Tuesday, April 19th, 2011 was the first day of the rest of my life. The pump start with insulin was a nervous time for me. First I had to remember to not take my lantus in the morning which with two kids and being tired and starting to get a cold was a bit challenging. We have a morning routine in our house and not being a morning person it is important to have that routine. I actually went to the fridge where my lantus is kept and started to grab it before I remembered that I was not to do it this morning.
I succeeded in not giving myself lantus and was growing hungry. The pump start this morning I was to bring my breakfast with me so I can test and bolus (for the food and blood glucose correction if necessary). I usually eat breakfast somewhere between 6:00 and 7:30 am when the kids get up but my appointment for the pump start/training was at 9:00 am. Next was making sure I had my supplies for the pump start and figuring out y breakfast so I can start on the right foot and do better with counting the carbs in my meals. It was somewhat a celebratory day as well since there would be no or little use of needles anymore so I decided I was going to have some McDonald's breakfast: a sausage mcmuffin, hash brown and a coffee.
I get to the doctor's office and can smell my food and try to wait patiently to eat. When every morning you are set on a schedule it is hard to wait an extra couple hours to eat, but the pump is also supposed to give me freedom in when and how I eat so this was a minor inconvenience in the grand scheme of things.
Finally it was time for the appointment, I think I went through an emotional roller coaster with the ups and downs of excitement and nerves just walking down the hallway. It was all business getting the pump setup and setting the infusion set, filling the reservoir and starting the basal rate. After all the waiting and decision making it was on. It didn't hurt, but it was definitely odd after 20 years of needles this little blue (very expensive) thing was providing me insulin. So I counted up my carbs, figured my bolus amount including a small correction to get me in the normal 80-120 blood glucose range and with the press of a couple buttons my bolus for breakfast was being delivered. Fantastic, it was time to eat.
As I ate my breakfast there was more training, mostly review of what the books with the pump taught me but also guidelines and the testing schedule: before meals, two hours after meals, bed time and 3:00 am. All necessary to get the basal rates set correctly for me but a big pain in the butt as not being a morning person I am much less a 3:00 am person. One important thing to remember when testing your blood glucose at 3:00 am is your glasses, when you can't see like me trying to get a good droplet of blood and get it to the test strip should be a minute to win it game. I got it done after a couple of tries and would not have won it in a minute this time. I stumbled back to bed and couldn't go back to sleep as the cold was getting worse.
I was nervous the first day as this was a new way of life to me, I had to break out of my usual routine and learn to take care of myself in a different way. One of the things that is important to help set the basal rates correctly is to have carb-free snacks the first few days unless necessary for a low blood sugar. This was going to be difficult for me but I want to do things right so I guess it is time to stock up on some cheese. I freaked out at lunch time as my blood glucose was up to 277, fearing the infusion set was not set right or the pump wasn't working I called the doctor's office right away. They talked me off the ledge and assured me that this is normal for the first day as everything is an adjustment at this point. I ate my lunch, bolused for the food and correction. The two hour after meal check was much better so I was able to relax. Dinner went much better with good readings before and two hours after and my confidence began to grow. Bedtime reading was good as well, a little low so I had a small snack to be in the right range for bedtime. It was nice that there were some small cookies laying around as it is always nice to have a little treat especially when moving to a new part of life. I went to bed feeling good beyond the fact that I had a cold.
I got through the first day very well and was well on my way to the rest of my life.
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