Initially, I had this as a working title for a post about Jerry's birthday last year. Now I'm recycling it since diabetes reared it's ugly little head this weekend in attempt to ruin mine!
Not-uh, douchebag!
For my birthday this year, my friends and I took a wine tasting tour of vineyards on the North Fork of Long Island. We had a great time. It was beautiful day. Wine and plenty of food was consumed!
I knew I had over eaten throughout the day and was completely aware of the fact that I would most likely have high blood sugar throughout the day as a punishment for my gluttony. When I know high numbers are coming, I tend to be a little avoidant of testing. I know, I know. I shouldn't do that. Blah blah blah. Whatever.
After several hour of not eating had passed, just as I was getting ready for bed, I gave in and finally tested. 398!! Holy shit! I knew the day was bad, but I didn't think it was that bad.
I walked into the bedroom to play my favorite "Guess the Hyperglycemia!" with Jerry. As he took his turn, I started to program the high number into my insulin pump in order to correct the blood sugar (meaning give myself insulin to come back into normal range). Except, my pump was not cooperating.
In fact, as I press the button to go up to 398, the numbers are the meter just kept running, going higher and higher. No worries. No insulin was given during this time. In fact, that right there was the problem....and explained my 398 blood sugar. My pump was broken! It probably hadn't been giving me insulin for hours.
Want to add insult to...well, insulin pump? My back-up plan, you know the plan every good diabetic should have when wearing an insulin pump, where you have "just in case" insulin pens sitting in your fridge to give yourself shots in the event something was to go wrong with your pump. Oh yes, that plan. Well, that plan was still in the refridgerator at my old apartment in Queens!!
After getting off the phone with Medtronic, the manufacturer of my pump, who couldn't magically fix my pump over the phone and was sending me out a new one to arrive on today, Jerry and I had to get in the car and drive over to Astoria to pick up my "back-up plan," only to turn around and drive right back to Jersey so our exhausted asses could go to bed.
While this little venture was quite the annoyance, it is also an excellent lesson. First, it shows me how to dependent I have become on the pump that figuring out how much insulin to take at each meal has definitely been a challenge. Second, the importance of actually having a back-up plan accessible and not just saying that I do. Third, to always think ahead in terms of birthdays because diabetes can be such a dick!
No comments:
Post a Comment