Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Having your insulin pump die while you're on vacation

blog.lauramichet.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

121–130 of 203 posts

Re: Having your insulin pump die while you're on vacation

#121

Post by bradleyy »

Trasmatta wrote: post #116
bradleyy wrote: post #86

This is literally the reason I'm still on multiple daily injections (MDI). I'm sympathetic to the author, I spent 50+ years without Type 1, and a few with it. Just this morning, I ended up bolusing correctly, but then an emergency caused me to perform a lot more exercise than I had planned on. Then, bam, I'm paralyzed in bed, thinking about calling the ambulance, eating sour patch kids. And believe me, when sour patc…

I'm on a pump but always take backup insulin pens and needles when I travel, so that I can switch to MDI if needed. My QOL with a pump is so much better than it was with a decade+ of MDI.

I'm trying to convince myself. But then it's just one more thing that the medical community is gatekeeping (you didn't book your followup appointment in time, so you're treated as if you're no longer in life-threatening danger of hyperglycemia is a reality for me, because I have a hard time with medical appts).

We really need some version of "permanent prescriptions" for insulin. Not OTC, because then insurance doesn't cover it, but infinitely renewable, so you don't have to go see an endo just to continue living.

Re: Having your insulin pump die while you're on vacation

#122

Post by UomoNeroNero »

UomoNeroNero wrote: post #119

Friend, you’re diabetic. Your survival is ultimately your own responsibility. Prepare yourself for a few hard truths. No one — including nurses and doctors who are not specifically trained in diabetes management — truly knows your situation. I had a TIA. I was barely functioning, hospitalized, semi-conscious. Not a single person in the ER, nor during the entire week I was admitted, stopped to think that maybe I wasn’…

Oh, and one more thing.

I always keep a blood glucose meter in my backpack. You know, that medieval-age stuff with the finger-pricker and test strips. (You can buy one for about €10 in pretty much any pharmacy in Europe, but it’s better to already have one with you.)

And pen needles, too.

Re: Having your insulin pump die while you're on vacation

#123

Post by mlhpdx »

Traveling without a quick acting pen and a long acting pen would never occur to me. Even if I’m traveling for a weekend I do (and take finger prick strips and tester). It means not having to worry about pump or sensor failures, which for me generally happen during exactly the fun activities I go on vacation to enjoy.

Re: Having your insulin pump die while you're on vacation

#124

Post by bradleyy »

officialchicken wrote: post #91
bradleyy wrote: post #86

This is literally the reason I'm still on multiple daily injections (MDI). I'm sympathetic to the author, I spent 50+ years without Type 1, and a few with it. Just this morning, I ended up bolusing correctly, but then an emergency caused me to perform a lot more exercise than I had planned on. Then, bam, I'm paralyzed in bed, thinking about calling the ambulance, eating sour patch kids. And believe me, when sour patc…

I'm having almost the exact same day as you today - except for the past 50+ years I have been t1d, and I'm back on MDI. I quit using a pump about 15 years ago. And it definitely improved my QoL just by not having to deal with all the insurance hassles. Removing that stress alone I think will extend my life longer than using a pump will. > And believe me, when sour patch kids are an effective medicine, you have a dise…

I have to admit, the fact that a 12 pack is the same as a case of energy drinks combined with my "goblin energy" doesn't bode well, haha.

Re: Having your insulin pump die while you're on vacation

#125

Post by UomoNeroNero »

UomoNeroNero wrote: post #122
UomoNeroNero wrote: post #119

Friend, you’re diabetic. Your survival is ultimately your own responsibility. Prepare yourself for a few hard truths. No one — including nurses and doctors who are not specifically trained in diabetes management — truly knows your situation. I had a TIA. I was barely functioning, hospitalized, semi-conscious. Not a single person in the ER, nor during the entire week I was admitted, stopped to think that maybe I wasn’…

Oh, and one more thing. I always keep a blood glucose meter in my backpack. You know, that medieval-age stuff with the finger-pricker and test strips. (You can buy one for about €10 in pretty much any pharmacy in Europe, but it’s better to already have one with you.) And pen needles, too.

P.S.

As a European, I genuinely struggle to understand how you cope with your healthcare situation.

In France, in a small mountain village, I walked into a pharmacy and, through a combination of gestures and sketches, managed to buy a box of rapid-acting insulin at full price (around €30–40).

The insulin was clearly available. The issue was purely bureaucratic — technically I needed a prescription from a French doctor. But the urgency of the situation, and the fact that I was obviously diabetic, were equally obvious.

We certainly have our own problems over here, don't get me wrong.

But I don't envy yours.

Re: Having your insulin pump die while you're on vacation

#127

Post by njonsson »

bradleyy wrote: post #105
officialchicken wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm having almost the exact same day as you today - except for the past 50+ years I have been t1d, and I'm back on MDI. I quit using a pump about 15 years ago. And it definitely improved my QoL just by not having to deal with all the insurance hassles. Removing that stress alone I think will extend my life longer than using a pump will. > And believe me, when sour patch kids are an effective medicine, you have a dise…

I always carry ice packs and a yeti cooler. I have some other carry rigs, but 99/100 times if you see me out and about, that's me: cowboy hat, wayfarers, and yeti cooler. So I just keep sour patch kids all the time in my pack. But I'm always up for something else, especially when the SPKs are in an "ick" season. I appreciate the recommendation. SPKs have an absurdly high glycemic index though and seem pretty predicta…

The best high-GI food I have found is Welch's fruit snacks. They are superior to glucose tablets: (1) Can be swallowed whole quickly and easily, or dissolved by saliva. (2) More concentrated, so you can pocket or pack more glucose in less space. (3) Can be compressed in a pocket or backpack without turning to powder that leaks everywhere. A packet of fruit snacks is 17 g of carbohydrate, which is small enough to catch moderate crashes and large enough when doubled to catch major crashes.

Re: Having your insulin pump die while you're on vacation

#129

Post by Projectiboga »

This is why I was uninterested in joining a clinical trial for one in the 80s. But to travel w/o backup blood sugar testing and spare insulin and needles is suicidal. For any T1D here, walmart has dirt cheap glucose packs in tubs or 8 and bottles of 50 for very cheep.

Re: Having your insulin pump die while you're on vacation

#130

Post by MengerSponge »

cadr wrote: post #81
MengerSponge wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pro tip: get a Rx for your pens sent to a national pharmacy that your insurance supports, but don't fill it. That way, if you have this issue while traveling, you can just walk into a pharmacy and walk out in half an hour with what you need

Or just bring a bunch of disposable needles with you and draw from your vials that you already have for filling your pump.

you don't fill your pump with basal insulin
Post reply on HN