goodbye pump, hello pen

so, today i took out pedro's battery. he is in hibernation.

shiny new futura vs. silent purple paradigm...

why? well, after 3 weeks of very frustrating trial and error with new sets and new sites, i got to a point of distrust and extreme frustation with my insulin pump, and decided (with the help of doctor and specialist nurse) that a pump holiday was the right thing to do.

i've been using a pump since i was 13, so you can imagine just how weird it is to be sat typing this post without anything attached to me. i'm going to have to relearn how to use MDI (multiple daily injections) correctly, so that i don't have too many dangerous highs and lows.

but, considering i've had both of those in the last week alone (ketones up to purple, and 3am sweats from a 2.7 - not cool), i'm actually not so fussed, because it can't be worse than i've been doing lately.

my distrust for pedro has got so bad, that i really didn't ever want to put in another set. i've been feeling that way for a week or more. i am permanently tired and lethargic with horrendous levels, and i hate to think of what this is doing to my internal systems.

i'm looking forward to not worrying about:

• the tubing getting caught
• infusing into muscle accidentally
• whether the insulin is absorbing, and if not, why not - is it the set, is there a bubble, has the insulin denatured, is there a kink in the tubing, are my clothes too tight? etc, etc.
• being concerned about whether i wear socks to bed, as this will raise my core temperature and likely make the insulin far less effective.
• having to inject for meals and corrections anyway because the set isn't working.
• thinking about all the possible variables!

moving onto Lantus for a while will, i'm sure, present it's very own problems. but if it helps me to see the importance of having my pump and using it well, and learning to trust it again, then i think it'll be worth the nuisance of switching back.

practically speaking, it couldn't be easier to switch back to injections really. i will be using the Lantus twice a day, 8units at 8am, 8 units at 8pm. simple, for now. i was on about 10units of basal on the pump, roughly in total, so it's been increased quite a lot. we'll see how it goes, and i will see the nurse next Monday just to confirm everything is going ok. she gave me a fancy new ClikSTAR and a HumaPen Luxura (v. posh - like it a lot!) to use on my new regime, which is exciting!

for a long time i thought it would be like admitting defeat if i couldn't get the pump to work properly, but now i'm sort of excited! i was having to carry around my HumaPen and spare sets with me anyway from the sets failing on me all the time, so there'll actually be LESS stuff to lug around all the time :)

who knows when i'll be back using Pedro, but in the meantime, i'm happy to avoid using my abdomen to give it a rest from all the scarring that's happened to it, and to hopefully put some weight on, so i have a few more places to start using sets again!

it's certainly going to be an interesting few weeks, that's for sure ♥

thankfully, it's not all doom and gloom - i had some amazing test results back from the surgery on Monday, to show that my hormones and kidneys are working awesomely well!