Me, now with fewer devices…
Last week when packing for Jersey, (can someone please get that state to stop stalking me, I don’t enjoy it) I bagged up all my supplies and back-up supplies, and I realized I only had 3 OmniPods left for my pump. It was October 25th and my next shipment wouldn’t arrive until somewhere around the 7th, according to my calendar. 6 more days of October + 7 days of November = 12 days / (3 days per pod x 3 pods) = short 3 days. Add one Pod failure in Jersey to that and what do you get?
You get no pump since Saturday when my last Pod ran out. I started back on Lantus and Novolog injections on Saturday night, and continued on into the week. And to my surprise I’m…totally fine. I split my Lantus dose after the first day like I used to in ye olde days, taking 12 units in the morning and 15 in the evening. Although Lantus claims to last 24 hours and not have a peak, in the past I’ve found that taking only one injection of it a day caused gaps in my coverage. So far this week I’ve woken up with totally normal fasting BGs and have been managing about 6 Novolog shots a day (3 meals plus correction doses, plus the random one I seem to need at about 9am – too late for dawn phenomenon – coffee phenomenon perhaps?) and of course, I’ve got my trusty CGMS tracking every minute.
Being back on shots for a few days has had its downsides for sure. For one thing, I need to take a unit of rapid-acting before working out, if the gym is first thing in the morning. I very rarely allow any active insulin on board while working out for fear of crashing, but it seems my BGs will skyrocket in the morning if I’m exercising without a little extra juice. The surge in BGs during my workout is no doubt due to the release of glucose for the physical efforts and the “wake up” hormones that start charging in the A.M. When I’m on the pump, I can simply turn down the basal rate so I still have background insulin that kicks right back in to the appropriate amount when I tell it to.
Also annoying? Not being able to dose on the fly. Not wanting to take my whole kit with me down to a company celebration the other day, I left my desk without my supplies only to find out there were drinks and appetizers being offered at the shindig. Without any way to dose, I found myself limited to one beer and a few nibbles of cheese. If I had been pumping, I could have slipped my OmniPod PDM in my back pocket and dialed it up. However, maybe only having one beer on a Monday afternoon is a good thing J
On the plus side? I’ve been enjoying wearing less stuff on my body. I have to admit, having one less device strapped to me for the past few days has felt liberating, and with my Dexcom there to guide me, I don’t feel like I’ve drifted any further of the reservation than I would have with my pump. I expect my shipment to arrive pretty soon here and I’ll hop back on the Pod, but its awesome to know that I have so many options for my diabetes management – it makes me feel like I have a choice in diabetes, and that rarely happens!
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Yes probably there are pros and cons, pens or the pump. Just got mine delivered yesterday and will go to my doctor next Monday to have it all set up and running. Mine is a MiniMed Paradigm from Medtronics. Still not sure about how it will work out being with a device like that around all the time. Suppose my friends will start calling me Borg as in Star Trek as I have been known as Hendrix in my group after my short stint with the pen