The Heat Induced Button Error

This weekend my friends wedding. It was beautiful, romantic, and hot. Like most girls who use insulin pumps, my pump lived in my bra for the event. I made it through the ceremony just fine, but as the heat progressed, so did the sweat. My pump soon wanted my attention. I pulled out my pump and an alert I was not familiar with showed up, the words button error appeared on the screen. I cleared the message, and continued to enjoy the reception. Again the beeping from my chest began. This time when I went to clear the message nothing happened, the buttons on my pump stopped working. I just figured my pump had had it with the heat and had my hubs take out the battery and switched to syringes for the remainder of the evening.

When we got home I put the battery back in my pump hoping the message would go away. The error message was still there and was screaming for my attention. I gave in and called Medtronic for some help. After speaking to the representative on the phone a replacement pump was being mailed and would be delivered by Monday morning. Apparently, the moisture can be absorbed into your pump and cause a button error. Luckily, my pump is still under warranty and I won’t be charged, as long as I send in my old pump within 14 days.

I went back to the old ways of syringes for a day. The first step to switching over to the dark ages was to contact my diabuddies and see if anyone had any long lasting insulin I could use for the time being. I mean come on, who wants to spend an arm and a leg on a vial they would only use for a small amount of time and then have to throw out due to expiration. It’s a waste of money and I will find another way if I can. Luckily, one of my diabuddies had what I was looking for and came to my financial rescue. I had everything I needed to survive until my replacement pump arrives. It’s nice having a diabetes network for days like these.

I feel so strange not being attached to my insulin pump. When I got up from the couch I reached for my pump, I kept checking my pockets for my pump, when I ate a meal I reach for my pump to bolus only remember I’m back to using the ancient ways of diabetes. It was a difficult adjustment, and I couldn’t believe the difference your pump makes when you can give yourself the exact amount of insulin down to the decimal verses with the syringes I am either under or over a unit. But thankfully it is all over with, my pump came yesterday and I set it up last night. All is right in my diabetes world again.

I wasn’t the only person with a pump at that wedding there were actually four of us total. But two of the four ran into trouble with our pumps due to the heat. So, let this be a lesson to any of you using a pump and hanging out in extreme heat. Go buy a baby sock because if you are out of warranty it could end up costing you a lot of money.