What do people do to track and rotate their pump infusion sites? Eyeballing and memory works to an extent, but I wouldn't mind doing better. Would be great if there were an app where you could log these.
I do it the old fashioned way, with pen & paper! I have a sheet & at each set change I note the new position & a brief summary of how the old site performed so I know which are good or bad sites. I have a rotation scheme that I follow, just what works for me. I also note pump battery changes so I know when a change is coming up.
Makes sense. Old fashioned works. Are the good and bad sites a function of scar tissue or your body more generally? I'm new, so far sticking to a fairly narrow range of sites across my abdomen, so far, so good. I'm pretty lean, but so far finding 90 degree infusion sets more comfortable than angled ones, so that limits placements a bit.
Nothing. I just sort of move them around. I've pumped since 2008 and haven't had that many problems.
Same as acid said, I just make sure I've switched sides and move over/up/down etc. I don't have issues though... running to knock wood. Like noccolo I also use the 90 degree but I have no limits. I've been popping these in for a long long time!
Hi niccolo. I was having that problem too so I drew a simple picture of my abdomen on a sheet of printer paper (I put most of my sites there) and made copies. I use one side of my stomach per month. When I put in a site, I make a dot on the picture where it is with the date. Then I have a little calendar booklet where I write what I did on what day so I know when I changed the batteries in the pump, when the insulin was newe etc. Also old school, but it works really well. As time goes on, every other month I make a new copy of the picture to use.
some other ideas are mentioned on this discussion
https://forum.tudiabetes.org/topics/do-you-have-a-system-to-track
I'm really lazy and have a terrible memory, so I wrote an 'App' to help me keep track of EVERYHING. BG, SG, ISIG, Finger prick locations(70), Carbs, Basal settings, Bolus detail, etc.
I built a custom designed 'App' as my 'logbook', using Google Forms and Spreadsheets along with several hundred lines of JavaScript to make it all come together.
I do all of my data entry on my phone and all of my reporting and analysis on my laptop.
I use a polar coordinate system to track infusion set and sensor locations using a protractor (with a piece of dental floss glued to it) so I can get the angle and distance from the origin (my belly button). Thinking about using alternate sites, so I'll need to rework that portion.
The app also automatically texts my wife with BG readings and other 'events'. I did this (I'm lazy, remember) so she would quit calling me 8 times a day to find out how I'm doing.
I'm finishing an Rx and Pump Supply inventory tracking system, using a barcode scanner App, to read barcodes on the packages & medication bottles to keep all of that organized Lot #'s, Expiry, dosages, dates, doctors, etc. I hate manual log books, the phone is so much more convenient.
This weekend I'm working on integrating with my weekly pump data dumps from Carelink. This way I can drill down to great detail with the sensor data. I can create a much faster and more capable interface to the data than what is available through Carelink (which by the way is not accessible on mobile devices) which has to be access through the internet with no capability for offline access.
A tubed pump would let you easily change infusion sites, for example every other day, which anyone using steel infusion sets, and some others, have to do anyway. And I suspect those infusion sites would be significantly easier on your tissue than the OmniPod. I was totally sold on the OmniPod until I started investigating it and the alternatives more, and I realized the t:slim was a much better fit for me, and after using it for two weeks so far, I'm extremely happy with my choice.
Any chance you would share it along with use instructions for those of us who appreciate tech in our daily Diabetes routines? :)
Fascinating to see all the different systems people have developed!
I'm struck that a number of folks will do multiple successive infusion sites in one area, then move on to another area and not come back to that area for a long time. This seems like a bad idea, doing multiple sites in close proximity seems likely to encourage lipohypertrophy and scarring in that area, though I get that it's easier to remember which area one is currently focused on and then giving that area a long break.
I don't think that would work.
I've got three forms and about six spreadsheets that are linked in various ways. In addition, I use some third-party software that I'm not licensed to redistribute.
Everything is currently hard-coded w/ brute force methods to do the things I want it to do and I'd be embarrassed to publish my lack of finesse.
Sorry.
Maybe I can create a stripped down version of the main form, but I'd have to remove all the cool stuff that makes my life easier - so we would end up with a simple 'logbook'.
No worries and I do very much appreciate the reply at least. :)
I understand how it is to be under NDA or contract, so no need to explain.
If you happen to be interested, I don't know coding/programming but I do have a few ideas for this that could be useful (tracking infusion/sensor sites)perhaps we could put our heads together. :)
Let me know.
- Mario
Same here. It's only been a year. With my busy schedule I just don't have time for pencil/paper tracking.
Maybe I can create a stripped down version of the main form, but I'd have to remove all the cool stuff that makes my life easier - so we would end up with a simple 'logbook'.
What?!! The best feature would be to have all of our numbers sent to your wife. My wife doesn't ask at all.
I second the motion, because (at least at this point in my life) I don't even have a wife who might receive my numbers. :)
Be careful there...one day your's might start asking like my wife did. To her credit, this was only after a series of pretty severe other medical issues stacked on the risk factors.
She used to call me 7-8 times a day, to ask me how I was doing. So I got preemptive and started texting her, now and then, regarding how my days was going. Well, that just made it worse! If I did not text her in a certain time period, only decipherable to her, she'd freak out and track me down to find out why.
Enter the automated system. EVERYTHING I do now is entered in 'App' and it fires off the texts automatically.
I thought I had won!
Wrong!
This weekend was one of those 'weird' couple of days I get from time to time. Huge swings in numbers.
Thought I had a bad site - changed it: Text
I thought I had bad insulin - changed it: Text
I made changes to pump settings a couple times - Text each time
I tested about 15x each day - Text each time
etc.
Yep.....you guessed it, she started to complain today about getting too many!
She starts working from home tomorrow - oh joy, joy. I can just imagine the discussions that will be taking place. Perhaps this will spur me to get out of the house more often!
Just posted this on my page with a pic
Hi Jen: I use a pretty good rotation schedule that has worked for me. I rotate clockwise from left ab, right ab, top R behind, top L behind. In each location I can do a triangle pattern (which means I stay in that location for up to 9 days-2 weeks depending on how often I change my site)and I also don't return to that area for at least a month.
I hope that is not too complicated but it has worked for years. (FYI: The triangle pattern is just a suggestion but when you give the area sufficient rest it is easier to find three fresh spots.)
I think I've written this before, but the triangle pattern seems like a bad idea to me if you're trying to avoid lipohypertrophy and/or lipoatrophy, because you're intensely dosing that small area with insulin for 9-15 days.
I just posted above and went back and read the other posts. My method is super easy for the busy and distracted. I am so scattered that the method above is easy. I can remember up to three sites and then remember to go clockwise. By the time I get back to the area, its healed and pretty easy to find three fresh spots. Good luck