Our strange little symphony….
On Wednesday, I attended a seminar for people with Type 1 diabetes. The lecture hall was full of folks pumping, CGMing, and testing. Between talks, you could hear the sounds of diabetes in the room: the beeping of meters, the musical notes of bolus buttons. It was a strange little cyborg symphony in the background. Which got me thinking about the other sounds of diabetes. In our minds, we all assign a specific auditory label to our d-gear. For example, here’s what diabetes sounds like to me:
Lancets go SHUNK when they prick your finger
DexCom says BSHZZZ BSHZZ when I’m running high.
My pump says BEEP BEEP when I bolus, shrill and song-like though - more melodic than your average beep.
Test strip bottle make a definite “pop” when you open them, while insulin vial caps make a “snap.”
What sounds do you hear from your diabetes? Besides the “oh crap” that comes from our own mouths when we don’t like the number on the screen :) Happy Friday folks!
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Comments
I just couldn’t help thinking about the song “My Favorite Things” when I started to read your descriptions of sounds…something like
Lancets go SHUNK when they’re pricking your fingers
Out comes an UGGH when that low feeling lingers
DexCom says BSHZZZ BSHZZ when I’m running high
SCREW IT I really want that piece of pie
When the pump SHREAKS
An occlusion
Why at 3 AM?
The new pod goes CLUNK
And the cannula’s in
I SIGH and it’s sleep again
The “bee bee… bee beep” the omnipod makes when it’s time to change it- 1 hr before, the time it is actually due, and an hour after it is due!
I got the “oh crap” last night, after the “WHACK” of my arm pod on some furniture. About an hour and a half later, the solid, high-pitched “BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP” of ANOTHER pod malfunction-kinked cannula = another “oh crap.”
I went through 3 pods in a 16 hour period. I definitely heard a cash register KA-CHING in my mind on that one….