Humans tend to follow a routine, and for me, one of my routines is my diabetes management plan. For many years, I administered insulin through injections but later switched to an insulin pump. The Manchester Diabetes team offered me tremendous support during this transition period, which helped me ease into the new technology. I attended several sessions in a small group of fellow diabetics who were also making the switch. These sessions allowed us to develop our understanding of the insulin pump and its usage. 

So what happens when you one day notice a crack in your device?

As a user of a Medtronic MiniMed 780G system insulin pump. I frequently face the issue of the pump unhooking from wherever I attach it. To avoid this problem, I often attach it to my bra as a safe storage place. However, this doesn’t always solve the issue. Many times, it still unclips, and I have accidentally caught it on a door handle, car steering wheel, or other objects, causing the inserts to rip out from the site where I have inserted them, like my leg or stomach. On this occasion, my pump unhooked from its clip and completely detached itself, falling on the floor and causing the pump to crack.

The guidelines from Medtronic are if your pump is to break or gets damaged you should contact them. If it needs replacing they can usually get a new pump to you within 24 hours.

My thoughts were what do I do in the 24 hours with a cracked pump. I contacted my diabetes team who gave me some instructions. These are the steps I followed and they worked for me. I would always advise that you seek help from your healthcare providers as well as the pump manufacturer to make sure you are in fact taking the right precautions to handle a switchover.

1. Ensure you always have an up-to-date prescription of background and rapid-acting insulin. In my case I have, Levemir (background insulin) and Novorapid ( rapid-acting insulin) both of these are in syringe form and stored in the fridge. Don’t forget your needles and test strips, also on that prescription. A few other background insulins -Humalin I, Insulatard, Abasaar, Lantus, Toujeo and Tresbia. Whatever your choice, just make sure you have some stored in the fridge and that it isn’t expired.
2. If you don’t have any background insulin and your pump is malfunctioning, then you need to check your blood glucose level regularly and inject rapid-acting insulin every 3 hours – advice given to me by the Manchester Diabetes team. Always check with your health providers first.

How much Long-acting insulin do you take?

When you first set up your pump and all your rates have been input into the insulin pump make a note of a few things.

• Make a note of your total basal rate
• Insulin to carbohydrate ratio
• Insulin sensitivity factor
• Make sure you also check your basal profile on the pump to know what your total basal rate for 24 hours is, to calculate the dose of your background insulin.

A little bit of maths here …… 

For example; My total daily basal rate in 24 hours = 26 units

• This should then be divided by two 26 / 2 = 13 units

• You would then need to take 13 units when you first get up and a further 13 units when going to bed

• If you use background insulin-like, like Toujeo and Atresia then these types of insulin can only be taken once a day – speak to your healthcare professional with regards to this.

• It is best to take the long-acting insulin an hour before detaching from the pump or immediately if the pump has failed completely and can not be used.

• And remember to use the same insulin-to-carbohydrate ratio for your fast-acting insulin when switching to injecting.

After making some changes with the help of the diabetes team and Medtronic, I managed to survive 24 hours of insulin injections. The following day, my new insulin pump arrived, and I was able to set up my rates and safely switch back to using the insulin pump. Navigating through changes can be challenging, but you don’t have to do it alone. You can always count on the support of your healthcare provider or insulin pump company to guide you through the best steps for you. The steps I took worked well for me and I stayed in constant communication with my healthcare provider to ensure a safe and easy transition while waiting for my new pump.

Thanks for stopping by

Amina xx