Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Yesterday's Epiphany

Yesterday my pump was pretty much out of insulin, so obviously I was going to change it. (Actually might have been Monday. No, it wasn't.) I had already put my DexCom in my stomach (which I hate a lot - it's too big to lay on comfortably) so I figured I should probably put it in my other arm. I filled the cartridge, got the tubing all set, then got the IV prep wipe out and wiped down my right arm. I kind of forgot that I really need another person to do this properly, especially since I'm right handed. It's not complicated, they just have to peel off the sticky thing and hold it down while I pull the needle out. My brother's even done it before. But when you only have one hand... Kind of hard.

It was rather interesting. I put the needle in (Inset 30 btw) and realized I can't use my right hand at all in this situation... Crap. So I sort of slid over to the fridge and used the handle to hold the applicator (what is that thing called? inserter!) while I used my left hand to peel off the first bit of adhesive. That worked, but I didn't get it stuck down quite enough, although I got the needle out and the set on. Was pretty entertaining, although nobody else was about to see it.

So lesson learned: don't try to put sets in your arm by yourself, at least not Inset 30s; I think the other insets are really a one-hand deal, in my mind they're like the dexcom sensor, which I can put in my arm with one hand. Those things rock!

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