It’s shaping up to be an “interesting” week.
My continuous glucose monitor sensor came out the day after I put it in. My LAST sensor. My blood glucose is still running low, so I need to continue keeping a close eye on it.
My new pump should arrive today. It’s a good thing, since a part broke off of my current pump last weekend and it’s running on a hope and a prayer. However, I’ve not yet heard anything from the new pump company about getting trained on it.
Did I mention I’m having surgery on Friday morning?
The surgery isn’t that big a deal. I have a ganglion cyst on the top of my left wrist. We’ve tried other ways to get rid of it to no avail, so it’s come to surgery. If it were only a puffy place on my hand, it wouldn’t be so bad, but it’s uncomfortable early in the day and painful after I’ve put pressure on that hand off and on all day long moving back and forth from my scooter.
I am just so frustrated at dealing with people who don’t seem to “get it” when it comes to managing a chronic condition. I should have had a new box of sensors more than a week ago. As it turns out, my prescription has run out; the company requested a new one from my doctor on September 28 but still hadn’t gotten it when I called Monday to ask about the status.
Doctor’s offices are busy and I can see where a fax might get misplaced. But why did I have to call the company and ask about my sensors for them to tell me they hadn’t gotten the prescription? Shouldn’t that have been flagged? Shouldn’t they have called me and explained what was happening so I could do something to speed things up on my end?
The way I see it, my new pump should already have been here and training on it a thing of the past. I look at posts on the insulin-pumpers.org list and see that people have been getting their t:slim pumps and have already been trained, while I’m sitting here, tapping my nails on the desk.
Not that I’m insinuating anything, but things speeded up considerably after I called my contact’s supervisor. I guess I should have called sooner.
I can, I suppose, train myself. After all, I’ve been pumping for nearly 14 years. I did that with a previous pump, despite the warning not to do so in large print on a piece of paper on top of the stuff in the box. The Lobegon gang called it the “not note.”
The t:slim, however, is a bit different than the others I’ve had, with a touch screen and a cartridge holding the insulin that’s totally different than any other pump. I’ll have to see when it gets here and I have the pump and a manual in hand.
What happened with my Deltec Cozmo (the pump I have now) is that part of the threading where the cap screws onto the top of the opening that holds the insulin cartridge broke off. The pump won’t work if that cap isn’t on. So every time I put a new cartridge in, I have to pull up on the cap to make sure it’s — well, “stuck on” for lack of a better word (phrase?). Sometimes it takes me a few tries.
Thinking back, I’d noticed some dampness on my fingers when I changed my cartridge, and the smell of insulin. It could have been a precursor of things to come.
My grandson liked it. He likes the smell of insulin, telling me he associated it with me. I was hoping he’d remember the Shalimar, but what the heck. My grandmother smelled like Vick’s VapoRub.
Anyhow, the surgery should be quite interesting. I’m told I’ll be awake for this one. They’d better give me some good drugs, ’cause the thought of being awake while somebody is cutting on me is not appealing.
Besides, I get bored easily. Do you think they’ll let me take a book into surgery with me?
At any rate, I’ll tell you about it next week. Maybe. I’ll have a cast on my hand. I can either write one-handed or talk my grandson into taking dictation.
