I guess my pump can go into shock and freeze up because of static or humidity. Well that happen to me yesterday. I was putting my carbs in for a snack and my pump was scrolling through the numbers by itself. I got the bolus in and I was holding my pump and it seemed to go to an easy bolus screen (btw I have a minimed pump) by itself. Then the screen was froze and I went and sat down in a chair and the button error alarm kept going off still froze so I called the help line and they had me take the battery out for 5 minutes and put a new one in. The screen was still froze on battery error and they told me to take the battery out and put a new one in after 2 hours. I waited then did that and again button error was up and froze so I tried one of the other batteries again and it seemed to work until I was trying to set the time and date and it kept freezing and scrolling. I called the help line back and they are sending me a new pump, which should get here tomorrow morning. I do have some extra pens and needles but am not sure on the dosages. I guessed on the basel and haven’t taken a bolus yet for any of my meals. I had mexican food for lunch and my blood sugar was a new high of 399 a few hours afterwords. I don’t think it’s the best to do and am not sure why I haven’t done it yet. I actually miss being on shots now.
Well I really have to go urinate and I’ll test for ketones while I’m at it.
Sorry to hear about this Kasi!
Glad that the pump will arrive tomorrow.
Did you give an injection to correct the high? Your blood sugars might not be great tonight, but be sure to give an injection of some fast acting insulin to bring that high down and prevent ketones.
Take care! Keep us posted on how you are doing!
This is why we all need a backup plan. I didn’t have one when my pump broke but I do now.
To figure your long term insulin dosage simply multiply your basal rate by 24. If you have multiple rates calculate each separately and add thm up. E.g. .30/hr for 13 hrs = 3.9, .40/hr for 11 hrs =4.4, 3.9+4.4=8.3 units of long acting insulin. Write that down and store it with your backup supply.
Good luck !!
Kasi: This happened to me a couple of years ago. My pump just shut down completely (a Minimed). Unfortunately, it was a Saturday afternoon, so I was without a pump until late Monday afternoon, when Fed Ex would deliver. Terry is right on about having a back up plan. I cannot say, at the time, that I did, but I created one very quickly, and it involved lots of testing and lots of injections, since the only insulin I had was novolog. I made sure I tested every hour during the day and every two hours at night, and took small injections on an hourly basis (every two hours at night) to try to duplicate what the pump did. It did not work as well as the pump, but I stayed under 200 until the new pump arrived.
Take injections to get your sugar down, then just be extra diligent until you get the replacement pump. And keep an eye on those ketones.
For the future – when your insurance lets you get a new pump, keep the old one as a back up.
Let me be very specific - the calculation above is only for your long-term insulin (e.g. Lantus) injection, if you have any around. it’s your Basal insulin.
Don’t do this calculation and then inject Novolog or whatever fast acting insulin you’ve been using in your pump. if you don’t have any long-acting insulin available, you’re just going to have to test often, correct as needed and wait for the UPS truck so you can dart out to the street and rip the package from the delivery person’s hands . . .
Terry’s suggestion was what I did when my Minimed pump failed a little over a year ago.
I encourage you to read all the tips I received back then.
So the weirdest thing happened…
Monday morning, my mom decided to try another new battery in my pump and the ignorant thing worked. I’m still going to use the new one that came after I get my rates and ratios set.
I did have a trace of ketones for the first time I ever tested and my new sugar high is now 459. I did take a correction and it went down a little to about 260 a few hours later then 146 in the morning.
It’s a MM722 according to Kasi’s profile.
That would be correct.