Longest Site Change Ever

It started with a mid-morning, out of nowhere, super-high blood sugar.

"It's site change day, Mommy," my daughter said helpfully.

So off we went to our favorite site change spot in front of the basement t.v.  At which point I remembered I needed the new insulin from the fridge.  Upon my return, I saw that a suitably junky t.v. show had been chosen for the occasion.

I applied unisolve to loosen the old site, IV prep to sterilize the new.  I drew up the insulin into the cartridge.  Bubbles.  Tap, tap.  Bubbles.  Empty and refill.  Bubbles.  I whacked the cartridge against the book case a couple of times.  The bubbles disappeared.

I then pulled out the old site, opening a Hoover Dam of blood.  Yoga moves ensued, elevating the site above heart level.  Several tissues were put into action.  I desperately tried not to show how grossed out I was.  The blood finally stopped.  I retreated to wash my hands.

The first segment of her t.v. show was finished. It was time to replace the pump's insulin.  I removed the old cartridge, and pressed 'ok.'  "Full rewind required," flashed back at me from the screen.  Of course this had to be the day when the pump needed extra time to do a self-check. I eventually loaded cartridge and primed. Once I'd confirmed the bleeding had stopped for good, it was time to insert the new site.

The traditional three choices were offered, including one 'new' for a super-special prize.  She chose it.

Courage was hard to come by for her to allow me to pull the trigger.  After several minutes crouched on the floor, I was beginning to loose both patience and the feeling in my feet.

I threatened to revoke prize privileges if she took any longer. I heard a faint 'o.k.'  and squeezed the inserter.

"OW.  Ow ow ow ow ow.  OOOOOWWWWW."

This is not an ordinary reaction for my daughter.  Sometimes she'll utter a faint 'ouch,' but the pain subsides quickly.  This was clearly different.  We waited a minute.  I filled the cannula, and when she said she thought it was getting better, delivered the correction bolus for the high blood sugar which had begun this increasingly unfortunate chain of events.

"OOOWWWWWWWW!"

Something was certainly wrong with this site.  Or at least probably wrong with this site.  With a busy afternoon ahead, it seemed smarter to start over now than to wait and see. So I got more unisolve and i.v. prep. and noted that her t.v. show was now 2/3 over.  I took the new old site out. There was more yelling.

We then had to negotiate a spot for the next new site, not near the gusher spot and not near the painful spot. 

Hovering around the 25 minute mark, I got the 'o.k.' and popped the new new one in.  This time, there was nary an 'ouch.' 

I filled the cannula again and wondered whether the insulin I'd given to correct the high was doing its job or not.  I decided I had to assume at least some of it was, particularly with a softball game on the horizon.  I guessed correctly, and the afternoon was unremarkable diabetes-wise.

The morning, however, was remarkably awful.