Diabetes Doesn't Define You

Oh, the wonders of technology!  We have so many great things now, computers, the internet, smart phones, tablet PCs, and so much more.  In the diabetes world I remember the days before insulin pumps, continuous glucose monitors, and many varieties of glucose meters.  I realized in the past 4 weeks how incredibly spoiled I have become with all my diabetes high tech gear.  I also realized how stubborn I can be!

So here is a bit of background on my experience.  About 3 months ago I noticed the display on my pump was not as bright as it used to be. Because I look at the screen multiple times a day, I hadn’t realized how dim the display had become.  I was so busy getting ready for a vacation/training trip that I decided not to call the pump company until I got back.  After all, my blood sugars were fine and I could see the screen well enough.  I also did something I NEVER do, I did not ask my pump company for a loaner pump to bring on vacation, even though they offer them and it is easy to get them to send you one.

On January 27th, I headed down to Miami with 2 work colleagues (and all together great gals) to go on a cruise where we would be vacationing as well as getting continuing education credits for our licenses as professional counselors.  Right away I realized something was wonky in my diabetes world. I was having lots of unexplained high blood sugars, even when I switched out my infusion set and tried a new bottle of insulin.  I assumed that my wild carb guessing was the culprit most of the time.  After all, I was eating more sweets and junky food since I was on vacation.  Then while in Grand Cayman, I tried to bolus for some ice cream and I could not see the screen on the pump at all in the sun or the shade.  I ended up under a beach towel trying to make out the screen to bolus.  For the first time in years my diabetes was getting in the way of my fun times, making me feel super stressed out.  It made my friends worry about me, which I hate.  We still managed to have fun but diabetes was getting in the way.

The trip ended and we all headed home.  For the first 5 days of being back, I was in the mad rush of catching up on work since I had been gone for over a week.  The wacky blood sugars continued, even with me going back to weighing and measuring my food.  I finally called the pump company about the pump screen being so dim.  After lots of troubleshooting, they agreed to send me a new pump even though they felt mine was working fine except for the screen being hard to read.

The new pump came in 8 days ago.  Guess what? All the weird blood sugar issues are gone!  So maybe there was something wrong with the old pump after all other than the screen being dim.  So I come back to my original thought in this post.  I was too stubborn about calling the pump company.  I was depending on this pump to keep me alive and I was taking for granted that I have to be more proactive in my own self care.  After all, it is not the pump’s job to keep me alive, it is MY job to do this.  I became spoiled by the technology in an unsafe way.  It makes me wonder if the darn thing would have had to power off completely or dump a ton of insulin into me before I would have taken it off and called tech support.  As you can see from the picture below, thereis a huge difference in the readability of the screens so it seems so obvious that there was something really wrong.

So here are my valuable life lessons from this experience:

1. Call tech support immediately if there is something going on with the pump, even if it seems minor or cosmetic.
2. Always get a loaner pump when going on vacation if your pump company allows for this.
3. This one is for one of my best friends, LaTonya.  She was right.  I need to stop being so stubborn and I will ask for help when I need it.  
   
4. As I always tell the clients I work with, keep learning and growing!
   

It’s all about your attitude!

Suzanne