BUTTON ERROR!!! eek!!
Or…no insulin pump/ CGM until Tuesday…
You’ve got some long lasting insulin, I presume? Levemir, Lantus, NPH? Watch some fireworks, if you can…
It blew up at the end of a 10 mile run with a group this AM. The run went great but it was bleeping away and I was like “button error” and I was rather sweaty (we start @ 6:30 but it was already like 85 and super humid…) so I was like *$%#&" and fiddled with it, getting it, of course, sweatier.
I figured “well, I’ll take the battery out” but that just reset the escalating bleep cycle, which is nice as the more extreme ones sound like when R2D2 sees stormtroopers. I was about 20 min from home so I called MM and she was like “we are sending you a pump but with the holiday it won’t be there until Tuesday and if you don’t send us the old one we will bill you $3700”. I was getting a bit panicky going “ahh, what I am going to do” while she was badering me about the address and that I neeeded to be there “blah blah blahcakes” and I was like “I’ll just call you later” but then I realized they might not be around later either and calmed down enough to say “ok, ship me the pump, I’ll deal with work…”.
By then I was close to home and, fortunately figured I’d go to the 24 hour Walgreens and score some N. Which, w/o an RX, is $68/ bottle!!! By the time, I got home my BG had already climbed to 260, which I wasn’t thrilled about but I had a shot going “how the hell much of a shot do I take?” I used to think nothing of 10-15U of R but am 12-1 or 10-1. I figured 7U would clear up the mess and then I’d check in a bit so I took a shower and it was 91 about 20 minutes later! I may not need to go out to wach fireworks?
A pity R2D2 couldn’t just crash in and take the doggone N. It’s always kind of scary to go from the pump to MDI and try to figure out the approximations. Maybe bsc could help? Well, Happy Fourth of July Weekend!
Wow, the universe must really have a gripe with you, AR! Just kidding, none of us deserve this kinda karma. Hang in there and don’t let it spoil your weekend.
Yikes, worse than sugar fairies! Maybe insurance will reimburse you? I’m confident that you’ll handle numbers/doses. Try to have a good weekend anyway!
Well…rats.
Lots of TINY shots might do the trick? An IU here, an IU there? Something like that?
Heck, I have no idea how one jumps from pump to MIDI. Fingers and toes crossed?
(Passes AR23 a BIG bag of jelly bellies…)
And the grocery store has been out of Starburst Jelly beans all week to top it off! Argh. I was thinking maybe the lots of small shots but ppunted and decided to go w/ OTC basal N. So far, I think I’ve had one BG that was 92 and the rest have been 75 or less, since I got home around 8:30 AM.
Thanks for the well wishes everyone. I am too frazzled to figure anything out now. I remember the challenge of N, am I dealing w/ the Novolog “tail” now or is this the start of the N, stray basal leftover from before the pump had blown up, who knows…
Ah, the insurance doesn’t come into play, the $$$ is ONLY if I fail to send the old pump back to them within 14 days of receipt of the new one.
Unfortunately you hit a holiday weekend. I accidentally went swimming with my pump and Medtronic had a new one in my hands in about 18 hours. I thought that was pretty good. Also you don’t need to be at home to receive the pump. Take your tracking number and go to the UPS or FedEx website and have them hold it for you at their office. You can then stop by and pick it up at your convenience.
Dude. Don’t you have a Walmart? N is $24 a vial.
I really not sure how I can help, but if I can I am always around.
I think we do but I robotically went to walgreens. I peeled the hell out while blasting 50 cent @ thoz %$&*#=; tho. I’ll go shoot them later.
I think the timeframe sort of precludes help. I suspect I’ll figure it out about the time the new pump gets here? I also suspect I’ll gain about 8 lbs. My shot paradigm is totally out of whack w/ the pump ratios…
Man that just sucks. I would not know how to go back to NPH. I do have something written down for my lantus dosage which I did for a year before pumping.
Now I am having an anxiety attack because I received my new pump days or maybe weeks ago and have not even opened the box and have not returned my old one, hoping MM is behind in their record keeping.
When my previous pump failed I just kept shooting up humalog until my new pump arrived but that was the next day.
Hoping you figure dosages out way before your new pump arrives.
goes to Karen’s house to get her unused pump just kidding! I have been ok all day but I sort of am thinking the wheels will fall off the bus tonight. N sucks.
I thought about loaning you my old one, but then that $3700 stopped me, oy, I feel bad.
That sucks! Hate to hear thar! I’ve been pumping for 23 years now and wouldn’t have a clue on how much to take in a needle. Good Luck!
Feeling SO bad for you!!! 
Last time my pump went out of warranty, I got a new one and saved the old one. Now they BOTH have cracks in them, but I’m just assuming the old one would work if the newer one failed. My next warranty date is in March 2012, and the gods be willing, I will then have TWO old ones. With cracks.
Anyway, you might not be able to get your typical flatlines with N, and there may be more lows (UGH!) but at least it will keep you alive. And YOU have control of it, not dumb nurses in a hospital! Hoping for better news on Tuesday.
$ for the N I meant.
Aw, man, that sucks. My CDE nurse said that if my pump fails I should use the Humalog and just replicate my basal with a shot every 4 hours. Didn’t sound right to me, though … The timing is pretty different. If my basal rate is .2/hour, I don’t think a .8 shot every 4hours will do the same job.
Still, though, 3 days won’t kill you. It’s not like you’ll be running in the 500s. Watch your lows, and try to accept it. I. E. suck it up. But ouch…