Pumping Frustrations

I realise how the blog title might sound out of context. But since this is a diabetes blog, you know what I mean right?

March 2017 will mark my third year with my beloved insulin pump. Being on the pump has been life changing. Despite the steep learning curve, I couldn’t be happier or feel #blessed to be pumping. Until recently.

It started when my boyfriend and I got caught in a downpour. We were 20 minutes away from home and 10 minutes away from shelter. In my panic, we took the fastest route home, which had no shelter. We were drenched. All I could think about was getting my pump and phone waterlogged. You know how companies always advertise that something is water-proof or water resistant but you’re either sceptical or too scared to risk trying it? Yeah. That was me. Especially not for a medical device that costs $10k!

That triggered a loathing of the physical presence of my pump.

Probably doesn’t help that it’s summer here – the time of dresses and many non-pump friendly outfits. This may also be a good time to point out (again) that women’s clothing have a distinct lack of functional pockets! Instead, we have our trusty bra. I normally hook my pump between the boobs (TMI?) but the pump clip then rubs on my skin, causing a new set of problems.

I’m even noticing it overnight, which is something that never used to bother me. I would roll over in bed and have my pump dig into me, almost mockingly. I’ve tried making my own pump holster using Tubigrip compression bandages. They either end up cutting circulation off in my leg or slide down. This was after I bought an expensive pump garter, which turned out to be fairly ineffective.

My last resort is to go back on multiple daily injections, like a pump holiday. I know this is a common option that people with diabetes use when they feel burned out from pumping. But then I started to put things into perspective.

Here’s a piece of technology that has given me freedom to make diabetes fit into my life, not the other way around. I can fine tune my doses to 0.05 of a unit and set temp basals to cope with any changes. More importantly, I don’t need 6 injections a day.

I fought for four years to get access to this technology, which is not even an option to many people. I feel guilty for being anything but grateful, but I think I’m not the only one who feels this way. While I am forever grateful to be able to afford and use such technology, I can’t wait for technology to progress even further. Not only with less intrusive diabetes management tools but also in better access and affordability for such technology.