Guest Post: The To-Don't List.

Today, I'm thrilled to share this post from Becky, of Instructions Not Included.  Becky, who resides in the United Kingdom, recently took the leap to insulin pumping from MDI (multiple daily injections).  She shares her experiences, sense of humor, and affinity for charming words (like "settee", and "niggles" - which , truthfully, I had to Google) with us in today's guest post. 

The floor is yours, Becky!

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So, today is the start of week three with my pump. So far things are going pretty well for the most part. However, it's to be expected that there will always be a few 'bumpy' moments along the road. With this in mind, I've compiled my anti to-do list; the "to-don't" list. This summarizes my wisdom (or lack thereof) gathered so far.

Here we go:

1: Do not catch tubing on doorknobs
(So far, no cannulas have been hurt in the process of closing doors, and similarly drawers)

2: Do not buckle tubing into belt
(This makes standing up straight difficult)

3: Do not drop pump in toilet
(Always a good piece of advice - thankfully this remains unaccomplished)

4: Do not disconnect pump to take a shower then forget where you put it
(It is not your phone - you cannot get someone to call it to find it)

5: Do not forget to put pump back in your pocket when you take it out
(Otherwise you will stand up in a rush, and forget you left it on the settee. You will remember quickly, though)

6: Do not underestimate how few 'pocketed' items of clothing you own
(You will spend an inordinate amount of time wearing hoodies, since you've had no time to shop)

7: Do not decide to hook pump tubing over your jumper whilst trying on clothes
(You will somehow get it tangled between layers and get in an extremely panicky mess)

8: Do not confuse your pump, mobile phone, and meter
(Whilst they are all wearing purple silicone skins, and you are extremely tired, you cannot text on your pump, and you cannot insert a test strip into your phone)

9: Do not be afraid of a few weeks of erratic scores
(Things take time to settle down - this is an entirely new way of doing things)

10: Do not be surprised when you discover that despite the niggles, you actually quite like this pumping thing
(Quite a number of people did tell you that you would)

And I won't even touch the subject of reading advice via text message on how to hide the pump in your bra when you're inside York Minster. Reading the text there, for the record. As far as I'm aware, York Minster doesn't have specific protocols for wearing pumps!
 
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Becky can be found blogging about her life with diabetes here, and you can also find her on Twitter.
 
Thank you, Becky!