Blog Entries With Tag: set

Blog: Anna's Blog

From: FatCatAnna

Okay - don't freak out - I've not suddenly quit my day job to become Uri Geller and perform fork / spoon bending feats - I mean - I'm hoping that this is a one time event - that it does NOT happen again.

Now you are all wonder, what is FatCatAnna on today - has she been smoking something strange - sipping abit of drinky poo - having a low blood sugar?  Well, nope, I am in the right mind at the moment to be able to show you this amazing piece of metal that came out of my body the other day in a bendy shape (I smile as I type this - as my friend Jennie is known as Bendy-Jen).  Luckily, I had no idea until changing my infusion set which is a 90 Degree 8 mm needle Infusion Set called Contact Detach (or Sure-T for Medtronic pump users).

Amazingly enough, if this had been the usual plastic cannula infusion set that I used to use (I have allergies to the teflon coating in these sets), I would have been having problems with my insulin not pumping properly into my body and abnormal blood sugars.  It had happened once to me with the Inset II Infusion Set - but thankfully only once.  When that occurred, I didn't realise the cannula had become bent, and my blood sugars went abit wacky near the end and I was having to do needle corrections to stay within the range I like to be.  I only realised when removing the infusion set like I did the other day.

In this case, with what you see below I didn't notice any difference with my blood sugars at all.  Insulin was still managing to go through alright.  The reason this happened though I'm afraid to say, it was not due to my phychic powers .... but because of my anal way of using as much "real estate" on my body.  I actually went abit too far over into the hip area - where I went close to the bone plus I sleep on that side at night so my weight probably added to the bend as well).

We all know that in order to to avoid scar tissue below the surface, which often causes insulin not to be absorbed properly, so rotation and giving that area time to heal is a big thing with for diabetics both on needles and insulin pumps.  I only had scar issues when younger in my buttocks, and taking one needle a day, but in large quantity compared to the small doses I now take.  I also wasn't paying attention then at that age (I was around 12) - to where I was jabbing myself, I just got it over and done with, then off to school I would go. 

So, I now feel for folks that don't have the ample coverage like I do for when they put their infusion sets in place, besides hitting boney parts of their bodies if their not careful, there are also muscles, etc. that can sometimes get nicked.  We diabetics are a tough bunch aren't we?

Due to having to resize for posting at Diabetes1.org picture has become abit blurry - the actual needle portion is not as THICK as what you see here - it is actually 27 gauge thickness - and in real life - more sleek looking!  ***NOTE*** - if you do not see the picture below (Diabetes1.org has been having problems with hackers lately - urrhhh) - please take the extra step (aka click) and go to the pictures that I have posted at the following link - http://www.flickr.com/photos/fatcatanna/sets/72157626907428447/