year and depending on the insurance company it’s worth checking. You may as well list it anyway though right?
Have a good week people.
Nic