PDA

View Full Version : Pumping Craziness - Oh, and another cracked pump


JediSkipdogg
07-14-2007, 03:50 AM
Last night totally blew. I was trying to get a good night's sleep for my 12 hour shift today at work. Let's just say, I have no idea how much sleep I got. I tested last night before bed at 10 pm and was 134. Great number for me so no problems there.

Oh yeah, I was also due for a set change last night, but wanted to wait till this morning because I didn't want to bother with it when I wanted more sleep. Big mistake.

11:10 pm - I get an occlusion alarm. Notice how long it takes me to acknowledge the alarm....

11:44 pm - I acknowledge the alarm as my pump is now screaming and vibrating continually. I clear it, disconnect, prime 6.0 units, it works, and reconnect. I thought I just layed on the tubing wrong, so I ignored the alarm and went back to sleep.

11:49 pm - My low cartridge goes off. I had 28 units prior to going to bed, which was plenty to last me through the night till 6:00 am when I could change the cartridge and not have a low cartridge alarm. However, the 6 unit prime above killed that chance.

1:37 am - I get another occlusion. I guess I wasn't thinking or was way out of it, because again, look how long before I acknowledge it.

2:11 am - I finally acknowledge the above alarm, but for some reason, do nothing with my set. I again, disconnect, prime 4.0 units, reconnect, and go. Both times so far insulin has come out of the tubing perfect.

3:31 am - I get another occlusion. But guess what, I'm so tired from the previous two wakeups and alarms blaring and vibrating on me that again, I don't acknowledge for a while...

4:22 am - I finally acknowledge the above alarm. This is it, I'm up now, so rip the old set out (which looks partially infected now) and put a new infusion set in.

4:26 am - I test after changing the set and find out I'm running 357. That might seem high, but that would be pretty much exactly on with me not getting any insulin since 10 am. I give bolus and get ready to finish up when....

4:28 am - I get a replace battery alarm while my bolus is being given. I had 2 out of 3 bars for the past month and hadn't received a low battery alarm yet. However, from my pump alarming for about 3 hours overnight total, I'd say that could kill a battery. So I look at my bolus history, see what was given, and give the rest of the bolus with a new battery.

4:29 am - During the battery change, I look at my pump and see a crack. I had the old battery out and was putting the new one in where I saw the crack THE EXACT SAME SPOT AS MY LAST PUMP (right down the side by the battery cap.) I hadn't even tightened the battery cap on yes (just hand tightened so far.) I knwo it wasn't like this in Vegas because I wore my pump in the pool and actually checked it before getting in for cracks.

6:45 am - I test once I'm at work and I'm down to 219 now. I'll test again in an hour and see where I'm at then. But ****, I now have 12 hours ahead of me and didn't get much sleep.

So, I'll be calling Animas later today (if I can) and asking for a new pump for another crack. I actually think this is my 3rd crack on the 1200 series and all in the same spots.

Ok, my rant/story is done.

notme
07-14-2007, 08:27 AM
You think after all the replacements for "cracks" the pump companies would fix this weakness. Crazy. Every time I read one of these posts, I start looking for cracks in my pump. Makes me jumpy.

JediSkipdogg
07-14-2007, 08:31 AM
You would think....

When I used the IR 1000 I use to love the plastic clip that held it onto a belt. I basically never felt it on me, however, I must have gone through at least 2-3 dozen of those in my 2 years. They kept failing at the hinge on every one. It was cheap plastic that they used. Animas at first made me send the old ones back so they could analyze them, but then I think they knew they were getting hundreds a day and therefore just had to figure out how to redesign them, but they never did.

Heck, I've dropped my cell phone a dozen times and NEVER had a crack in it. What I don't understand is why they can't reinforce where the battery cap goes with it either screwing into some sort of rubber or a metal ring, but plastic on plastic is just asking for cracks.

xMenace
07-14-2007, 08:34 AM
Geee, I don't get any of these problems with my minimed :eek:

It was Friday the 13th.

JediSkipdogg
07-14-2007, 08:36 AM
Geee, I don't get any of these problems with my minimed :eek:

It was Friday the 13th.

The problem's not the pump, besides the crack. Which I bet all pumps can crack there...

The problem was I hear the alarm, and silence it, then go back to sleep. Or since I generally sleep on the pump, I never hear it till I roll over. They need RF in the pump to control a light so I can have my bedroom lights flash on and off for an alarm, lol.

Cyborg
07-14-2007, 08:46 AM
Or a zap with a couple amps of electricity...

xMenace
07-14-2007, 08:47 AM
I don't know if your grand children will want to hear about it, but it is one for the history books.

My MM is very poor at waking me up. I'd have slept right through everything.

Dewey
07-14-2007, 08:49 AM
Sorry that happened to you, Jedi. It's definitely no fun to wake up to an alarm or a high. :( It also sucks to have a cracked case. Please let us know how things pan out.

