Type 1 diabetes

Hello Ladies… Gentlemen,

As before, I am most grateful for all your time and many excellent thoughts, views, perspectives concerning the pump, whether yours or just hypothetically. It is a deep question, and a “lite” question as well depending on ones mood, perspectives…

I respect the benefits that the basal dosages, whether a single rate all day long, or multiple rates, some slightly different, others more radically different during different times of day. I concede a suspicion that tiny doses released slowly, studied over the “long term” will perhaps guarantee less complications perhaps, but am skeptical until its proven definitively.

The DCCT was painfully clear. Tighter control holds very real & dangerous risks. My point as always, we all need to be damned careful we don’t push too hard for a number becoming too low!!! If we over-manage the sugar (ie keep too low), some obscenely high number of participants in that study REQUIRED external assistance because of that… and had not been the case previously? It happened to enough folks who went from the onesy-twosy shot-routine group to the multiple shots per day (IDDM) group that it got written prominently into the findings.

Lisa as for ~separation~ from the pump causing severe DKA, that was unfortunately my experience without a single exception. It was spooky and very, very annoying. I’d separate or turn off whatever the case for an hour, hour and a half and WHAM, HIGH, HIGH, HIGH. I’d never had that happen in 27 years save when deathly ill. On the pump it was a disgustingly regular event. Came to a point I never wanted to be separated, and that was a bad mental space for me.
As for not being “good” I don’t know what that means. We all do our best, and try and cope with something that will rend our souls and shred us into tiny little pieces if we permit it. Some stop trying, some try too hard, others get by and do well, others…. by little monologue aside for a moment I have a very simple question for you….

What does Alcohol taste like?
(Jeff looking genuinely interested, puzzled, frustrated by his inexperience’s…) There are an extraordinary number of things I did not do, and have never tried.

I can only give my own experience with the pump. I am not, and never have been, very good at following directions I don’t like. That also works in the pump. So, if I can get decent control with the pump, the darn thing must be an asset. At least in my case.

<< I cut the basal back for the rest of the night, too, for the exercise has lasting effects.

“The Diabetic Athlete”, can’t remember the authors name wrote pretty extensively about that I believe…. Anybody have that one? (Don’t remember if it was any good… then or now?)

<<I like my pump because I can feel when my sugars are beginning to get low at work, when it would not be appropriate to dine on some smarties.

<Brief frown

<<On the other hand, if I feel my sugars getting higher, and I can feel this, I just have the pump shoot me as much or as little insulin as I think I need.

Wow. Dr. Cox out of U.VA. (one of the Doctors doing the Blood Glucose Awareness Training) seems to contend that people even experienced diabetic folks are HORRIBLE at this one. We can’t guess within 50 points I think was the basic contention… maybe it was even 50-100 points?

<<Regarding all the ’stuff’ we have to carry with us.

Ok, but if for whatever reason and your pump fails, tubing clogs whatever, don’t you try and re-attach instantly? It was one of the things my CDE I felt was pretty zealous about… you need to carry ALL the extra to backup when the pump gives us/you/him grief….

The priming of the tubing was the obnoxious part requiring all the “extra” stuff. Ugggh. I dont want ot carry BOTH the vial AND the blessed pen, one or the other please. And I hated the 1 CC primer syringe, made my hair stand on end and defacto made me “like” the paramedics!

<<Infection takes 3 days to colonize the catheter.

Ouchy! I want the number to be 5, or 10 days between changes. The 3 days made me a little cranky… By again its the whole, ~I don’t like doing painful things to myself…~ if one of you nurse/medical people do it (and are playful while doing it), great… but not happy about having to do this all to myself routine, it hurts damn it if just for a few moments…! Don’t like pain… pain BAD…..

<<My biggest concern is waterproofness (Is that a word?)

I was trained to use one of the zip lock baggies and forget precisely how he sealed it from white water rafting, duct tape maybe? Maybe stapled either side of the tubing but NOT over the line itself?

Lantus was the alternate. Asked me to detach, not to get too comfortable with the pump solo, just in case needed to take a break and get replaced, repaired, so forth. Wanted contingency plans, and refreshers

<The size of the catheter is VERY small.

I remember… But given the sites I was compelled to use, if I wanted the *@#_&@_# thing to stay… was forced to do it by hand (needed to use my hip pointer area…)! Was….displeased by that…. no place else ever stayed… (::::Z E-V-E-R. I kept asking the doctor if she could just implant a shunt and be done with it…

<<OH, homeowner’s insurance covers the pump! Almost forgot.

Really?

<<Hope some of this helps. By the way, my husband LOVES it when I disconnect before going to bed!!!!! LOL
Sounds like…. a ~good time~ (Mischievous Cheshire Kitten Smirks) signal to me
Warm regards back to you ; )

Jennifer:
<<Jeff, here is my diabetic story in a nut shell. I was diagnosed when I was 8 years old in 1982. At this time I was told to never have children, I would go blind, lose a limb….etc, etc.

Yep, “….the DEATH DISMEMBERMENT GANGRENE SPEECH…”

Its the same schtick they’ve used almost verbatim for the last 30 years. The last group education refresher session I attended, a group of us… let’s just say didn’t take well to being given the same inane- blather we’d ALL heard (and could give better than the unfortunate presenter of that particular morning). There was a….little…… “rebellion” <tiny evil grin
They converted the program to far more mental health time and stopped with the old (very old) snoring lecture…

<<To be completely honest, I hate having diabetes. HATE IT.

Who does NOT Jen?

<<…and what ever else people want to call me…

A mother to be : ) ?!

Jeff

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 30th, 2007 at 4:18 am and is filed under diabetes diet. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.