Diabetes blog week 2011: Diabetes bloopers!

Diabetes bloopers - Wednesday 5/11: Whether you or your loved one are newly diagnosed or have been dealing with diabetes for a while, you probably realize that things can (and will) go wrong. But sometimes the things that go wrong aren’t stressful - instead sometimes they are downright funny! Go ahead and share your Diabetes Blooper - your “I can’t believe I did that" moment - your big “D-oh” - and let’s all have a good laugh together!!

Bloopers. Well, there have been many of them (and many more to come, I'm sure!)

There was the time I went to bolus for breakfast, dialed up the dose, realised there wasn't enough insulin left in the cartridge, and dutifully went off and changed it. And then had breakfast. Without actually *taking* the insulin. I only realised when it wasn't even coffee time in work and I'd been to the toilet three times and was gasping for a drink. A quick check on my meter showed a BG of 27.7, and realisation dawned...

Then there have been the times when I've been hypo and done silly things, like the time I was sitting balling up socks on the floor of my room when I felt a bit hot and a bit weird. I decided I felt weird because I was hot, so kept stripping of layers while I continued to ball up the socks. I was down to my underwear before it occurred to me to check my BG. I still felt that it was Very Important that I finish balling up the socks before I did though (hypo logic, worse than dunk logic...). And that's not including the times where I've woken up low in the middle of the night having one of those OMG MUST EAT EVERYTHING!!! hypos, where I've ended up sitting on the kitchen floor with the remnants of a carb fest around me...

Then we get to the pump. I've lost count of the number of times I've managed to put in a new infusion set only to discover I've somehow managed to get the tubing under the sticky bit. Then there was the time I was filling up the cartridge at work, managed to pull the plunger out of the end of the cartridge, spilling insulin all over my legs (mmm...that hospital smell). I've also managed to smack Stuart on the head with my pump (it was an accident I swear, any claims he makes that I was wielding it like a flailing mace are completely fictional...)

Ahh, diabetes! You've got to laugh... ;)

Fun times (not)

Well I had a fun evening last night...

I was making dinner, when I went to drain the potatoes and somehow managed to pour boiling water over my hand. Luckily, I was next to the sink, so I quickly stuck my hand under the cold tap, but it hurt like hell. I dealt with it as best i could, wrapped my hand in a wet towel, and kept going with dinner.

When dinner was ready, I tested my BG and discovered it was 15.4. I was a bit surprised, since I'd been fine a few hours earlier, and my basals are ok over that period. I tested for ketones (don't ask me why, the rules are supposed to be that you check if you have two consecutive readings over 14, but it was such a random high I wanted to check) and got a reading of 0.6... Now I know that's not particularly high, but it's the highest ketone reading I've had in years, so I was a bit concerned.

I checked the pump and my site, and everything seemed fine, so I figured it was maybe a reaction to the burn, and bolused for a correction and my food (yes, I know, I'm a bad diabetic eating when I was so high, but I was hungry dammit), and then felt something....odd at my infusion site. I put my hand down to the site, and it felt damp, and I realised I could smell insulin on my fingers.

Oh joy.

I changed out the site, put on a 200% temp basal, and then tried to decide how much, if any of the bolus I'd received. I decided to assume that I'd got most of it (the site was damp, but not *wet*), and just keep an eye on my BGs. I checked a couple of hours later and I'd come down to 12, so I went to bed and set an alarm and was 5.4 at 3 am, and then 6.4 when I woke up.

I'm not entirely sure how that worked out so well, but I'm not going to complain!

You'd think after 22 years of being diabetic I'd avoid the rookie mistakes, but no...

I decided to treat myself to some chocolate after lunch and completely forgot to bolus for it, which lead to a lovely 15.1 at break time, and me making confused faces until I realised what I'd done (thank goodness for the bolus history on the pump!).

I managed to end up back down to a more reasonable 6.9 within three hours though, which I was rather pleased with! :D