Cracked Herbie

It's been a LONG 15 hours!

Last night, Kacey had sight change. Since it was close to dinner and I was cooking, I told her to ignore it and we'd change it before bed. After dinner, we got sidetreacked and then the Teen Choice Awards were coming on and both girls were wanting to watch them so we gathered everything to do a quick site change before it started. It was anything but QUICK! As I tried to turn the cap to where the cartridge is held, it felt stuck. I turned a bit harder and figured it was because it was a new cap. The other one cracked about a week ago. I guess after a year and a half, it was time for that to crack. As I turned the new cap, it was tight. I got it off, filled the cartridge, put it in and started to load when I saw it. THE CRACK! It was a crack around the plastic part that holds the cartridge cap on. I held it up...looked close to make sure...and yes it was cracked! Kacey immediately went into a crying fit. I held her close as she sobbed...and yes....so did I. I felt her pain. It was almost as if I'd told her a friend had died...and in her mind...it had. She knew we'd have to send Herbie back and she just wasn't ready to part with him yet. I thought we had until next summer to prepare for this! She was so upset because she thought she was going to have to go back to shots. I prayed hard that the piece wouldnt break off while I was screwing the cap on to close it. It didn't...THANK GOD! I called Smith's Medical and got the after hours support line. I only waited 10 minutes for someone to call me back. The woman was VERY nice and she said it was too late to overnight a pump last night so one would go out this morning and we would get it on Wednesday. I told Kacey about the new pump and all she did was cry even more! I knew we had to try and forget about it for the night so I got her sidetracked her watching the Teen Choice Awards. Then came bed...and more tears :(

She woke up this morning....sad! She didn't want breakfast and has barely eaten lunch. I hate seeing her so upset so I sat down and talked with her about it. I tried to draw a parallel with Herbie and my cell phone. I explained that they make pumps out of very strong plastic like they do cell phones. They are made to be durable enough to be dropped but after alot of use, even the most strongest and expensive cell phones wear out! Opening and closing the phone wears on the hinges just as opening and closing the cartridge cap wears on the plastic part it screws on. It's not her fault. She didn't drop him. He's just worn out! After more tears, she finally had a little something to eat and she's just layed around. I told her that I understood that she was sad, we all are, but she would have a brand new shiny Herbie on Wednesday and he would be as good as the old one. She snapped back at me and said, "The new one will NOT be called Herbie! There is only ONE Herbie and I have to give him back!" and then more tears. I had to walk away because I busted into tears. She's most upset about having to put Herbie in the box and send him back. This is her first pump and I don't think I've ever seen her so attached to something...not even her baby blanket!

I knew we'd be making an upgrade to a new pump next year so I'm hoping that as hard as this is now, maybe it will make things easier come next year. The attachment to Herbie will settle down and she won't be as attached to this new one and she will be more open to seeing the new pump and moving forward with technology. Blessing in disguise? Possibly! I dread having to put that pump in the box and send it back...I ABSOLUTELY DREAD IT!!! My heart aches for her right now :( but I guess I should be glad that Herbie didn't die on us and leave us hanging to do shots for 2 days while we waited for the new pump.

I guess the new pump will arrive on Wednesday and for now I will work on trying to get her excited about choosing a new name. Same pump....same color....different name. Stay tuned! :)

For those of you that sent us prayers for Kayleigh....THANK YOU! We have appointments for physicals in 2 weeks and we're having her A1c checked and also having her thyroid checked too. She's feeling better and she hasn't had anything over the 160's yet. I had emailed Kacey's CDE about it and she reassured me on several things and helped me settle the panic. We had to go over to the hospital yesterday and pick up Kacey's papers for school and Kacey's CDE was there! We were excited to see her :) She asked how we were doing and about the girls numbers. Then she told Kacey about the new upgraded MiniMed pump coming out with the color screen. So that got us a little excited!

Before Herbie cracked yesterday, we'd been talking about upgrading next summer. It will be the summer before she starts Middle School. So we thought...new pump...new school....new cell phone! She doesn't have a phone and when Kayleigh was in 6th grade, we got her one so we told Kacey she could have one then too. We would have to start the process before school gets out in June so we have the summer to get used to it, play with basals and learn the buttons. I doubt it will take her long to master it! So we have that to look forward to :)