Yesterday morning, Kacey was getting dressed and she stood up...and yep...Herbie went bungee jumping! I heard her let out a yell and went running. She was holding her side and she said her site pulled. I checked it over and didn't see anything that looked pulled. We went to Busch Gardens and when we got home, Herbie decided he hadn't had enough fun for the day and went bungee jumping again. This time I could see where it was a bit red around where the cannula goes in and I asked her what she wanted to do? She voted for a site change a day early because it was hurting. So I got everything prepared (wow thats a task!) and the tears started. She was crying before I even took the old site out. I felt like someone was squeezing my heart and this was a pain I couldn't take away from her. It wasn't a boo-boo that Mommy could kiss away and my heart just broke for her. With tears streaming down her face, she said "Mommy, I'm ready now." I put the site in and she immediately said it hurt and felt weird. I explained that it was new territory and it would stop stinging soon. An hour later, she was still complaining but it was also bedtime and she was exhausted from being at Busch Gardens all day. I got her to bed and she went on to sleep. I did the 2am check but I didn't look at her site, I only tested her BG. This morning when she woke up, we were both shocked to see blood backed up in the cannula and about 1/4in. into the tubing. UHOH! She knew what that meant and started crying. I told her we'd get through breakfast first and then we'd change it before school. She only had 22 units of saline left in the cartridge and that meant we had to fill and change that out as well because the alarm would be going off when she got to 20 units. So she ate breakfast and we prepared for another site change. I let her help me fill the cartridge so she'd keep her mind occupied. After we got that ready and loaded, it was time. When I pulled the site out that I put in last night, it poured blood! I grabbed some pads and she held them on there. Peek again... more blood! Press and hold....wait....peek once more....YIKES...it's still bleeding! Change pads...hold....wait.....check again....eekkkkkk! By this point, about 5 minutes had passed and Kacey was so upset. She sat down and I just had her hold the pad on it and try and calm down. We both needed it or else neither of us would be any good when I had to do the site. So we took about 5 min more and I made her laugh by joking with her and teasing her. Once she had a smile then I knew we could move forward. I put some neosporin and a bandaid on the old site and let her choose the spot for the next one. This time we numbed it with some ice. I don't think it was as numb as I thought it should be but it was numb enough for her to think it was fine. I think she really tricked herself into thinking it was really numb...LOL! Amazing what the mind can do! As soon as I did the site, she said she never felt it. I asked her if it felt ok and she said it felt like the one we did in class, not like the one last night. So I guess it's in right this time! For those of you that have pumps....when you put your site in, can you tell right away it's a bad site? Is there a way to avoid it? I put in a call to her CDE this morning because I wanted to be sure that I did everything right since we didn't go over those things in class. She said I was very right and we did exactly what we were sopposed to do. Any blood backup and the site needs to be changed immediately. I felt relieved that I did everything right, but I was still bothered because I wasn't sure if it was something I did wrong with the site insertion that caused the bleeder. She assured me that I didn't do anything wrong and I probably hit a vein or capillary and it was ok because now we knew what to do. *sigh* Whew!
Tomorrow is the big day! Herbie will officially be loaded with insulin :) Despite all the tears this morning, Kacey is still very excited about Herbie and she practically skipped down the hallway at school because she couldn't wait to show him off. We're halfway through the school day and I haven't gotten any phone calls so thats a great sign!
A few pics from this morning....
10 comments:
Oh my heart goes out to Kacey!! But kudos for not giving up and moving forward with the pump!
When we first put Tristan on the pump, we also had all kinds of difficulties. It's almost like a test. It happens when you are starting off and you are not quite sure what to do or if you did something wrong! :) You did a great job!! :)
For us, there's no way to know if the site went in properly. Unless there's a blockage in the tubing (the pump tells us that) we don't know. We usually know there's something wrong a few hours later when blood sugar is still high after we've corrected. What we came to realize is the more relax Tristan is, the less chance we have of the site not going in properly.
Keep doing what you are doing. It does get easier :)
I will be thinking of you guys tomorrow. It's a big day!!! Good luck.
Oh poor Kacey!! Good job on persevering! The part about putting Syd on the pump that was the worst was me and my husband trying to figure it out. The first day we had Syd's site in...after the tears and crying from both of us, I unbuckled her carseat and lifted her out...the canula had snagged on the buckle and I ripped it out. I felt awful, it bled, we cried.
It does happen. It's part of this learning curve. It sounds like Kacey is so motivated and a strong little girl. You guys will get the hang of it, but it does take time and error. You will get the hang of it though. I have noticed as well if Sydney is calm, we don't mess up as easily. Good luck guys!! You're doing a great job!
I was also going to say with Syd's pump, the minimed, we can't tell if the site is bad unless her sugars stay high...which has happened. Sometimes we do an area that is just really painful for Sydney and it doesn't stop hurting. If that happens, we change the site. All pumps are different though so it is hard to say. I would imagine as time progresses, you guys will just learn your pump and how the site should look/feel.
{{{HUGS!}}} Man, to have a bleeder in the first week!! Bummer...and scary for Kacey I'm sure!
I've been following your blog, just haven't had time to sit and write much. Pump start is part pure excitement part pure dread part pure confusion part pure relief. It's a crazy time. Keep trucking through and you'll be fine!:-)
Ahhh. That stinks. Pretty shocking to the both of you I'm sure.
You did all the right things. They (gushers) are usually very rare, and no, I cannot tell when I put the site in whether it will be a gusher or not, or if it will be a good one.
I don't have problems with my sites often, and the first sign of trouble will be high blood sugars.
Tell Kacey that she's officially earned her "gusher" pump patch (like for girl scouts?). A patch of courage and perseverance. :-)
I can't even imagine how proud you are of Kacey for being so brave and for pulling through some of this tough stuff! Good job mom!! You're doing fantastic!
Thank you all so much for your support!
Kacey came out of school with a smile on her face and said that her new site hasn't bothered her in the least :) She did very well managing everything herself at school today...dosing with insulin by injection and then with saline on her pump (double work until tomorrow!) and then writing it all in her Sugar Book! I got to meet another parent today that is pumping with a Cozmo :) That was fun! She'd met Kacey already and she told me if I needed anything I could call her.
Scott...LOL I told her she earned the badge from you ;) She giggled and I told her I'd make her one for her blog LOL!
Lynnea~ Soooo glad to see you back :) LOL I was ready to email you the other day about the jammies cuz I remembered what you did for JJ's jammies and instead of a seam ripper, I just used the scissors and cut a hole...haha!
Less than 24 hours now!!!
Bless your heart! Both of you! I am so sorry about that. I know that I've never had it back up in my infusion site, but have had "bleeders" before. One, not too long ago, actually kind of freaked me out it bled so much! It was at a site change time before it was really a problem.
And, also, I can usually tell if it's going to be a bad site. But the times it is the worst, it seems I can't tell until the pump let's me know...
Jessi's been lucky not to have a bleeder so far. Her Animas 20/20 liked to bungee, but so far the Ping doesn't. One time it bungeed right into the toilet...(we won't go there) Like some others, we usually know by blood sugars if a site is bad, and even then we've had God's favor.
"Mommy, I'm ready now." My heart broke for you both.
Tell Miss Kacey that Nikki periodically falls to ground in what looks like a trip-n-fall when she has actually realized her pump is starting to go to the ground so she goes with it, on purpose - she says it helps keep Cozmo from pulling out her site -
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