On my honor as a pumper, I pledge:
My head to clearer thinking, despite the 6 AM wake-up hypo.
My heart to greater loyalty, pumping ROCKS!
My hands to larger service, so many fellow D's need an encouraging word.
My health to better living- to myself, my community, my country, and my world.
As a new pumper, they made me sign a contract. (Probably relying on the guilt factor, more
then anything!) They made my dad sign too, even though I was of legal age.(Since I was still in pediatrics) I would have done anything- I was dying to be pumping! And then they admitted me for 36 hours, and I subsequently forgot all about the contract I signed.
Fast forward 4 years. Once again, I'm sitting in the pump trainer's office and she pulls out "The Contract." Is this just a particular quark of this particular medical center- or do most endocrine offices do this?
The Contract. (quick synopsis)
I will check my blood sugars at least 6x per day.
I will call my cde, endo with ANY urgent questions.
I will check my urine for ketones when my bg is 250+.
I will change my infusion set every 2-3 days.
I will change my infusion set anytime my bg is not coming down. (within two boluses)
I will call my endo anytime I've got whopping large ketones, or are vomitting.
I will strive for blood sugars within 80-140, at least 80% of the time.
Signed, and dated.
I've blown every single one of the aforementioned items, and none of them came to get me, although I have been chastined for several of these.
I found "The Contract" (2nd one) the other day, it bought back guilty memories. There always seems to be something to feel guilty about, with diabetes.
4 comments:
Geez,
I think there is quite enough self-inflicted guilt in diabetes due to the numbers of ways lifestyle can affect your control. And there are quite enough problems from people who don't understand the tiniest thing about diabetes, without your health care team throwing this kind of thing into the mix.
I sure see the idea - to remind you to use your pump responsibly and do all the things necessary to safeguard health, but I just don't think that guilting people into it is the best way to do it.
As Ellen said, where do quality of life and giving you support when you _can't_ keep your numbers between 80 and 140, come into it?
Can't really complain about the quality of life(pumping is more liberating), and I'd have done the same thing (not being 100% with the program) with MDI..so..
Question is, why don't they do the same sort of thing for the MDI'rs?
they really aren't total jerks, they have been supportive or I wouldn't still be there.
MDI's probably feel guilty enough that they're not on the pump.
Or at least that's the mentality that my medical team harbored until I told them that I'd make the switch when I was good an ready. (I may have stuck my tongue out at them as well, but I think I was thirteen at the time.)
Oh man. I don't think I have ever done all those things on the contract. I would have taken it home and started a nice warm fire with it. Heck the PA at endo's office even knows I am evil. I hate control freaks.
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