Pitstop fail!
Allow me set the scene
Arden's school has a half-day scheduled and one of her friends has organized an outing for a few of the girls after school. The group is being picked-up by one of the mothers for lunch and a manicure, I am not attending. We will manage BGs as we do while Arden is at school, a sleepover or other out of the home events.
What could go wrong? How about, literally everything...
We were battling a stubborn blood glucose number all morning, it was one of those 180ish numbers that just won't budge. Arden's pump was due to be changed later in the day but I thought it could make it just a little longer - I was wrong.
Arden's morning snack sent her BG into the 300s but we didn't know immediately because her DexCom sensor gave out just after we bloused for the snack. Are you following so far? Pump site going bad, just ate, CGM not reporting.
When Arden texted that she was getting ready to leave school, I asked for her CGM number and she replied, "It says ???". Okay, no problem, "we can just test a little more while you're out", I said. Knowing that they would be at the restaurant in under ten minutes, I asked her to test so that we could bolus for lunch... Arden tested and was over 340.
It was then that I decided to go to the restaurant and perform a 'diabetes pitstop' in our car. Seemed easy, and I had a plan. I wanted to changed her pod, swap her CGM and inject insulin for her high BG and the food she was about to eat. I didn't want all of this to ruin her outing so I didn't think twice about letting her eat with the high BG, normally we'd wait.
In my imagination, I saw Arden hop into my car; we'd switch her pod and pop off the old one, inject some insulin, swap her DexCom receiver, and she'd be back inside before anyone realized that she had left. Smooth, like a pitstop.
Arden got into my car and I told her my plan, she looked at me like I had two heads. She was not thrilled about trying all of this in a car.
Putting on the new pod went smoothly, but she wasn't terribly comfortable getting an injection in the cramped car. After a bit of drama, we injected and moved on to the DexCom receiver and that's where, to use a topic specific metaphor, the wheels came off.
Arden has been wearing a DexCom CGM for years and years and we have never, I want to reiterate - NEVER hit a vein upon insertion - until we tried to do it in my car, outside of a restaurant... while her friends were waiting for her. The blood would not stop, it was gushing out from under the sensor and going in every direction possible.
Arden freaked out just a little and I began to feel defeated and then she said something that broke my heart, "Let's just go home".
I removed the sensor, stopped the bleeding with some glove compartment napkins (Huge thanks to my wife for suggesting that I keep napkins in my glove compartment) and worked to help Arden find a little calm. When she relaxed I told her this...
There are going to be times when diabetes is difficult but we can't let it beat us, we can't give in to the feeling that is telling us to go home. We live our life no matter what. This isn't how you hoped today would go and I am sorry that my plan didn't workout very well but you are going to pull yourself together, go back inside and eat with your friends. Then I want you to get your nails done and forget about all of this, it's over - you're fine.
I felt like crap when I dropped her off at the door to the restaurant, I couldn't believe that so much went so wrong, all at once. Moments before, Arden asked me why we were having so many problems and I responded, "It's just bad luck - randomness that seems like it's not". She laughed when I told her I was sure that we had used up our allotted 'bad luck' for the month in the last five minutes.
Arden went on to eat and laugh with her friends, she got her nails painted purple and had a wonderful afternoon. I'm grateful that I didn't give-in to the pressure that diabetes put on us, I think that it would have been a serious personal setback for Arden and perhaps me, if I would have taken her home.
Proud to say that this blog entry is a Best of the 'Betes Blog winner. Thank you for nominating me!
There is a ton of value in persevering through moments like these because you can't replace or recreate the tough situations that teach us the most. I know that none of us want these challenges, but there is so much that you can take from them... sometimes they are worth the hassle.
Weekend Roundup
Happy Blue Friday, I hope you enjoy the weekend and a few of these initiatives, stories and a giveaway.
You take the quiz and a diabetes charity that we all love gets money - nice!
When you take this two minute quiz Novo Nordisk will make a donation to the Diabetes Hands Foundation.
