So this post is going to address a very serious subject affecting diabetics EVERYWHERE. What is so serious and requires your utmost attention?? Yes. Zombie Apocalypse. Yes, I went there. I'm adressing it. Here and now...finally. Well....sort of.
This summer I have had a high number of insulin pumps malfunction. Mainly Medtronic Revel's and OmniPod pods. The companies don't feel like adressing my concerns, so I guess I will blame it on the heat (I'm in Texas...we've had several weeks in a row of >100 degree heat!! You should visit). Anyshit, I have been inundated with patients having to call the helplines and request new pumps, pods or PDMs. And it is SHOCKING how many of them (95% if my genius ass had to guess) that have NO idea what their settings are. Or have a backup plan. Or even know what to do! C'mon, guys.
1. We went over it in your pump training & follow ups
2. You have RXs for long acting insulin
3. What would you do if you didn't have your educator's cell phone number and could test her anytime of day or night????
Emergency preparedness is a real thang, ya'll. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita was proof of that. Our area was filled with our coastal neighbors, and many of them had been without diabetes medications, testing supplies or pump supplies in days. We donated what we could, but it was shocking how many of these refugees had no idea 1. What medications they were taking, let alone the dose 2. That without these medications, their sugars would run amok 3. That you can't reuse ONE pump site...indefinitely. Some sad shat, yo.
I challenge you, as diabetics, and parents of diabetics, to make sure you have an emergency kit, including all of your pump settings, supplies, and contact information for your healthcare provider, inside. Have it in a central location, that is easy to find, in case of an actual disaster.
Crap happens, and I understand that. Dr. C and I were attending the 2009 Scientific Sessions of the ADA in New Orleans, and discovered we had BOTH run out of Novolog, AND had not packed enough pump supplies. Oops. Good thing there was 1,000 reps i attendance, as well, to bail us out!!!
Try not to have nightmares...and be prepared.
Peace, Love & 'betes, ya'll.
Should I take this one step further and admit that we don't have all the LVAD supplies set aside, like we should, in case of emergency?? No? Ok. That's definitely not us.
ReplyDeleteIt's so hard to make sure you have EVERYTHING and remember it all. Thankfully, I have this handy dandy app. It's called Paperless. Yes, I paid more than $.99, but it's WORTH IT!! If you have an iPhone and don't have this app, get it. Now. My life is on it and they just updated it to sync with another AWESOME app called Dropbox.
I have a list of all Michael's medications, a list of things we need when going out of town, a list of clinic questions, a list of emergency numbers, a grocery list (ok, one list for each store), lists for my kid, lists for my Scentsy customers, lists for Christmas...should I stop? It's a bit of an addiction, but it's my way of coping.
Thanks for doing this blog, lady. It's pretty darn helpful!!!