First Site Change
Well, I did my first site change this morning - very nerve racking - and I was 300 one hour after breakfast.... grr....
I looked at my tubing and I had a 1 inch air bubble near my pump, so maybe that caused the high??? Maybe there were too many bubbles in my resevoir??
Ugh....
I took a correction bolus via a syringe, so here's hoping that it works.....
Any suggestions on how to make site changes smoothly??? I'm TOTALLY stressing right now!
HELP!
I looked at my tubing and I had a 1 inch air bubble near my pump, so maybe that caused the high??? Maybe there were too many bubbles in my resevoir??
Ugh....
I took a correction bolus via a syringe, so here's hoping that it works.....
Any suggestions on how to make site changes smoothly??? I'm TOTALLY stressing right now!
HELP!
posted by LaLa at 8:18 AM
6 Comments:
Do not fear, it gets easier and easier.
The only trick I can think of that's maybe worth mentioning is to leave the previous site in for at least a couple hours (though I sometimes forget to take it out for a full 24). I've had problems with my BG spiking after a site change when I pulled the old one out right away.
I don't know if I'm losing a wee-bit of insulin that's under there when I pull the old one out, but it certainly seems plausible.
Take a deep breath, too. Stress will raise your BG also!
Hope this helps.
As Kevin said, it gets easier and easier.
You want to make sure you get rid of any large bubbles in the cartridge/reservoirs deal (typically the smaller "champagne bubbles" are not to be worried over").
Also be sure to prime the tubing all the way, and to prime for the removed needle in the site.
It's a great idea to leave the old site in for a while - both to not lose that "wee-bit" of insulin, but to also provide an alternate location if you run into problems with the new site. It wouldn't have done much for the air bubbles, but a good idea still.
I've also found that I have big problems with the first meal on the new site. If I change at night, I'm fine overnight, but that first meal I spike real high. I'm experimenting with some things there too.
It can be hard to nail down, because my attention span has often wandered in the days between changing. Hard to focus on things to try if I'm only thinking about it once every few days.
It's a lot of troubleshooting and trial and error - but you'll be able to figure it out (just like you did with the air bubbles - great job!!).
For the first year after O started pumping, I would leave her old site in and bolus 1 unit extra thru that site. Then I'd prime the heck out of the new site, letting 8 or 9 drops of insulin come out of the needle bit, before putting it into the new infusion site. I think she was going high because of nerves because before I started doing this, she'd spike up over 300 every single time we did a site change.
Another tip is to use the tubing to push out the bubbles. I don't know what kind of pump you use, but O's leur locks have a shorter needle than the doodad that's attached to the reservoir (doodad - technical term, that). So the leur lock needle will suck up more bubbles that the doodad needle. If that makes sense.
I've also heard using room temp. insulin cuts down on bubbles. I haven't tried this because I always forget to leave the insulin out before a site change. And I just tap the reservoir with a pen or the SilSerter - not too hard, or you'll just make more bubbles. I can never get rid of all the champagne bubbles, which drives me nuts. I try and try and try, but just can't manage to do it. OCD? Ummm, why do you ask?
For the first year after O started pumping, I would leave her old site in and bolus 1 unit extra thru that site. Then I'd prime the heck out of the new site, letting 8 or 9 drops of insulin come out of the needle bit, before putting it into the new infusion site. I think she was going high because of nerves because before I started doing this, she'd spike up over 300 every single time we did a site change.
Another tip is to use the tubing to push out the bubbles. I don't know what kind of pump you use, but O's leur locks have a shorter needle than the doodad that's attached to the reservoir (doodad - technical term, that). So the leur lock needle will suck up more bubbles that the doodad needle. If that makes sense.
I've also heard using room temp. insulin cuts down on bubbles. I haven't tried this because I always forget to leave the insulin out before a site change. And I just tap the reservoir with a pen or the SilSerter - not too hard, or you'll just make more bubbles. I can never get rid of all the champagne bubbles, which drives me nuts. I try and try and try, but just can't manage to do it. OCD? Ummm, why do you ask?
For the first year after O started pumping, I would leave her old site in and bolus 1 unit extra thru that site. Then I'd prime the heck out of the new site, letting 8 or 9 drops of insulin come out of the needle bit, before putting it into the new infusion site. I think she was going high because of nerves because before I started doing this, she'd spike up over 300 every single time we did a site change.
Another tip is to use the tubing to push out the bubbles. I don't know what kind of pump you use, but O's leur locks have a shorter needle than the doodad that's attached to the reservoir (doodad - technical term, that). So the leur lock needle will suck up more bubbles that the doodad needle. If that makes sense.
I've also heard using room temp. insulin cuts down on bubbles. I haven't tried this because I always forget to leave the insulin out before a site change. And I just tap the reservoir with a pen or the SilSerter - not too hard, or you'll just make more bubbles. I can never get rid of all the champagne bubbles, which drives me nuts. I try and try and try, but just can't manage to do it. OCD? Ummm, why do you ask?
For the first year after O started pumping, I would leave her old site in and bolus 1 unit extra thru that site. Then I'd prime the heck out of the new site, letting 8 or 9 drops of insulin come out of the needle bit, before putting it into the new infusion site. I think she was going high because of nerves because before I started doing this, she'd spike up over 300 every single time we did a site change.
Another tip is to use the tubing to push out the bubbles. I don't know what kind of pump you use, but O's leur locks have a shorter needle than the doodad that's attached to the reservoir (doodad - technical term, that). So the leur lock needle will suck up more bubbles that the doodad needle. If that makes sense.
I've also heard using room temp. insulin cuts down on bubbles. I haven't tried this because I always forget to leave the insulin out before a site change. And I just tap the reservoir with a pen or the SilSerter - not too hard, or you'll just make more bubbles. I can never get rid of all the champagne bubbles, which drives me nuts. I try and try and try, but just can't manage to do it. OCD? Ummm, why do you ask?
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