I'm searching for information and experiences from other pumpers that have gone under general anesthesia? I have a minor surgery coming and i guess my concern is: "what do i do?" should i go off of the pump for a few days and use long-acting insulin? this is an out patient procedure and I should be home after a few hours of recovery. therefore, the move to long acting seems silly.
I suppose that some of my concern stems from a short time i spent in the hospital a few years back due to food poisoning. The hospital took over my insulin delivery. apparently they don't allow patients to deliver their own medications due to possible mistakes and law suits. it really bothered me...i'm still not sure why. so i figure that they will want me to remove my pump in this situation. I just believe that there would be less drama if I was able to stay on my pump and my typical routine.
please share your experiences...and thank you!
Talking to the surgeon and anesthesiologist about allowing you to remain on pump therapy is important. When I needed surgery, I basically told both that I managed my diabetes very well on the pump and was not going to allow them to mess with that. I made sure everything was stable before going into surgery, they monitored my BGs and I was able to continue managing as soon as waking up from the surgery. Stand up for yourself and your preferred method of managing your diabetes. Let us know how everything goes for you.
I’ve been hospitalized several times but nothing too serious although one time it was for Pneumonia and a fever they couldn’t get to go away. Anyway, each time I was in I was in charge of my D. When I’ve had minor operations I always stayed attached to my pump. I didn’t have to get certification I let then know before surgery that I would stay attached. They monitored while I was out and if needed gave me glucose. I’ve lived with this disease over 50 years and if I don’t know me no one else does. I’m not willing to have someone experiment with my D until they get it right. If I’m not able to manage I have an educator who has records of how I manage my D…taking control is more then monitoring and other necessary things we must do.
JohnG, Donna Heun, Betty and Danny,
This all sounds like great advice. And i now know what i’m going to do…i’ll talk to the anesthesiologist and attempt to stay on the pump. It just makes sense!!! Thank you for the encouragment!
