Red: the thematic color of the last few days.
The first red in this story was the red of my 6-pack cooler packed for a tubing adventure. For those of you who don't live near a river, this tubing is not related to insulin pumps or being pulled behind a boat. This tubing refers to sitting on an inflatable tube, drinking beer (or Diet Coke) and floating down the Chattahoochee River. I've never done this type of tubing before, but it was my boyfriend's birthday and he wanted to go with our friends. It was an impromptu trip, and I had 30 minutes to get my things together. No time to plan for diabetes, really. I did have time to do this, as my Dexcom sensor was about to fall off.
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The second red was the small dry-bag I purchased on the way to the river. I packed it with my meter, hand sanitizer, and my CGM receiver. That's all that would fit, and the store only had one size of dry bag. I was promised I wouldn't get very wet, so I clipped my pump to the very top of my bathing suit. MM says their pumps are water resistant, and I've accidentally gotten a few of them quite wet without effect. I've been thrown in a pool, waded into the ocean, and watched an entire football game in the rain and my pump was fine. I wasn't worried. I had to borrow a raft from my friends because I've never done this before.
The third red was blood. This blood came from my thigh where I hit it on a rock when my borrowed raft broke out from under me. My friends saved me from drowning or being pulled around by the river. All in all. I was submerged for maybe 10 seconds. When I calmed my breathing, I checked my pump. I was shocked to see the screen filled with water. We stopped 30 minutes later to eat, and some of that water had turned to steam. It was difficult to bolus for food, but I managed. The pump was still working, despite being very, very wet. One of my friends rigged my broken float and traded with me. We were off.
The fourth red was caused by blinding pain when I hit my foot on a rock when the second tube I was using sprouted a hole and dumped me out. Another one of my awesome friends again traded tubes with me because, as they put it, they're more water resistant than I am. At this point, I chucked my pump to someone in a more stable tube, who gave it to someone with a larger dry bag.
The fifth red was figurative. I was angry when I realized I had to get a new pump. I called Medtronic as soon as I got back to my phone. I was promised a new pump within two days. I called them at 8 PM on a Sunday, so I figured they wouldn't have time to overnight one. I saw more red when I realized I would have to drive to the far CVS to pick up emergency Lantus. I was more angry when they told me it would take them over an hour to fill my one vial prescription. I'm usually pretty calm an understanding, but I can freak the eff out when it involved my diabetes. My BG at the time was 98, but I knew that wouldn't last, especially because I would be eating pizza before picking up my Lantus. Unfortunately, Henry ended up looking like this:
The sixth red was the marinara sauce I managed to spill while injecting Humalog with a syringe. After a long day in the sun/water, we were all craving carbs. I had a stromboli, and it was delicious.
The seventh red was blood again. This blood came from the site of my 48-unit Lantus injection. It wasn't a dot of blood, either. It was a blood flood.
The eighth red was the unsettling shade of fuschia on my urine ketone strip when I woke up to a BG of 360 the next morning, despite going to sleep at 120.
The tenth red was the giant red bruise on my foot from hitting it on a rock the day before. It hurt so bad I could barely walk. I went to the urgent care doc and spent three hours waiting to hear that I have a bruise. No break, possibly a nasty sprain because I can't walk. I was instructed to take it easy, avoid walking, and stop carrying my heavy backpack (because obviously my books will just magically carry themselves to my classes). I still can't walk well, but I don't want to use crutches (I might use them to get to class so my lab partner isn't so mad at me for missing class on Monday).
I'm no longer seeing red, but my brother missed the delivery of my new pump this morning. I went online this afternoon, and scheduled a self pickup for this evening. Lantus doesn't seem to do much for me, so I haven't seen many numbers below 200 in the past two days. I can't wait to get my baby back!
