Friday Funnies 3-30



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Storing Insulin When Pumping (Becoming Label Obsessive)

From Miss Martha Stewart, Goddess of Organizing

It's no secret. 

I love organization.

"Everything has a place and there is a place for everything."

Sigh.  To me that is pure poetry.

In my last post on the mini-fridge, I showed you how our fridge works and gave you some reasons for why it has come in handy.

Remember.

Me in the middle of the night before we discovered the awesome mini-fridge

Seriously. 

No, seriously I am kidding.  Sorta.

But in any case, there was a reason that we have those brightly colored beautiful containers.  The ones with the labels.  Yes, it might seem obvious that some of the boxes contain Lantus and some of the boxes contain Apidra.

However, without reading those boxes, the only visual is separating the two clear glass vials which are identical in size, is a thin color stripe.

One stripe is blue and one stripe is purple.  Seriously.  This makes me crazy!  Do you know how easy it is to mix the two vials up?  Incredibly easy.

Example of the similarities

There is no visual or large label to differentiate the two.  Once that brightly colored cap is popped off, there is no difference.  No dye added to the insulin and no bottle shape difference.  The vials are in-fact exact.

To help solve that problem, I created several 4" x 4" labeled bins.  The bins stay in the refrigerator and are clearly labeled with the insulin and the use for the insulin (pump or injections or both). 

My hope is having a plan like this will hinder or even prevent the chances of mixing the two vials up. 

Which we have had happen. 

Nothing is more frustrating than disconnecting the pump for 24 hours because you accidentally bolused 14 units from a new cartridge wrongly filled with Lantus. 

In a case like that, your child will end up with high blood sugars, medium ketones and missing school the next day. 

And you will end up feeling like the worst parent in the world.  Or your husband will. 

Not fun at all.

So until the drug makers realize the enormity of producing these two very different products in identical packaging, being label obsessed will have to do.

Now go on out there and make Martha proud!

Storing Insulin (Or How to Cuteify a Mini Fridge)

A little dark, but you get the idea.. and who knew you could find these babies in stainless?

When we bought this house, we had no idea that in less than a year, our youngest daughter would be diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.

Not that the house really matters.

Well, unless your home has multiple flights of stairs. 

And lots of windows.

Which makes nighttime both a hazard and a wee bit scary.  O.K.  A whole lot scary for some people who do not want to be named.  I, I mean we, do not like hiking up and down said treacherous stairs in front of windows to a kitchen in the freezing cold of night, while lurking killers wait.

Yes, I know that is not a probability but something happened to me during the babysitting scene of Halloween and I have never been the same since.

A few years after diagnosis, the realization occurred that all of the above could be solved (and prevented - seriously, doesn't that picture make you remember????)  with a simple invention... the mini-refrigerator!

One of the nicest features of having a mini-fridge nearby is that there is literally no time wasted when needing insulin, medications or cold water bottles.  Everything is at the tip of our fingertips.  This is especially handy when one of our children is on "multiple times per day liquid" antibiotics.  Simply grab and go.

Another nice feature is the ability to store cold milk or cold juice.  I know that many times, our children prefer a cold beverage, especially if they are having a sleepover.  Yes, because we are a real family, sometimes the kids have snacks in their rooms.  Popcorn vacuums easily!

So there you have it!  The fun of having a mini-fridge near your children's bedrooms.  Anything that allows us parents to save a bit of time and energy, especially in the middle of the night is very worth it!