I’m a type 1 diabetic. That means my immune system attacked the insulin producing cells of my pancreas and killed them off. Since the age of 10, I’ve been dependant on insulin injections or insulin infusion. I currently use an insulin pump, which infuses insulin into my body 24/7.
Well, sometime last night, my insulin pump’s battery died and my pump shut off. I was without insulin for at least a few hours. I didn’t notice until 9am when I went to check my pump. It wouldn’t turn on. Normally, my pump has a graph that shows my blood sugar and arrows to show what direction my blood sugar is headed. When I checked my blood sugar, it was over 400 and rising rapidly.
Once I got insulin flowing again, my blood sugar started to come down. I still feel weak, though, and it’s been a few hours since then. Currently, my blood sugar is 344 and still slowly falling.
If I had gone another hour or two without noticing my pump was dead, I could’ve ended up at the hospital in DKA (diabetic ketoacidosis). I’m glad I noticed it when I did. I’ve never had my pump’s battery die before.
That’s a good idea. I’ll keep an eye on how fast the battery drains now and see if I need to report it to the pump manufacturer. I hope nothing’s wrong with it. It did drain really fast while I was sleeping, though.
No, I don’t have a backup. I’ve had a pump completely fail on me before and I had to go back to insulin injections temporarily. They overnighted a new pump to me – my failed pump was still in warranty.
Yeah, I’m glad I noticed it when I did and not later. I’m doing ok now. I’m drinking lots of water to help bring my sugar down. Thank you for your concern.
I’m glad you are okay. The girlfriend of one of my cousins passed away due to not receiving insulin for her type 1 Diabetes. It was devastating to my cousin. I’m sure it would be devastating for your loved ones if they no longer had you in their lives. Thank goodness you were able to realize there was something wrong on time.
Thank you for your concern.
