As the kids were getting ready for bed, Dylan did a quick nighttime bg check and noticed that he had only 5 units of insulin left in his pump. Hmph. It had only been 48 hours since his last infusion set change and he NEVER runs out of insulin before the 72 hour set change time. In fact, he usually has lots leftover because I always fill the reservoir, just in case.
Oh well, I thought, we'll just change his infusion set a day early, no big deal. I reach into the fridge's butter compartment to grab a vial of NovoRapid insulin, only to discover that there is none in there. I reach into the produce drawer for the back-up penfills I keep for emergencies (I've always kept a stash of short and long acting insulin penfills just in case of a pump malfunction or brief return to syringes). There is NPH in there, and some Levemir, but no rapid.
After a brief second of confusion, I look to my right, where the familiar white and orange box sits perched atop the microwave. The EMPTY box that I purposely placed there the day before to REMIND me to refill the prescription. Somehow in my insanely busy schedule lately I forgot to re-order it. F*^k and double f*^k. My mind starts racing as I realize we are actually OUT of insulin for the first time ever. Completely out; not a drop in the house and only 5 units in the pump. And to add to my panic, I look at my watch to discover it's 9:20 pm (damn the late summer sunsets, I thought it was earlier) and the pharmacy closed at 9:00 pm.
Option 1 at this point is to find a late night pharmacy, which there are, but without a prescription I have to pay for the insulin and I'd rather not, seeing as we have insurance that covers the full cost (with a prescription). Options 2: borrow insulin from someone. At times like this Dylan is fortunate to have divorced parents who share custody and live close together.
15 minutes later, I am home, insulin in hand. Near emergency avoided. Just another day with diabetes...
Whew! Tragedy averted! That's good news.
ReplyDeleteBut did you ever figure out why the reservoir was so low to begin with? Was it because there wasn't enough to fill it last time, or were there some insanely large boluses that ran it down quickly? (If it's the latter, then there may be some more questions to ask!)
Know that I ALWAYS have sealed novo rapid vials in the fridge. If ever again needed, at any hour, don't hesitate to call!
ReplyDelete