The first red in this story was the red of my 6-pack cooler packed for a tubing adventure. For those of you who don't live near a river, this tubing is not related to insulin pumps or being pulled behind a boat. This tubing refers to sitting on an inflatable tube, drinking beer (or Diet Coke) and floating down the Chattahoochee River. I've never done this type of tubing before, but it was my boyfriend's birthday and he wanted to go with our friends. It was an impromptu trip, and I had 30 minutes to get my things together. No time to plan for diabetes, really. I did have time to do this, as my Dexcom sensor was about to fall off.
The second red was the small dry-bag I purchased on the way to the river. I packed it with my meter, hand sanitizer, and my CGM receiver. That's all that would fit, and the store only had one size of dry bag. I was promised I wouldn't get very wet, so I clipped my pump to the very top of my bathing suit. MM says their pumps are water resistant, and I've accidentally gotten a few of them quite wet without effect. I've been thrown in a pool, waded into the ocean, and watched an entire football game in the rain and my pump was fine. I wasn't worried. I had to borrow a raft from my friends because I've never done this before.
The third red was blood. This blood came from my thigh where I hit it on a rock when my borrowed raft broke out from under me. My friends saved me from drowning or being pulled around by the river. All in all. I was submerged for maybe 10 seconds. When I calmed my breathing, I checked my pump. I was shocked to see the screen filled with water. We stopped 30 minutes later to eat, and some of that water had turned to steam. It was difficult to bolus for food, but I managed. The pump was still working, despite being very, very wet. One of my friends rigged my broken float and traded with me. We were off.
The fourth red was caused by blinding pain when I hit my foot on a rock when the second tube I was using sprouted a hole and dumped me out. Another one of my awesome friends again traded tubes with me because, as they put it, they're more water resistant than I am. At this point, I chucked my pump to someone in a more stable tube, who gave it to someone with a larger dry bag.
The fifth red was figurative. I was angry when I realized I had to get a new pump. I called Medtronic as soon as I got back to my phone. I was promised a new pump within two days. I called them at 8 PM on a Sunday, so I figured they wouldn't have time to overnight one. I saw more red when I realized I would have to drive to the far CVS to pick up emergency Lantus. I was more angry when they told me it would take them over an hour to fill my one vial prescription. I'm usually pretty calm an understanding, but I can freak the eff out when it involved my diabetes. My BG at the time was 98, but I knew that wouldn't last, especially because I would be eating pizza before picking up my Lantus. Unfortunately, Henry ended up looking like this:
The sixth red was the marinara sauce I managed to spill while injecting Humalog with a syringe. After a long day in the sun/water, we were all craving carbs. I had a stromboli, and it was delicious.
The seventh red was blood again. This blood came from the site of my 48-unit Lantus injection. It wasn't a dot of blood, either. It was a blood flood.
The eighth red was the unsettling shade of fuschia on my urine ketone strip when I woke up to a BG of 360 the next morning, despite going to sleep at 120.
The tenth red was the giant red bruise on my foot from hitting it on a rock the day before. It hurt so bad I could barely walk. I went to the urgent care doc and spent three hours waiting to hear that I have a bruise. No break, possibly a nasty sprain because I can't walk. I was instructed to take it easy, avoid walking, and stop carrying my heavy backpack (because obviously my books will just magically carry themselves to my classes). I still can't walk well, but I don't want to use crutches (I might use them to get to class so my lab partner isn't so mad at me for missing class on Monday).
I'm no longer seeing red, but my brother missed the delivery of my new pump this morning. I went online this afternoon, and scheduled a self pickup for this evening. Lantus doesn't seem to do much for me, so I haven't seen many numbers below 200 in the past two days. I can't wait to get my baby back!
That's quite the tale. Fortunately you survived in style and I hope you had a great time.
ReplyDeleteI just wanna give you a hug!
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Hi Courtney! My name is Cameron Von St. James and I had a quick question for you! I was wondering if you could email me at your earliest convenience at cvonstjames AT gmail DOT com :-) I greatly appreciate your time!!
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