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Permalink Reply by Asma on February 27, 2012 at 10:47am

Whoa,now you're all making me feel bad and reckless. And I thought I had it all figured out!

When I was on MDI, I used to have a cosmetic bag with my Novorapid+Lantus,needles, alcohol swabs and some lancets. In addition to the meter of course. No "back up" plans. For hypos,I usually have some juice floating in my purse. Same thing goes for my school backpack. I just dump the stuff from here to there. On more than one occasion I forgot the whole kit and had to call someone to pick it up for me.

Now that I'm on the pump and in college-Where I spend most of my day-(from 7:30 to 3:20) it's even worse. Once or twice I was out of glucose tabs-just an empty container- which lead to one of the most unpleasant lectures of my life. The only constant is my meter test kit.

Old container(blue) vs new container(pink):

Ok. So I need to carry more stuff. What's a good item to begin with? I thought about leaving some set supplies but then I only have one inserter (quicksets) and I've never done it manually. Any tips? I'm thinking battery :-)

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Permalink Reply by LaGuitariste on February 27, 2012 at 11:20am

You want a back-up battery for everything. My meter died when I was working 35 miles from home and had a high-pressure meeting in ten minutes -- and I felt low-ish. Not good. More glucose would be good, and maybe something to support a low post-treatment, e.g. a power bar? I don't know about pump-related stuff, but a back-up of everything sounds prudent.

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Permalink Reply by Asma on February 27, 2012 at 12:52pm

The low post-treatment plan sounds like a good idea. I should've thought of that before I guess. As for the battery, already stacked some B)

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Permalink Reply by smileandnod on February 27, 2012 at 12:58pm

I second the battery back-up. My meter died at work one day right before lunch. Luckily was able to find one person in our building who had spare batteries of the sort I needed. You can always bet that you'll run out when it's the worst time possible.

I can't tell you how many times I've used the last test strip in a drum when checking for a low. I usually pack enough glucose to treat a stubborn low day... for when you have to treat multiple times in the same day.

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Permalink Reply by Jen on February 27, 2012 at 5:10pm

I agree about enough glucose to treat multiple lows. On bad days I've sometimes had to treat 4-5 lows while I'm out and about, and there's been a few times I've found myself at bus stops or on the bus with quite low blood sugar (i.e., high 1s low 2s mmol/L, 30-40 mg/dl) with no treatment because I'd eaten it all already, which is extremely scary. I check my Ziplock bag of Skittles each evening and replenish if necessary.

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Permalink Reply by LaGuitariste on February 27, 2012 at 11:15am

OK, since we're showing our pretty photos:

Meter case and door one of the MEDPort:

Door two of the MEDPort (with stuff unpacked):

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Permalink Reply by Asma on February 27, 2012 at 12:49pm

I love this. Has a place for everything.

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Permalink Reply by smileandnod on February 27, 2012 at 11:23am

I would soooo love to be able to carry the cute little purses that I see everywhere! But for me, having a back up plan with me at all times is peace of mind. So I carry a medicool pack (with all the supplies everyone's listed) that drops inside my big purses... believe it or not, my heavy purse has given my aging body shoulder and neck pains. Anybody else have that problem? Solving one problem created another!

Because I'm over-cautious, I also keep a small backpack in my car with extra supplies above and beyond what I carry in my purse just in case I get stranded somewhere. I also keep extra gatorade and juice boxes in my car. But then I'm way over prepared..but once again, that's peace of mind for me.

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Permalink Reply by LaGuitariste on February 27, 2012 at 11:37am

That shoulder and neck pain is why I switched to using a day pack. When I'm shopping and walking long distances, I just put it on and the weight is distributed evenly across both shoulders and my back. Being stylish shouldn't result in permanent injury! LOL

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Permalink Reply by smileandnod on February 27, 2012 at 12:00pm

You're right. :) I really need to find a day pack that I like. That needs to move up on my list of priorities - that and a new medic alert. That's originally why I got the backpack in my car but it's sort of an awkward size and I found it uncomfortable. I'd appreciate if anyone else uses a day pack if they would post a picture and link please!

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Permalink Reply by LaGuitariste on February 27, 2012 at 2:14pm

Well, there are lots of options out there, but this is the one that I use:

I got mine from REI. They're good people:

http://www.rei.com/product/827908/the-north-face-borealis-pack-womens

This pack is not cheap ($89), but it has good padding (to prevent my music binders from poking me in the back) and lots of room for my girl gear, my dadgumbeetes gear, my guitarist gear (tuner, capo, nail files and clippers, spare strings, etc.) and my geek gear (iPhone, headset, ear-plugs to help me tune out any insane co-workers, laptop if I need it, thumb drive, etc.)

However, the pack-before-last I got for approx. $7 at Value Village. It pays to keep your eyes open if you like to hit the second-hand stores. I've found some stunning deals on day packs at second-hand stores, but then again I am in the Pacific Northwest and we go hiking any time the sun peeks out from behind a cloud for ten minutes.

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Permalink Reply by smileandnod on February 27, 2012 at 2:25pm

Oooo thanks so much for the link! I like!

"dadgumbeetes" :)

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