Sites and Fashion and Puppy Dogs

I had a free second, so I thought I'd post an update on how everything is going with my pump.  First of all, my average is down to 116 since I started the pump, which corresponds to an estimated A1C of about 5.7%.  My goal is 6.0% or under, so hopefully I can keep the current trend going!

I've also had fairly good luck with the actual wearing of the pump.  I've only had one bad site, and it was entirely my fault.  I had it in my upper thigh and pulled the tubing enough to disturb the site while pulling my pants down to use the bathroom...Great, I know.  I've never been the most coordinated person to begin with, so two feet of tubing is more than enough for me to get tangled up in!  I went to a friend's house after that, but had to return home and change my site because of the pain I was having.  I moved it to the back of my hip again, but I had some pain there too...I'm assuming it was because it was positioned more to my side than I'd previously had it.  After a couple of days of that, I relocated it to my abdomen once again.  I do have some pain when it's there, but it's mainly if you hit it...Or sometimes, if I hug my husband.  Boo.  Nevertheless, I know that site location is just something every first-time pump user has to figure out for themselves, and I'm trying to give each location a fair shot.

Worst part of being on the pump?  Honestly, for me it's not being able to wear dresses with as much freedom as before.  I love wearing dresses, but I've worn skirts the past couple of Sundays since they're easier to clip the pump onto.  This past Saturday I ran the tubing under my dress and clipped the pump onto the neckline, which seemed to work alright.  I've used my trusty sewing machine to make a couple of pump bands to put around my thigh, but I've only used them while sleeping for now--I figured I better test-drive the design before I go out in public with it, only to have it end up around my ankle and leaving my pump dangling!

[Side note: the pump does not, in fact, come detached from your site or body if you drop it.  I'd heard that the sites were strong enough to hold, but experienced it for myself a couple of days ago while changing clothes.  It did freak me out, but my husband was standing right there and retrieved my dangling pump while I composed myself...And realized nothing happened!]

Best part of pump therapy? Having so much better control over my diabetes.  Since I've been on the pump, it seems like I've achieved a better balance between effective management and worrying too much about my disease.  It seems counterintuitive, but being on the pump allows me to forget about my diabetes more often (in a good, healthy way of course...meaning it doesn't dominate my thinking 24/7 like it did before).  It's so effective at helping me manage my disease that as long as I do my part in remembering to check my BG and bolus correctly, it does its part in keeping my BG under control.  If I'm traveling, I don't have to worry about the inevitable BG increase that comes with simply being in the car and not being able to do anything about it...I just set a temporary basal increase and go on about my merry way.  Ditto if we have a special occassion coming up.  I just set my basal rate, then bolus a little more than usual for whatever we eat.  It's taking some trial and error, but I'm starting to get the hang of how much I need to bolus for what foods.  I told my CDE that was the biggest challenge of being on insulin in general...It would be so easy if all I ate was packaged foods, but that's obviously not the case.  As with everything else, I suppose I just have to do the best I can and hope it's enough =)

On another side note, I was amazed that our dog (that is actually still a puppy technically speaking) didn't blink twice at my pump.  He's such a hyper thing that he does tend to bump it while he's jumping up and down, but so far he hasn't payed it any attention.  I figured having the sensitive nose that he does, he'd go nuts over the smell of my insulin (after all, I can smell it and I sure don't have the nose he does), but it isn't the case.  This is definitely a good thing, though, as my previous wireless laptop mouse can attest...He tends to chew up anything and everything he can get his little paws on.  My nook was lucky I was only out of the office for a minute or two when he got ahold of it.  There are tooth marks permanently embedded in the page-turning buttons and a couple of marks on the screen, but that's a trivial result compared to what he's capable of!

Anyway, I guess that's all I have to say about that.  I hope you are all having a wonderful week, and if not...Well, it's half-way over!