Thursday, July 10, 2008

Did the Sugar Fairy visit me while I slept?

A few mornings ago, I awoke a little after 6:00 to use the bathroom. This is a normal routine for me. I rarely need to make a bathroom run during the night, but by 6 or 6:30 my bladder has had enough.

I noticed I was more thirsty than usual, but wasn't too worried. I had cooked some home-made Chicken Tortilla Soup for dinner the night before and figured maybe it was a bit heavy on the salt. Surely that was the cause for my thirst, and not a visit from the Sugar Fairy.

But as I washed my hands, I felt something smacking against my shins. I looked down, horrified to find it was the end of my tubing. I was even more horrified when I couldn't get the "quick disconnect" to connect back into my infusion set.

I woke up Sweetpea (my husband, who hates to get up early) and asked him to help me connect the tubing, but he couldn't get it to snap back in either. Best I can tell, I must have rolled over on the infusion set in the night and smooshed it but good. (It was toward the back of my hip.) But what time did this happen? With an impending sense of doom, I tested my blood sugar . . .

3 . . . .

2 . . . .

1 . . . .
327!!!!!!!!

In retrospect, 327 wasn't THAT bad. It could have been much, much worse. It could have been "off the meter". But, as a newbie pumper in the midst of my first equipment malfunction, I promptly freaked out and cried to Pea that I didn't want to end up in the hospital with The Big K.

Thank goodness for Sweetpea. He told me to calm down, and began to gather my supplies from the dresser drawer. In the mean time, I took an injection to adjust. Within a few minutes or so, a new set was safely in place. And by mid-morning, my blood sugar was a nice (if a bit low) 71.

All in all, I was very lucky to catch it pretty quickly. But I'm still a bit nervous each night, wondering what exactly happened and if it will happen again. Has anything like this ever happened to you? (I use the Minimed Quick-Set.)

6 comments:

  1. I use the silhouette (sp?) infusion set (45 degree, rather than 90 angle), but I did have a bad infusion set a few months ago that would not stay "clicked" in. It would pop out randomly, and it would click back into place if I pushed hard but it kept coming out. At one point, my 2 year old spotted it hanging out of place, and kept saying "uh-oh, uh-oh" over and over. Maybe it was just a defective infusion set? I am sorry, there is nothing worse than waking up that high!

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  2. I started out with unomedical comfort then moved onto and fell in love with the unomedical inset.

    I have not encountered any type of disconnect though.

    My best to you once again on your new journey. Remember, you Are doing great!!!

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  3. Hey Karen! Thanks for your comment on my post (I responded on the entry, with an update on the situation as well). I've had something like this happen before, but that was only when I let a site go too long and it had already been loose. I move around a lot when I sleep, so if the site is already loose it will probably come out all the way and lead to that very uncomfortable early morning high blood sugar you experienced. I use the minimed sof-set, though I used the quick-set for a while a couple of years ago. Anyway, don't be discouraged though.. There are always some rough spots when you start pumping but I'm sure you'll work them out and situations like this will be few and far between!

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  4. Thanks for your comment and thank you for walking for a cure. Don't give up on a cure in your lifetime just yet. We've got work to do!

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  5. Karen, I had a whole box of sets that wouldnt click in. It popped out on me once. But, the others would click back in if i disconnected out of the shower. That was really annoying especially in the morning when I am in a rush to go to work. I dont know what kind you have. I have MM they gave me a brand new box overnight. All i did was call them.

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  6. Karen -
    Infusion Set crap happens, call minimed and let them know of your infusion set issues. They should send you a few sets to make it "right."
    You rock sister! Now, if only we could get our infusion sets to do the same!
    k2

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Thanks for your comment!