Well, this set change thing is just as cyberpal Lori (http://brokendump.blogspot.com, why oh why can't I make an HTML link work here?) observes. Some of em are fine and some hurt like the heebie jeebies. So I have a safe, contented tush, but in exchange got the ouchiest set change so far. Maybe a little too high on the tummy, maybe just bad luck. It seems okay now.
Someday the day-to-day events of my life that seem worth recording will have a lot less to do with my ass. I hope.
Jeff, you are so helpful and I will truly continue to ponder the hinder. Err...well, you know what I mean. Thanks so much.
Kathleen, hello, thanks for posting. Yes, nighttime set change, definitely bad. My CDE says I can do a change early in the evening, though, allowing enough time for BG checks before bed. In this case, I had 4.5 hours, which I figured should be time enough to troubleshoot and correct if needed. Of course, if I had to do a replacement set change at 8 p.m., I'd be up kinda late...Right now it's just hard for me mentally to manage it before work, given last week's trouble. I imagine that when I get used to all these processes I'll switch back to the morning.
Finally, a quick plug for a new diabetes blog, www.diabetesmine.com. Let's all say hi to Amy and encourage the posting bliss to perpetuate...
February 28, 2005
You Want Me to Put That WHERE?
Can a person be faulted for not wanting to stab herself in the butt with an infusion set? I think not. No, no person can be rightfully blamed for resistance to a needle in the ass. The butt is, well, sensitive in multiple ways. (Hmm, does that sentence win me a prize for Most Bizarre Blog Statement Ever? How about Most Obvious? Most Wow-Did-You-Really-Have-to-Write-That?)
So: I am faultless in my earnest wish to spare my derriere. Yet it is this very location that my CDE (Certified Diabetes Educator) has recommended for my next (that is, 1 hour from now) set change. Ack. It’s not unheard of in my very limited pumping experience. Cyberpal Jeff N. is a butt stabber (no offense, Jeff!) who fully endorses the practice. And the idea did come up when I first met with the CDE for training. Came up and was promptly dismissed by me. Very promptly.
The problem unfolds thusly: Being a skinny type, I have a little bit of discomfort with 9-mm infusion sets in the abdomen. But when I use the gentler 6-mm sets, I tend to wind up with a bent cannula (reference the gusher post below, ahem). So the CDE says that bending is more likely with the 6-mm. Hence she thinks the butt + a 9-mm set sounds ideal for me. Plenty of fat there!
There are so many things about this that suck so much that I don’t know where to begin. I am not ready for the butt stab.
So: I am faultless in my earnest wish to spare my derriere. Yet it is this very location that my CDE (Certified Diabetes Educator) has recommended for my next (that is, 1 hour from now) set change. Ack. It’s not unheard of in my very limited pumping experience. Cyberpal Jeff N. is a butt stabber (no offense, Jeff!) who fully endorses the practice. And the idea did come up when I first met with the CDE for training. Came up and was promptly dismissed by me. Very promptly.
The problem unfolds thusly: Being a skinny type, I have a little bit of discomfort with 9-mm infusion sets in the abdomen. But when I use the gentler 6-mm sets, I tend to wind up with a bent cannula (reference the gusher post below, ahem). So the CDE says that bending is more likely with the 6-mm. Hence she thinks the butt + a 9-mm set sounds ideal for me. Plenty of fat there!
There are so many things about this that suck so much that I don’t know where to begin. I am not ready for the butt stab.
Boudoir de Pump
The search continues for a comfortable way to sleep with the pump that (a) protects the tubing from cat attack, (b) does not involve shorts or pants, which I find uncomfortable, and (c) does not make me feel like a fugly matron.
The experiment of the weekend involved sleeveless nighties. The pump can be clipped on the armpit—I put the pump inside, against the body, so that the bumpy clip faces out. Of course, depending on how you sleep, this may be uncomfortable. I like to sleep on my tummy, so it sometimes worked pretty well for me. Results varied depending on the nightie material—if it’s too flimsy or lacks a decently thick seam, the pump creates a gigantic sagging armpit hole and also flops around. Now THAT’S sexy…
Today, on a different note, I’m experimenting with changing the set after 3.5 days rather than 3. I have plenty of insulin in the reservoir and the set feels secure; the main question is whether I’ll experience icky skin irritation from pushing the timeline a bit. It’s not so much that I loathe changing the set (though this is not, as noted below, an enjoyable leisure activity); it’s that I’d like to change the set after work rather than before. Hence the need to push it back a few hours today. Am guessing this will be Not a Big Deal.
The experiment of the weekend involved sleeveless nighties. The pump can be clipped on the armpit—I put the pump inside, against the body, so that the bumpy clip faces out. Of course, depending on how you sleep, this may be uncomfortable. I like to sleep on my tummy, so it sometimes worked pretty well for me. Results varied depending on the nightie material—if it’s too flimsy or lacks a decently thick seam, the pump creates a gigantic sagging armpit hole and also flops around. Now THAT’S sexy…
Today, on a different note, I’m experimenting with changing the set after 3.5 days rather than 3. I have plenty of insulin in the reservoir and the set feels secure; the main question is whether I’ll experience icky skin irritation from pushing the timeline a bit. It’s not so much that I loathe changing the set (though this is not, as noted below, an enjoyable leisure activity); it’s that I’d like to change the set after work rather than before. Hence the need to push it back a few hours today. Am guessing this will be Not a Big Deal.
February 25, 2005
Practice
This is so obvious that it’s embarrassing, but then again that emotion is a motif of this blog, so what the hell. After the debacle that was Tuesday, cyberpal tippytoes pointed out to me that you can practice pushing those two stupid buttons on the set insertion device. All you have to do is pull down on the spring-loadie thing and, um, push the buttons. It works even though there’s no infusion set in the device.
Well, duh.
Seriously, I never even thought to try this. I had a list of steps and I was afraid to deviate from it because...yeah, because I’m not so good with the physical world! Hee hee. So. This morning is once again a Time for Change. I decide to practice. Almost immediately (impressive, I know) I make the groundbreaking discovery (ahem) that not only can I practice pushing the buttons, I can even put the serter on the spot where I plan to place the new set and practice at the exact angle I’ll need to use for the set change! Wow!!!
Many, many button pushes later, I change the set for real. I am thinking: Push the buttons at the same time. Push the buttons at the same time. I push the buttons...at the same time.
Thanks for the tip, tip.
Well, duh.
Seriously, I never even thought to try this. I had a list of steps and I was afraid to deviate from it because...yeah, because I’m not so good with the physical world! Hee hee. So. This morning is once again a Time for Change. I decide to practice. Almost immediately (impressive, I know) I make the groundbreaking discovery (ahem) that not only can I practice pushing the buttons, I can even put the serter on the spot where I plan to place the new set and practice at the exact angle I’ll need to use for the set change! Wow!!!
Many, many button pushes later, I change the set for real. I am thinking: Push the buttons at the same time. Push the buttons at the same time. I push the buttons...at the same time.
Thanks for the tip, tip.
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