But found it after going through the garbage… yuck! When we realized it was missing tonight I remembered throwing out the old sensor and was horrified to think that the transmitter was still attached. Thankfully it turned out that I had only thrown it out yesterday. For a moment I was worried I had thrown it out two days ago and it would be gone forever as yesterday was garbage day. You can imagine I was praying like crazy, and am so thankful that God was good to us!
Clearly we are rookie Dexcom users. The problem is that my daughter finds the insertion super painful, so I’ve been giving her a break of a few days after the old one comes out, or in this last case, when it failed on day 6… grrr!!! So now we have a secure spot that we will put the transmitter for those rest days so that mamma doesn’t have to go digging through the trash again!
Anyone else ever do something super dumb like this?
I’ll admit to that, but I caught it right away since I was starting another sensor session. Yeah, that little piece of plastic just looks like another disposable bit!
I did that, and the transmitter remained, affixed to the expired sensor, in the trash for at least a day in freezing temperatures.
Luckily, all was well. But digging it out sure wasn’t fun.
Haven’t done that one yet but can’t tell you how many times a hysterical parent would call my restaurant in a panic due to retainer being thrown out. Only one time did the parent make their child go through the trash. Since a nasty thing to have to do. Glad it was only one day!
But I do have to ask, aren’t we should to treat them like sharps? I put mine into a sharp container so I think it would be hard for me to get it into the container. Just curious on everyone’s disposal procedures.
I’ve not done that - mostly because I never want to take a break, so frequently, the transmitter goes into the new sensor even before I remove the old one! - but I did once open a new insulin pen, after running a few units short of a pump fill from the old one, then promptly toss out the new one keeping the old, empty one instead. Didn’t find that until the next pump fill day, so there was no way to go hunting for the lost one! Good thing I wasn’t using vials…
All of my mishaps with expensive devices seem to be with those related to my visual impairment rather than diabetes (maybe because by the time I got my pump and Dexcom I’d already had these experiences, so am a lot more careful!). When I was a teenager I threw out a braille watch (cost ~$100) because I’d put it on my tray when eating lunch one day and then just tossed all the contents of the tray into the trash. (It was a birthday present from my parents, and I never did tell then why I stopped wearing it!) I also was once testing out backpacks before buying to see if they’d fit all my gear and left a $1,600 video magnifier in the pocket of a backpack at Walmart. I realized that evening when I went to use it. Luckily I was living with my parents at the time, so my mom drove me across the city to the store, we got there five minutes before it closed, and the backpack had not been sold nor the device stolen. Ever since then, I try to be a lot more mindful when handling these expensive devices that I don’t throw them out or misplace them!
Well it’s strange in terms of pain for her. We’ve only ever used the arm and the first time we inserted a sensor she was fine. But when it came off after a week and she saw the filament, it freaked her out a little. Now she says it hurts when we insert it, but I’m not sure if it’s actual pain or the thought of what’s inside her arm.
I can’t say I have. Yet… But I wouldn’t be surprised if I do someday… I am the user/victim (not the parent), so it may be a slightly different situation, but some things that I have done are (I use Minimed/Medtronic, and some of these are stories from earlier versions of infusion sets):
Insert the infusion set before filling the tubing (in other words, I would have been filling myself with air if I didn’t notice)
Forgetting about the metal needle and letting it break off, therefore needing to change the whole infusion set to remove the metal needle
Forgetting to put the transmitter on the charger, therefore being unable to use it when I changed it
All the stories of stupid things we’ve done that we will have to tell someday…
