My Pump Died!

[kgm0612]

My pump died this afternoon at 1:30! MM is sending me out a replacement but I won't have it until Tuesday morning.

I called my endo but he was off and the endo covering offered to call me in some Lantus. I declined and told him I would use my Novolog pens for the time being. He wants me checking my BS every 2-3 hours and suggested I test during the middle of the night. It's been 5 hours since my pump kicked the bucket and I'm lost already. Something tells me it's going to be a long 2 days! LOL

Karen

[JasonJayhawk]

Out of curiosity, why'd you decide to decline the Lantus? Just a small amount could keep you from going into DKA.

[Funnygrl]

I have levemir pens in case my pump dies. I replace my pump basal on a unit by unit basis.

[am1977]

Sorry to hear about your pump problems- I can relate, unfortunately. I have had more than my share of pump issues :rolleyes:, but then again, I'm on the 511, so... maybe that explains some of it :rolleyes:. Which are you on & do you have any idea on why this happened?

I know it's a real PITA... hopefully, the next 2 days will go by faster than you think...

Hang in there.

[notme]

Oh buddy I am so sorry!!!!!!! What do you think killed it? Where there any warning signs?

You were good with your pens. I guess it is a viable option for you. Shoot!

[kgm0612]

Okay..........this is what happened. I changed the battery yesterday afternoon and I was going to change the site but I still had 38 units of insulin left and figured I would do it when I got back home from dinner. I was too tired and lazy at 11pm, tested at 115, and went to bed. This morning I was 237.........I am very rarely over 120 in the morning.......so I blamed it on an achy site. I changed it out, bolused, and I was 116 two hours later. By this time it was 11:30am so I had some toast and bolused for that.

At 1:30 I was in the kitchen cooking and I heard this humming noise. I thought it was my TV but quickly realized it was my pump. The screen was completed blank. I took out the battery, reinserted it, and still NO screen. The buttons weren't working, nothing was happening. I'm thinking the pump went into "check BS" mode and got stuck with this continuous humming noise.

I called MM. "John" had to ask me a few questions.........what was I doing before this happened? I was cooking. "By any chance were you wearing an apron"? Yes, I was wearing an apron like I ALWAYS do! "I think it's a static problem...........let's do a 5-minute battery check". So I take the NEW battery out and we wait 5 minutes. John wants me to put in another NEW battery, and that's exactly what I do. NOTHING! We try again, NOTHING! Now he wants me to do a 2-hour battery test.........leave it out for 2 hours and maybe it will reset itself and then call them back. I told John that I would do the 2 hour test, but that I wanted him to send me out another 515 because even if the pump starts working in 2 hours, I wouldn't feel comfortable with it. He agreed.

A new pump is being sent out on Monday because John said the shipping department doesn't work on Sundays. I was chatting with my friend Nancy (not-me) and she mentioned Martin Luther King day being tomorrow. Now I'm wondering if UPS is working tomorrow because if they're not, my pump probably won't go out until Tuesday!

Karen

[SHAA77]

UPS will be running tomorrow, at least that is a little bit of good news. The only reason I know is my new pump should be here tomorrow. MM sent me the 522 instead of the 722.:hmmmm2: Good luck until you get your new pump!

[sbigelow]

Could you get some NPH over-the-counter (from Walmart) to cover you in the night?

[poodlebone]

Out of curiosity, why'd you decide to decline the Lantus? Just a small amount could keep you from going into DKA.

A lot of pumpers won't use long acting insulin if their pump has problems and they'll be on injections only for a day or two. When you do get your replacement, you'll have long acting insulin in your body and no way of knowing how much, so it could be a rough first day once you reconnect. I think they'll inject short acting insulin every couple of hours in the amount of their missed basal.

I'm not sure what I'd do if my pump died. Lantus was okay but not perfect and I only used it for 2 months before I got my pump, and don't remember a whole lot about it. I probably would just test a lot and inject Humalog every few hours.

[JediSkipdogg]

I think I'd pull that 4 year old bottle of NPH out and see if it works. LOL

One thing though one can do with a pump is set a temp basal to -100% until they think the long acting should be out of thier system. I think depending on how long I'd be without a pump that I would take the long acting and then do that when I get my pump back.

Good luck with the new pump and it should arrive tomorrow.

[RLK]

A lot of pumpers won't use long acting insulin if their pump has problems and they'll be on injections only for a day or two. When you do get your replacement, you'll have long acting insulin in your body and no way of knowing how much, so it could be a rough first day once you reconnect. I think they'll inject short acting insulin every couple of hours in the amount of their missed basal.

I asked my endo about Lantus in case my pump ever died, and he said that he preferred that I do just as Poodlebone described- shoot up Humalog every 3-4 hours instead. I haven't had to do it yet (knock on wood!), so I don't know how well it would or wouldn't work...

[kgm0612]

Before going on a pump, I used NPH and 70/30 as my insulin regimen.

Nancy (notme) and I are very good friends and I know she is very knowledgable regarding insulin duration/peak times/etc. So while we were chatting last night, I asked her if I could use the NPH that I had in my refridge. She basically figured out at which times I should take it and how much I should inject, along with Novolog to cover my meals. So this morning before I left for work I took 5 units of NPH and at 8:15 I took 4 units of Novolog to cover being high (182), coffee with light cream & equal, and the one piece of whole wheat toast (20g) that I was having for breakfast. I'll test in 2 to 2-1/2 hours to make sure I'm not going low.

I left a message on my endo's machine telling him that my pump died and that I'm using NPH as a basal and Novolog to cover my meals. I asked him to call me here at work.

I MISS MY PUMP!

[It Ain't Over]

I have had a couple of pumps fail on me, back to back, a few years ago.
Went on 4-5 unit injections every four hours or so.
The control was nearly as good as I had with the pump. But MM came through both times with a replacement in a couple of days.

[xMenace]

My endo wants me to shoot every 4 hours: add my next 4 hourly basals. Then inject normal boluses for food. I really don't see it being a problem. It's not much worse than getting up at night to take antibioics.

[Grammylami]

:bawling: My pump isn't working right either. I have been having high BS's of about 400. You know I missed work over that. I also had very high ketones because of it. It seems like I would recieve some insulin for a while and about 5 hrs after I change to a new set my BS's start to go high. I would bolus but there was no change. I also noticed I was having to change out my batteries quite often and the end of the battery would be corroated. I think my pump has a leak. I am supposed to get a new pump from MM on Monday. Has anyone else had this problem? I am using a 515.

[kgm0612]

Grammy..........I never had a problem with my pump prior this experience. Usually when my numbers ran higher than they should have been, it was a site problem and not anything with the pump.

Good luck!

Karen