Diabetes Blog – Happy-Medium.net

Injections. Meter checks. Pump site changes.

And CGM sensor changes.

When you live with diabetes every day for the rest of your life, these things can become quite mundane. Oh, time for another change… it’s just what I need to do, no big deal. Done it thousands of times.

But when I think of the entirety of it all, mundane is not exactly the word I would use. The word I would use would be somewhat more colorful than that.

Especially when performing one of these tasks is more difficult than usual, I begin to feel it. I remember the last task I performed, and the one before that, and the one before that, and the one coming up after this one and the one after that. Before long, I start to wish for the days before these things became a part of my life.

Today, my CGM sensor change was a tough one. I took great care to get everything placed on the back of my arm. As I inserted the sensor this time, I had the plunger pointed downward, which is opposite of how I like to have the sensor pointed. But hey, I can’t insert it into the same place every time, and doing this ensures that I move the sensor to a different place from where it was the last time I had it on this arm.

But the plunger needs to move forward to come off, and I had to get my opposite hand onto the plastic in front of the plunger anyway to release it. That made getting the plunger released, usually a job taking seconds, take a couple of minutes. More time to think.

Then, I had to insert the transmitter. Again, my opposite hand needs to put it in the right spot so I can snap it into place. But because I can’t really see because my hand is in the way, I try to do it all by feel and it just didn’t feel right.

Eventually, I had to go upstairs in front of a mirror so I could see where it was going and snap it in. More time to think about this crazy stuff we do to care for ourselves that not many people ever have to think about. I want to be one of those people again.

In the end, it all worked out, the sensor is doing its thing, and I’m back to tracking my BG trends on a 24-hour basis. Until the next time. Ugh.

This is where I often just try to forget about it. Amnesia works to keep you from feeling overwhelmed by all the crap. Right now, forgetting it is a little more difficult. But… for today… success. And that’s got to count for something.