L decided she wanted the site to go in her arm because she was worried that she didn't have enough fat in her "love handle" area, which was the suggested spot for her CGM. Also, we decided to keep her belly open for just pump sites since there seems to be very little real estate available there as well.
So anyway, John popped it in and everything seemed to be fine. I dropped her off at school and all was well. Then the school nurse called me just as L was getting on the bus to explain that it seemed like her site was bleeding quite a bit. When I picked her up I noticed that it was even coming out the end, which was definitely not what it was supposed to be doing. So I pulled it out. And this is what it looked like:
Why so bendy? I wonder if it was because we put it in her arm and her arm was moving around a lot? Or maybe it hit a muscle-y area instead of a fleshy one? Either way, it was a bust. So we waited for John to come home and prepared to put a new one in the lower back/upper butt/love handle area.
Everything seemed to go smoothly until he pulled the needle out and then a bunch of blood started oozing out around the edges of the site. So totally not what's supposed to happen. We thought maybe he hit a blood vessel or something. It had been very difficult to get L to agree to putting in the second site in one day in the first place, so at that point we just decided to leave it for another day.
So, tl;dr...Do you have any tips or tricks for inserting CGM sites? Something maybe they didn't tell you during training but you discovered through trial and error? I appreciate anything you all might have to share.
We have had a real "bloody" site (like your lovely pic above - lol)...the sensing component literally "floated" out of his arm with the flow of blood - it was weird. We also had a real "bendy" one a week ago (and it failed).
ReplyDeleteWhat I usually do is I insert it in Joe's upper, posterior arm. I pinch the skin WAY up and cock the inserter way down...so that I go in at a HUGE angle (real-shallow-like)...then I insert. That method is supposed to keep it in his subcutaneous tissue and not go into his muscle.
Feel free to email me at sweeteandjoe@gmail.com if my above "gibberish" did not make sense.
GOOD LUCK...tell L not to give up.
Thanks Reyna, for your encouraging words and advice. I'm going out of town for the weekend, so John and L may decide to have another go of it by themselves or they may wait until I return. I'll be sure to email you if we have any further questions. Thanks! :)
ReplyDeleteI wish I was familiar with the one you are using??? Ellie has the Dexcom. But I have pulled out her sensor a few times and been in wonderment on the bendy of the sensor too? I hope it works on the next one! The information is really useful at times and I think she'll like it once it gets rollin'! Luck to you all.
ReplyDeleteSarah,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your kind words, and apologies for taking so long to reply. We have indeed tried again (it's a Minimed) and had more success. We're hoping for another smooth run with it next week for her ski trip. Thanks again for our comment!