I'm about to tell you a story about the major disaster which affected much of my decisionmaking on my week-long vacation to Santa Fe. I just got home to LA, ...

I know a lot of people whose lives depend on access to medicine. I know fewer other people whose lives also depend on the machinery and software used to dose that medicine. Insulin pumps, pacemakers, and other crucial, always-on medical equipment are crazy useful but also contain the possibility for insane frustration and resentment. I’ve been pretty honest over the years that I value having an insulin pump, but that I also hate the manufacturers and designers of every pump I’ve ever used. If you introduced me to any person who has ever designed an insulin pump I’ve used, I would probably punch them in the face and cuss them out in front of their children. Every single pump I’ve used as caused me massive problems - though none as bad as the one I’m about to describe.

  • solrize@lemmy.ml
    31·
    18 days ago

    TLDR: She brought her insulin pump and some backup insulin supplies on a trip, but the pump failed somehow, causing her a big hassle:

    Foolishly, I did not bring the backup-of-the-backup. I never have! … For me, the back-up-of-the-backup would be an insulin “pen” injector containing a long-acting insulin.

    She also couldn’t contact her on-call diabetes doctor because she didn’t have the right phone number and it wasn’t on the hospital website. She managed to get through the situation but had to cut her vacation short to return home where an emergency replacement pump had been shipped. Under “What I have learned” she says:

    Here’s what I will do:

    • Bring an insulin pen with me the next time I go on vacation.
    • Put the on-call number in my phone.

    I can’t imagine any self-respecting nerd not having a backup for a critical device. The saying is “two is one, one is none”. I usually have two or three flashlights on me at any given moment, for dog’s sake.

    Anyway I’m not trying to put blame on her since she does figure out the right thing in the end. So it’s a good cautionary tale. But I felt like the rant/sob story was a little bit overdone. Also, if she hadn’t been able to keep the machine slightly working, the alternative would have been an expensive out-of-state ER visit, but that says it wasn’t literally life and death.

    I’ll also add that when I’ve called the main number for my mom’s PCP’s office after hours, the voice message system actually gives some instructions for contacting the on-call MD if needed. I’ve had to use it for her once or twice. I would never have thought of looking on a web site instead of using the phone. Yes millenials, phone calls are still a thing in this world.

    Anyway, “don’t forget backups!” seems like the best take on the story.