Geee, I don't get any of these problems with my minimed :eek:

It was Friday the 13th.
In my years with MM, I never remember cracks by the battery housing either. Not to say they can't happen, but never recalled having one...Only "crack"/scratch I ever got, was near the screen.

Some users have had issues with cracks in inconspicuous spots, which sometimes caused problems (i.e. accidental submerge in water, causing the pump to stop working), but this doesn't happen often....I'll definitely give MM credit where credit is due.

That said, there is an advantage that both the Cozmo & Animas has - that unless MM has fixed over the years, they still may not have....When batteries are removed (from Cozmo or Animas) and new ones are replaced, the pump will ask the user if they want to complete/continue the bolus, etc. I can't recall any of my MM pumps (i.e. the 511 & 512, for example) asking me that. Mine would usually forget whatever it was doing and I'd have to program another bolus, etc. This may have been corrected over the years or in later models (or maybe my memory is just off cause it's been since 2003 that I've used mine :s: ). Anyway, just an observation.

Friday the 13th sounds like a good reason for everything, though!

tanyatype1
07-14-2007, 03:24 PM
UGH! What a drag Jedi! When my diabetes nurse was showing me the ropes with my Animas, she said to get used to having the odd "rough" night. Man, she wasn't kidding! Hope you sleep like a baby tonight!

uscrapm
07-15-2007, 07:00 AM
Regarding the battery cap crack. I had the same thing happen on my 12 series and just upgraded to the 2020. Animas made the plastic around the cap much thicker, I can't see it cracking. It might be a good reason to upgrade.

JediSkipdogg
07-15-2007, 07:22 AM
It might be a good reason to upgrade.

It would cost me almost as much as just buying a new pump due to my insurance benefits. And right now I don't want to waste on going for a new pump already. I'll just keep getting new free ones at their cost so maybe they will learn a lesson.

gettingby
07-15-2007, 10:11 AM
Or a zap with a couple amps of electricity...
:rofl: That's truly devious Cyborg. :D

jjames
07-15-2007, 12:15 PM
All this makes me double guess even getting a pump. Is all the hassle of a pump (cracking, etc.) worth the trade off of MDI? I am pretty excited to get a pump, but I'm still concerned with the whole thing. I know good control isn't hassle-free, but how much hassle is too much?

Sorry to hear about your night - hopefully you had a better rest of the weekend.

Lizzy
07-15-2007, 07:07 PM
Jay, I've had my Animas 1250 for about 8 1/2 months now and have not had any problems at all with it. My numbers have been so much better with it and of course one poke every three days is so much better then multiple times a day. I wish I would have went to a pump years ago.
Jedi I hope things are going better for you.

JediSkipdogg
07-15-2007, 07:15 PM
I'll second Lizzy. The pump has made my control alot better than when on shots. Of course, I was on NPH and R, so I can't say if Lantus and Novolog would be better or not. I would say I've had a pump problem on average of every 8 months with the pump going back in 4.5 years of pumping. I just forgive those times. I would then say every 6 months I have a night of bad pumping where my numbers are just way out of wack. I just shake it off and move on because I know the same thing could happen on shots and I'd rather just pump some more than be giving shots ever 2 hours correcting.

condensr
07-17-2007, 12:20 AM
Ironically, when I saw your first post, I looked at my 1250, and sure enough, the battery cap crack was there. I haven't replaced the battery recently, and I have checked it since I did replace the battery- no cracks then.

I wonder if the stress of hot weather caused it?

It doesn't bother me too much, as they cross ship pumps, and I can just use my computer to set up the replacement.

barbarac
07-23-2007, 08:57 PM
I am now checking for cracks too. Have one place that looks funny, but think it is a seam. Now I am very worried about it. Would not even know what amounts of insulin to give by shot at this point, as all my pump basals aren't right it appears anyway. Sort of afraid to swim in it now, and that is the reason I went with the Animas, so I could float in my chair and read and stuff or on a float and just relax.

So if there is anyway you could describe the cracks. Not that it would matter--if it is cracked I would have to take it off I guess, but just curious. Where do they crack. Know someone said battery cap.

condensr
07-23-2007, 10:58 PM
I wouldn't worry too much.. Here's a pic of the crack in question (Just to the left of the battery cap):

http://lh3.google.com/condensr/RqWTyetEraI/AAAAAAAAAFI/yzqP1jVU-vo/s400/DSC_0020.JPG

JediSkipdogg
07-24-2007, 02:20 AM
Great picture Shane. My crack is just like that except it goes all the way down (left in your pic) under the rubber to the indentation around the pump just above that little punched out spot. I don't swim that often so mine didn't bother me till I knew I had a canoe trip coming up at which point they sent me one in a day.