86 the Jalapenos

What a morning. It has been one of those nights that dragged into one of those days. The new infusion set on my daughter's insulin pump failed to deliver insulin properly, so she developed ketones at 3 am and again at 9 am. When ketones start being produced in the body, she needs a shot of insulin, water, no exercise, and a new infusion set with fresh insulin.

On the way out the door, I discovered that the washer had overflowed, pouring an inch of water onto the laundry room floor. A dozen towels, or 3 additional loads of laundry later, the floor was dry enough for me to drive to school.

So what does that have to do with my homemade salsa? I was a bit too sleep-deprived while making it to remember the jalapenos. At least I remembered the tomatoes.

The Diabetes Monster Ambushed Us Today

She came in the form of  a 404 blood sugar and large ketones late this morning.

My thoughts when I received the call: Had we forgotten the insulin bolus for the breakfast carbs? No. Had we miscounted the breakfast carbs?. No, one breakfast taco is easy to count. Had we used this infusion set too long (more than 3 days)? No, it's only been 24 hours.. Was the infusion set pulling loose from her body, or was the tubing breaking? No, it was intact.. Was the insulin too old (over 14-28 days)? No, I bought a new vial yesterday. Had the insulin gotten too hot (over 86 degrees) or too cold (below 32 degrees)? No.  Was my daughter getting an infection (which elevates blood sugar)? No, she had no fever and no complaints.

Fortunately, my daughter and the school nurse fought this monster off until I could get there. We won the battle (for now) with a syringe and a new infusion set. So what happened to cause this huge blood sugar spike? Apparently, the cannula (the part of the tubing inside the body) got bent or clogged inside the body and insulin was not fully delivered for a couple of hours.

Until another day....