One Week

This has been a crazy, hectic and wonderfully exhausting holiday week. I hope everyone had fantastic Thanksgiving and I look forward to finally getting a chance to read what is going on around the D-blogasphere.

In my world, there has been so much to post about, with little time to do so. To top off all my holiday madness, of family and unrecognizable homemade casseroles, it has been exactly one week since I started using my insulin pump.

Last Monday, I walked into my CDE's office a little anxious, nervous and slightly pessimistic. I had a few moments in the training session, where I actually felt guilty that my CDE noticed I wasn't sharing her excitement and thrill for me. I'm not terribly good at faking it. Three hours later I walked out a little more excited, but now even more self conscious.

That first few days were shaky. There were many calls from my trainer (sometimes twice in one night). I kept hearing about the possibility of going low, but instead I was running high. I was correcting with every blood sugar check. The testing seemed constant and tiring especially with the 3AM tests. I have easily been testing more in the last week than in the entire last year.

Wednesday afternoon I had a breaking point. I felt terrible, and stressed (Thanksgiving is our biggest paper of the year.) I figured I was low, so I tested.
5.4.3.2.1..445?! Not the number I was expecting, but it explained my crabbiness and cottonmouth. After a rundown of things, I discovered blood in my tubing. I took a shot, pulled the site out, and just about gave up.

Thanksgiving came and so did my blessed family. After a long talk with my cousin, (who's a nurse), I gave my pump another chance. I even tried a new feature, the combo bolus, which came in handy during an afternoon of Thanksgiving grazing. My cousin made me realize that it's not the pump I hate, it's the visible representation of the disease. As my cousin put it, I should look at it as a wonderful advancement made in the treatment of the disease. Just one of many to come and I should be grateful to have access to the many tools that are available to allow me to live life to it's fullest. He's right. I've thought a lot about what he said, and realized I have not really given the pump a chance. I have taken for granted this amazing little piece of machinery.

Today, I am still having numbers that are slightly high, but I am a work in progress. I have discovered the temporary basal feature, and I'm in love with it. Amazingly, I have not had ONE LOW! I have also been thrilled with giving boluses and corrections that are so very precise. While I'm still adjusting to having a new extension of myself, the pump most certainly beats shots any day of the week.

Tomorrow I see my Endo for a follow up. I don't know if this visit will be any different, but I do know the pump is a keeper and I am thankful.