Monday, November 22, 2010

Things I Don't Think About.

I'm a planner.  I like to make lists, I value the RSVP, and I tend to do a lot of research before making big decisions.  But that's in "real life" - that philosophy doesn't always extend to my diabetes life.  Especially on days like today, I wish it did.

For example, I often forget about the concept of the free shower.  For those unfamiliar, the "free shower" is that beautiful point of intersection where the end of life for your CGM sensor and insulin pump site sync up.  It is one of the few showers where you can scrub away without fear of dislodging something; where you don't have to worry about the pressure and angle of the water messing up your mosiac of adhesive tape.  It's glorious - and I often forget about that option.  (But this morning, I didn't!  Happy Monday to me!)

While remembering the free shower was exciting, it apparently meant that I had that much less brain space to remember other things, like how I should grab a new bottle of test strips before I headed to work.  Which is doubley unfortunate - as the first several hours of a new CGM sensor tend to be pretty inaccurate, and I'll be wanting to test more frequently than normal.  (Not-So-Happy Monday to me!)

Sort of like this, but not orange.
Then, there's the matter of insulin pump site placement.  I've been trying to use some thigh sites in my rotation, to give my stomach a bit of a break.  I've found that the side of the top of my leg works best - there's some squish there that accomodates a pump site quite well.  But here's what I forget about - for some reason, that exact place on my leg is where the arm of my chair at work hits my leg.  So, every time I sit down, my site hits a wall of hard plastic, and it feels weird.  I'll be spending the next two days sitting slightly sideways in my chair.  Don't mind me.

What do you tend to forget about?  Tell me I'm not alone here.

6 comments:

  1. I <3 free showers. It rarely happens for me, but I completely know the feeling of elation you get when you're soaping yourself up totally equipment free. It's the simple things in life... :o)

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  2. I love free showers, too. I've gotten to the point that if I have one day until a site change and my sensor is done, I'll sacrifice a day of sensor readings for the free shower :) maybe not the best idea, but I think it's worth it.

    As for test strips, I work at JDRF. I have a test strip buddy - we've got each others back for those days. Today happens to be one of them for me, so I hope it's not a universal "forget your test strips" kinda of day.

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  3. Sonja - The funny/sad thing is that I sit right next to a lady with Type 2. I've never seen her do a blood test in the three years we've worked together, and she doesn't talk about having diabetes. Ever. She also irritates the crap out of me, so I'd rather just go without strips for a few hours. :) You're lucky!

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  4. It's tough for me to do "free showers" even when I have the chance, because I've discovered that showers make my blood sugar drop like a rock! (Diabetes is so fraking bizarre!) I prefer to have Dexcom right outside the shower door. It's saved me a couple times when I thought I was just overheating from the hot water (not unusual for me), but was actually low.

    So I try and avoid showering without working Dex sensor. :(

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  5. I forget my goodie bag of extras (canula, line, cartridge , wipe & insulin pen) and garenteed, the day i forget it will be the day my canula chooses to fail and leak everywhere! I live in a very rural area so this normally means I'm either 30-60 minutes from home.... It's never a good thing!! Lol

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  6. PS I love all of the new diabetic terms I'm learning, free shower!! Yes!! I love when that happens :) never thought there was a name for it though or that others felt this way! :)

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