Audrey Hepburn, I certainly am not.
Enter diabetes into the equation, and it can get to be an expensive (and painful) character trait. Many of us find that insulin pump tubing, when not securely tucked away, likes to hook onto whatever's handy: doorknobs, a stranger's arm, etc. The doorknob thing has happened to me more times that I'd like to admit.
More recently, I'm finding that my dia-clutzy self extends not only to my insulin pump, but now to my Dexcom sensors too. I'm wearing one on the outside of my thigh for the first time (and it's been almost scary accurate - was matching up to finger sticks only a few hours after I put it in, too, instead of the normal 12 - 24 hour wait). The thing about that particular location, though, is that it seems to be at the perfect height for banging into crap. For the last week, every time I walk past the foot of the bed...
CLANK!
Or past one of the dining room chairs...
CLANK!
Or brush up against the arm of my office chair at work as I'm sitting down...
CLANK!
I haven't accidentally ripped it off yet (YET!), but I'm thinking it's just a matter of time. Or maybe I just need to try a different part of my leg?
Anyone else's robot parts like to dance with their surroundings like this?
All. The. TIME. I'd have to quantify myself as more of a "most-of-the-time clutz" though. Sometimes it frustrates me, but I've pretty much come to accept it! ;-)
ReplyDelete~Tammy
I dropped my borrowed Dex in the toilet last year when I was taking of my sweatshirt &damn near had a heart attack!! Thanks for the link re: doorknobs - The sworn enemy of my pump & I!! Same goes for my emergency car's brake!
ReplyDeleteAll the time. Sensors or pump sites on the outside of my legs, which I LOVE to use, are especially clunky. Also sometimes the back of my arm for either sensors or sites--I forget and pull the towel hard across it after the shower, or bang it on the corner of the wall (what is it with walls? they get me all the time, too!). I try to develop a little extra spidey-sense and think twice .5 seconds before clanking or yanking...sometimes it works. >;) Good luck though--it's worth the extra annoyance sometimes to get great sites!!
ReplyDeleteI don't even need to catch my pump on anything! It thinks it can fly and jumps off my pants or out of my pocket and tries to go bungee jumping on the tubing...with just enough pull to make it look as if it is still firmly in the "fat" but has pulled out just enough to stop working! The sensor receiver likes to jump also,onto the floor while I sit and contemplate on the toilet...crash...and I hold my breath until I see it is still posting readings.
ReplyDeleteI pull my sensors out ALL THE TIME. Everytime I put in a new sensor, I have to decide "okay, am I more likely to pull it off when i'm pulling my clothes on or off?" It's ridiculous. My tubing just hangs out all the time, though. and I've only gotten it caught a handful of times and never pulled it out.
ReplyDeleteI, too, am a total clutz. I immediately developed the good habit of tuckign away my tubing, and I've only accidentally yanked out a site maybe three times... and in all of those cases, it was due to somethnig other than tubing catching onto something. It's almost always about forgetting that I had put my pump down on the bedside table while I changed pants, then just walking away and letting the pump fall the floor and, YOINK!!!
ReplyDeleteThe larger size of my Dexom sensors and my tendency to bruise the licing heck out of my legs on desk corners and such. I might try an infusion site there sicne they're low-profile, but I'm pretty sure a Dexcom sensor on my thigh would be asking for trouble...
Wait... what???!?! We're NOT supposed to be dia-clutzy and catch doorknobs and wall-edges and cabinet corners or chairs?? Well, crap. Here I thought I was being all sportsy and expert-like in my "ripping off of the pump sets and CGM sensors." Oh well. At least there's the Sport of Diet Coke Drinking where I can excel...
ReplyDeleteWow, totally relate! I cringe when I read your post because the act of cathing the tubing often results in pain. I remember being booted in the belly, by one of my kis, too many to remember which one(kidding)and her shoe hit the site like a bulls-eye, blood and the whole bit, I know I am being dramatic.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the post, I am tucking my tubing down my drawers as I type! Cheers
oh my goodness. ouch and doh! at the same time.
ReplyDeleteI've disengaged more than a few omnipods from my arms from not clearing door frames. The adhesive loves to take a sizeable layer of skin with it.
ReplyDeleteAnd all these years I thought it was just me! The most common snags for me are the staircase banister and door knobs. It's bad enough during the day when it catches you and stops you dead in your tracks but it's even worse at 3 am when all you want to do is go to the bathroom and get back to sleep. Now you have to wake up and change the infusion set.
ReplyDeleteI just got the Dexcom 7 CGM and trying to figure out how to carry all these devices.
BTW, I had the OmniPod for a week and have just packed it up and am awaiting a return shipping label from Insulet. Good idea and I like not having tubes but the overall design is very flawed. I could not make it through 12 hours without getting blockage errors. Oh well, back to tubing.