Help Strip Safely to effect real change in the FDA's meter rules.
from strip safely: "FDA has two draft guidance documents about blood glucose meters that are open for comment until April 7, 2014. A “draft guidance” is basically a preview of what standards the FDA is considering requiring in order for blood glucose meters to be cleared — the law requires that FDA open its draft guidance documents up for comment before publishing a final version. FDA welcomes comments from the public, and so we highly encourage everyone affected by diabetes to submit their considered thoughts." - I did it last night, it's easy and important. Go take a look.
This week on Arden's Day
We are giving away a pair of diabetes circles shoelaces - easy to enter
This simple pancake recipe is easy on Arden's BGs
Does your DexCom make you sing?
I wrote a piece for Disney about spousal engagement and your child's diabetes management
Name that Tune: Diabetes Edition
You know how hearing a certain sound or word can make music begin to play in your head, sometimes you are even prompted to sing out loud? That happens around here more than you would expect and almost always because of diabetes.
You know how hearing a certain sound or word can make music begin to play in your head, sometimes you are even prompted to sing out loud? That happens around here more than you would expect and almost always because of diabetes.
Available on iTunes
This first one always gets me and most times I can't stop myself from singing out loud. When Arden's BG gets low, her DexCom G4 'beeps' three times... BEEP, BEEP, BEEP...
As soon as the tones stop, I sing, "Everybody get up...".
Check out the music, see if you hear it too.
Available on iTunes
Arden has said in the past that she can "feel the fall". What she means is that when a high BG is beginning to come down, before her meter or CGM can even tell what's going on; she can sense that it's happening.
She'll look at me very seriously as she tries to make sense of the sensation. Then she looks right into my eyes and says, "I think I'm falling...". There is something about Arden's phrasing that makes us all sing-along with Ms. Alicia Keys.
Also on iTunes
It's a simple question that gets asked about thirty minutes after we bolus for an elevated blood glucose,
"Arden, is that insulin working... check your CGM" - When everything is going as planned Arden answers, "It's going down" and the entire house sings...
"I'm yelling timber!"
On iTunes
More music courtesy of the DexCom G4. Two beeps can indicate a high or rising BG. In this house they are also an excuse to sing the theme from Rocky 3.
Rising up!
We listen to all kinds of different music but I there is just something about diabetes that makes catchy pop songs jump into our heads. I'd love to know if this happens in your homes, I think if it did... I may feel less weird the next time I belt out, "Everybody get up!". I can't wait for the next wave of summertime radio to arrive so we can replace a few of these songs, I need a new diabetes playlist - this one is so 2013. Don't worry, I'm keeping 'Eye of the Tiger'
Hey, Hey, Hey
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That was fast DexCom!
Looks like it is alarm week around here. The other day Arden mistook a dumpster for her OmniPod and now our DexCom G4 sounds like it has a sick speaker.
BeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrddddddEEEEEEnnnnpppp
Out of no where Arden G4 started to sound like it was being strangled. Quick beeps lasted twice as long and the sound it made was, in my wife's words, "like nails on a chalkboard". What I'm going to share next, is the only reason this story merits it's own blog post.
I called DexCom customer service around 4:30 pm EST and left my information in their phone cue so I wouldn't have to hold. They called back within 30 minutes.
The CSR went over my concern, we did a few minutes of troubleshooting and I was promised a replacement.
It arrived the next day at 10 am - 17 hours later.
In a world where blogs often complain and Facebook post are frequently about what is wrong - I just wanted to say that DexCom treated us judiciously and with amazing swiftness.
All that is left is to wait for a sensor change so we don't have to cringe every time the receiver wants to remind us of something. Currently, the speaker is as shrill as anything that I've ever heard. The CSR said he's never heard of a speaker malfunctioning, I told him that it almost sounds like it's loose and moving around inside of the shell - has anyone else had this happen?
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Opinions are my own. I do not have a financial relationship with DexCom. If I did, I'd tell you. This is just a great example of a good company doing right by a customer - and I wanted to share.