Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Broke (or How to Replace Your Pump)

So a few months ago we had a little problem.

M's pump broke.

That's right, it broke. It started scrolling numbers independently and did not deliver insulin or anything else.

Now, I have to say that Medtronic makes a pretty tough insulin pump. M drops it on the floor from the chair in which she watches television on a fairly regular basis. It is often unprotected at the bottom of field hockey and lacrosse equipment bags, and she shoves it in the map pocket of my car when she goes for a swim on hot days.

So I can't complain. And neither can she.

We made this terminal discovery on the way home from a lacrosse game.

Typically I attend M's games so as to relieve pressure on the coaches as far as looking out for M's diabetic needs. She has not had a problem during a game since high school, but I think the girls on the team also kind of like the idea of that crazy mom coming to every game, even if it's two hours away. Bonus: I get to see her play every time. On a few occasions I have been the only "away" parent in attendance. Unfortunately for the team, I am not a yeller. I am an urgent whisperer, which means they don't really hear my cheers of support. But I digress.

Although I encourage M to take the bus back from the game as part of the team bonding experience, she has thus far declined my offer and rides with me in the car, usually chowing down on a sandwich and a bag of chips, while beating herself up over the goals that the opposing team scored.

This is how it went down:

M: (fiddling with the device) "What the....?"
Me: "What's the matter?"
M: "This stupid pump! It did this this morning, but I got it to work. Now it just won't stop scrolling numbers!"
Me: (slowing down and taking my eyes off the road), "What? It was doing it this morning?"
M: (Smacking the device with the palm of her hand) "Yeah, I thought it was the battery. But I changed the battery at school, so that's not it."
Me: "Did you try....?"

Needless to say, voices continued to rise in tension and anxiety. I had M check her bg levels.

Fortunately they were pretty even, buying us some time until we could give her an injection at home. But we soon realized that we would have to do something to solve this problem more long-term.

Since we were in the car and the pharmacy was closed, we decided to use modern technology to help solve our problem. M looked on the back of the pump and found a toll free number to call. After a brief argument in which she tried to convince ME to call, I, as the driver of the car, convinced her to dial the number.

She did. And she did an amazing job.

She talked to the representative from the company, explained who she was and what was happening. After about 10 minutes, the rep determined that M's pump was beyond repair and needed to be replaced immediately. M gave the rep all of the necessary information, and then did something very smart: she asked if it was under warranty.

Now I can truly say that my baby was growing up!

It was, indeed, under warranty, which meant that a "free" purple replacement was on its way.

M concluded the phone call with her pump company, who recommended that she contact her DNE.

With a heavy sigh, M dialed her new DNE at Dartmouth Hitchcock, knowing that it was after hours and that she would need to talk to the answering service and wait for a call back.

The DNE returned her call right away, told her to take an injection of Levemir; the long-lasting insulin that typically goes wasted in our fridge, and asked when the pump was due to arrive.

It was due to arrive in two days, which I found incredible, but the DNE found disappointing. She told M that they are typically shipped to arrive within 24 hours. Then she and M had to figure out her carb ratios and correction factors for the next couple of days of injections. The phone call concluded mere minutes before we landed in our driveway.

M moaned that she had forgotten how much more work it was to calculate, draw up insulin and inject oneself several times each day. But she also felt really proud about handling her own care, and was pleased to have a plan, even if it was less than ideal.

I was also proud. And relieved. She moved one step closer toward independence by handling an equipment malfunction without any interference from me. And I was around to witness it and see that she did it well.

When we arrived home after lacrosse practice the next day, there was a sticky note from UPS on our door. We had missed them, and our package needed a signature. The pump had arrived within 24 hours after all!

I called the number on the note, and learned that we could pick up our package in person between 8:00 pm and 9:00 pm that night. Even though the center was a 45 minute drive from our house, M and I eagerly jumped in the car to do just that.

We tore open the box in the car. Pump in hand, M gleefully looked forward to getting away from her injections yet again.

We carefully read everything in the package, and learned that we had two weeks to return the broken pump via a pre-paid envelope. Failure to do so would cause us to be billed for the entire cost of a new pump (about $6500!). Needless to say, that sucker was in the mail before I went to bed that night!

Medtronic made it pretty easy. It was brilliant that their customer service number is right next to the serial number on the pump itself. Their service was excellent, and saved M a lot of inconvenience. And M, up for the challenge, enjoyed the sweet relief of knowing that she could handle it.





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