bad pump sites
okay, so our son has been pumping since early october so we are still kind of new at this, but...
we have had 3 sites that went in wrong and were not working, a couple of sites that went bad because we had trouble reconnecting after a bath (quicksets) and 3 sites that got ripped out and changed before they would have needed changing otherwise.
but my question is can a site just go bad for no apparant reason? he was low actually at bedtime and had some snacks, which we bolused for. I went to check him before i went to bed and he was 13.4 (canadian, so a little higher than he is usually at that time). I thought this was a little odd given he was low earlier and so i waited another hour and checked again. This time 19! I did correct, but I was wondering what the possibility is that the site is bad given that there is nothing (to my knowlege) that could have made it go bad? (It was changed yesterday afternoon).
Also, In less than 2 months of pumping we have gone through almost an entire extra box of infusion sets, which is costly, so i was wondering how often you have 'bad' sites that need changing long before 3 days is up. Thanks.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Tracy K on -
oh yeah, and we also had the tubing kink one time and sound a no delivery alarm.
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Permalink Reply by carb101 on -
Absolutely yes. Or, more accurrately, I'm sure they go bad for a reason, just not a reason we can figure out. We've had sites tear out, cannuals get bent, sites pull out just the tiniest bit so that you think it's still in there just right but it's not. I'm sitting up at almost 1:00 am right now wondering why my daughter is still high, and I'm thinking about doing a site change. If you change every 3 days, a box of 10 should last month. I bet a box only lasts us 3 weeks because of site issues. It's frustrating.
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Permalink Reply by carb101 on
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Also, a lot of people think that the site doesn't work as well on the 3rd day as it does on the 1st, although I have not especially noticed this to be true.
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Permalink Reply by Tracy K on
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we were actually told to change every 2 days because of this. then once i forgot and hi numbers were fine. then with all the site issues, i am hesitant to change a site that is working well and twice i have noticed numbers climbing on the 3rd day. last time we were on the 3rd day we actually battled lows all day. this site was only changed yesterday, however, so this is definately not the case. I am waiting up also at 1:00 to check again shortly to see if i need to change the site! I have also noticed that this meter is horribly innacurrate when he is high and if I get say an 18 and 24 within a minute of each other i don't know what to correct. they are sending us another which won't help us tonight. so if the site is good i also may have over corrected as i didn't double check this reading.
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Permalink Reply by carb101 on
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I guess we'er in the same sad boat tonight. I did just change her site, and now I'm going to bed. But I'll be back up at 2:30. : (
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Permalink Reply by Tracy K on
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now an hour after correction i get 18.7. not really down, but not up either. of course, with this meter i don't really know what he was before and i don't really know what he is now. so actually i don't even know if he is coming down. i will have to check again. grrr.
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Permalink Reply by Tracy K on
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i too had to change his site. an hour after the 18.7 he was 19.9 immediately followed by 18.3. got my husband's accuchek meter which read 23, so he seemed to be going up. 45 minutes after site change/correction bolus he is 22.0 (accuchek) and so i gave .2 more and am waiting up to make sure he is indeed on his way down. grrr. how long have you been pumping? and do you really have lots of site issues? which infusion sets do you use?
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Permalink Reply by carb101 on
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We've been pumping since January, using a Ping with Micro Orbit infusion sets. We've had a lot of trouble with insertions on the thigh, and plenty of growing/hormone adjustment issues. It's really feeling like a grind recently. I slept so little last night that I was useless today. I hoped to be in bed an hour ago, but no, she was high again. It's really frustrating. I'm off to check her again, and I hope it's the last time tonight.
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Permalink Reply by Tracy K on
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we tried the orbit micros, but apparantly his body did not like the steel sets. the first one started stinging (next morning) then fell out (in the centre, not the sticky part). I thought he had caught in on something, but he claimed he didn't. next one started stinging next morning then after lunch we got a no delivery alarm and he had gone from 3.4 to 20 in just over 1 hour! We also tried the cleos, but it fell off after 3 hours. they told us that young children usually need to have their infusion sets changed after 2 days because the numbers will climb on the 3rd day. luckily we tested this theory and his numbers don't seem any different on the 3rd day because if i have a good site that is working I don't want to change it any sooner than is necessary! good luck to you:)
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Permalink Reply by TeamLenny on -
There is always a reason for a bad site, we just may not be able to always figure it out. Our endos told us to change the site every 2 days. this prevents infection, but also, i have noticed when I let it go for 3 days, his numbers tend to be higher. Be sure that you are rotating where you put the sites also. If you are only able to use one location (ie only butt) because of not having enough fatty tissue on other areas of his body (it was like this for us until about 2 months ago) be sure you alternate sides (ie. if you can only use the butt, put the site on the right side, then when you change sites again, put it on the left side, then next change put it on the right, but not in the same area as the first). I typically try to go about an inch away from the previous site location, to help be sure no scar tissue will form.
As for the low, then high... the high could have just been a rebound high from correcting the low.
I wait for 3 high sugar levels in a row before changing the site thinking it is bad... OR if ketones are moderate or high I will change then, no matter how many high sugar levels in a row my son has had.
I have seen it where my son has kinked the cannula just by laying ontop of it while sleeping at night.
If you are having to pay for the pump supplies out of pocket 100%, you could do your own price checking online to see if you can find some cheaper of the same kind you use. Maybe try ebay or something of that nature, sometimes they have diabetic supplies.
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