And for 5 weeks and 5 days ( March 29th until May 11th,) I avoided using my abdomen for pump infusions sites, until the streak was broken 3 a.m. Mother’s Day morning, when yours truly woke up with a 240 blood sugar.
Even in my groggy stupor, I knew that I my infusion site was the culprit and I put a new one in my abdomen without even thinking until the canula was under my skin.
Honestly, i'm not always as bright as I look, especially when I'm dog tired. So I shrugged my preverbal shoulders, primed and gave myself a correction bolus.
And then I promptly went back to bed.
1. Give The Sides A Try.
For me, the side of my thigh verses top of my thigh is the way to go because the sides of both thighs work much better than the tops of either.
And by rotating each area of the side and almost back of my right thigh - I was able to use each site for 2 to 3 days, for a total of two weeks
Then I switched to the left side thigh and found out that it absorbed even better than the right - even though the left thigh seemed to be the one that incurred more snags during undressing.
2. Not All Sides Are The Same
I found that re: thigh sites, the left thigh incurred more snags with clothing then the right thigh. Which is weird because I'm left handed so one would naturally think that the opposite would be true, but it wasn't. Weird.
After 2 weeks I made a detour to my right gluteus maximum and that wasn’t bad - It just wasn’t easy to achieve
Sidebar: I definitely need to take a yoga class.
That site lasted 2 full days before it tanked. then I went back to the right thigh for 3 days before finally going back to my abdomen.
Another weird ironical: The right side of my abdomen absorbs better than the left. I already knew that before the belly break, but it's still the case after.
Weird.
I still need to not only attempt infusion sites in my arms and calve areas, I NEED to be able to successfully achieve infusion sites in my arms and calve areas.
I did make several attempts in the my arms and even drew blood several times, but in the end I chickened out. Of course, I was using the paradigm silhouette infusions sites and they can be tricky.
I have two boxes of unopened quick sets and I think they will be much easier on psyche re: my arms
Embracing change in anything can be challenging, but it’s worth it.
I'm right there with you. I've been putting my sites in my butt for a really long time, Although there is plenty of real estate there, a bunch of weird sticky highs made me thing scar tissue was becoming an issue. I too used my outer thighs (working great) and right now I have one pretty high up on my tummy. I was nervous to put it that high up, and usually I don't get good absorption in my tummy, but so far so good.
ReplyDeleteI've used my arms but for me the sites seem to konk out quickly there. And calf? I'm too chicken to try that too!!
I'm not a chicken when it comes to sites, but I don't think I could ever use my calf. It has no fat! Ouch.
ReplyDeleteI've put sites in my arms, thighs, stomach, sides, butt, and breasts. I use the Silhouettes manually, and it's actually what made me feel more adventurous because I was able to control and angle and speed of insertion.
For the first two years I pumped I used only my tummy. I know exactly how nerve-wracking it can be to try new locations. My arms have a tendency to gush blood, but I still use them because they get good absorption.
You should really try to use your arms, they are my favorite places to put my sites! They always absorb really well for me. And I also need to find other places to put my sites, my legs and stomach have way too much scar tissue already, so I've been trying new places. I learned at camp that you can put your sites on your hip/ back, which is pretty cool and not in the way at all.
ReplyDelete