WOW....it's been a while since I have written.
The kids are definitely keeping me busy as well as all the Thanksgiving festivities.
Now that my house is almost put back together I'm feeling the need to write.
O.K......so how many of you have experimented with where you put your infusions sets?
I have always been a creature of habit, therefore always sticking to the same old spot...my abdomen!
My stomach is pretty beat up so I thought maybe I would try some different spots. All I can say is..at least I tried!
First alternative spot tried... my upper arm.
Plenty of nice meat up there to absorb the insulin. My daughter is in a dance class and came home one day and told me that a young girl in her class has a pump and she puts her set on her arm. Hmmmm...that's interesting! That might work. I could just wear a long sleeved shirt and "Bam" pump and set are discreet.
Insertion of my set wasn't bad. I use the Sure-T and the needle actually didn't hurt. O.K...this may work.
Until my first bolus. OUCH!! BURN!! PAIN!! STINGING!! Just like when you get a shot in your arm. I thought to myself "make it stop" this is horrible. Not sure if I can get through 2 days of this but I will try. Bolus after bolus and my blood sugar remained high. What's up with that? I wasn't doing anything different? Still eating the same. Carb counting the same.
Then it hit me..my insulin must not be absorbing the same way it does in my stomach. Well..that didn't last long. Went back to the stomach again!
Second alternative spot tried...my upper right Butt cheek.
I had recently gone to a Diabetes Health Fair and the guy from Medtronic said that's where he always puts his set. Hmmmm..o.k...let's give this a try.
Difficult spot to get to for me. Unless I have eyes in the back of my head, this was not going to happen.
So I searched for my husband! He was more than happy to help me with this task. He didn't give me any warnings though....JAB..it's in. O.K., I thought to myself. This is duable. This might actually work.
Until I decided to go out and ride my horse. Not so good!
I had lasted an entire day with it on my upper butt cheek and even put some tape over it to insure that it wasn't going to slip out. Perfect!
The next day I head out to the ranch. So far so good as I'm walking him around in the arena. I have the pump resting in my vest pocket. My iPhone in my other pocket with my earphones on listening to my music, just chilling and enjoying the ride.
I prompt my horse (Danny) to move faster and trot. Forgetting about the pump, and knowing that it's much easier to post while trotting, (which means stand up and down in your stirrups) I begin to post and trot Danny along. Not bad so far....it's working.
Until I feel something flying around at my side. Oh crap! The pump flew out of my pocket and is now flying with my horse in the wind while attached to my butt cheek. My pants were not going to allow the insertion set to come out with the pump but my pump was on a ride. (That tubing is amazingly strong)
"Do I get the pump first?" "Stop the horse?" Oh crap...now my earphones are out and on the other side of my horse flying around. "Would if he steps on them?" "My cell phone!" All my electronics were out of control and I'm no longer in control of this situation. I pull back on the reins. Whoa! Thank god "Danny" stopped and Thank god know body else was out in the arena to witness this. If only horses could talk. I wonder what advice Danny would've given me or some choice words too.
I grabbed the pump and this time zipped it up in my vest pocket. Grabbed my iPhone and earphones and decided not to get in my zen place anymore and zipped and tightly secured them in my other pocket. I couldn't help but chuckle under my breathe about it and talked to Danny about it too.
Third and final alternative spot to try...my left upper Butt Cheek.
Seriously thought about my horse back riding adventure and was so impressed at how well the set stayed on during my catastrophe, I thought I would try the other side.
Had to wait for my husband to get home from work to insert the set. My kids wanted to help but I was kinda worried that they might miss and end up in a not so pleasant spot. Insertion of the set was good again. All went well. The insulin seemed to be absorbing fine too in this spot. My blood sugars remained in control and in range.
All was well until I was reminded that I forget to put the tape over the needle part to secure it more. Just a few times of bending over and the needle and set got hooked on my pants. At that point I was pretty much done experimenting.
I went back to the stomach and that's where I plan to keep it for now.
"Why change it if it isn't broken?" That's the lesson that I learned!
Thought I’d put this picture in of my boy “Danny”
visit my blog at http://da-pump.blogspot.com