A Bad Button

We love our insulin pump. It's really changed how we treat Benny's diabetes, gives us more flexibility and allows us to let him eat almost whatever he wants. The only problem is when there's a problem. And we had a big one yesterday. Benny's "button" came out at daycare. That's what we call the inset, the way the pump is actually attached to his body. The button's come out once before and our care providers know what to do. They're just incredible people and I'm so grateful for the way they take care of our little guy. They replaced the button and went on as usual. But something was wrong. Benny's numbers started going up. When they checked him - and Slade had just arrived to pick him up - he was above 500. If your blood sugar stays that high, it can get dangerous. (here's a good explanation of how an insulin pumps works) Slade gave him a huge dose of insulin and took him home. I was at gymnastics with Lea (every Thursday!) and he called me with the update. I wanted to run home, but Slade knows what he's doing, Benny seemed in a decent mood, considering he probably felt really lousy, and he was eating a snack - which is a good sign. Sometimes when he's really high he doesn't feel like eating. On the way home, I warned Lea we might be in for a rough night. I wasn't trying to scare her, but I wanted to prepare her in case Benny was sick. I was worried about ketoacidosis. We haven't had a scare that like yet, but a friend had just told Slade her teenage son with Type I had let his blood sugar run high for two days and he was throwing up and sick. Scary stuff. I also told Lea that her brother might be just fine, and we'd have to see what we got when we got home. She wasn't phased. She had a few new books from school - High School Music the Junior Novel!! - so she was set for a while. We walked in the door at a pretty tense time. Slade had decided the new "button" wasn't working so he replaced it again. Every once in a blue moon the cannula will be inserted into a capillary and it doesn't seem to get the insulin where it needs to go. That's what happened to us the very first night we started on the pump. You can tell because when you pull the button off, the skin will bleed. That shouldn't happen. So Slade replaced the button AND gave Benny an insulin shot. His first shot since going on the pump in July. Sad about that, but it's more important that we got the insulin in him and get his blood sugar down. Then we hooked the pump back up and started checking his blood sugar every half hour. A few minutes after I walked in the door we decided to check for ketones. Benny loves this. I don't know why peeing in a cup is such fun, but that's party time at my house. Luckily, he was negative. Just after that, the insulin shot seemed to kick in and you could tell he was feeling a lot better. A good, but late, bedtime and great blood sugar numbers all night long. Whew! I was scared we'd be up all night, but both kids were asleep by 9pm and no trouble overnight. All good till next time!