first bleeder

[chandler]

I've been on the pump for 5 weeks now. Came home from work this evening and did my site change. It felt ok and I got on with rewinding the pump, etc. What a shock when I went to connect the tubing to the new reservoir and found blood moving half-way through the tube.

How often does this happen?

 

[Pumper_Sue]

I've been on the pump for 5 weeks now. Came home from work this evening and did my site change. It felt ok and I got on with rewinding the pump, etc. What a shock when I went to connect the tubing to the new reservoir and found blood moving half-way through the tube.

How often does this happen?

Hi Chandler, I've only ever a bit of blood once when I removed the cannula after 3 days, there was just a touch in the tubing.
A bleeder or gusher is when you remove a cannula and blood spurts out. Have been told it's a right mess even though there's actually very little blood. 😱

 

[Redkite]

Hi Chandler, what pump do you have? Is your tubing connected to your cannula pre-insertion or did you mean there was blood in the cannula?

With my son's Veo, the tubing has to be connected to the insulin cartridge, inserted into the rewound pump, then the pump primes the tubing until you see insulin dripping from the end. At this point you connect it to the newly inserted cannula, and then fill the cannula. Sometimes he has had blood in the cannula at this point which is then flushed back through by the insulin. Occasionally some people hit a capillary and get loads of blood gushing out, but he hasn't had that luckily! 😱

 

[chandler]

I have a Veo and use Mio sets The way I was shown, you put the new cannula in and then disconnect the tubing from the site for priming tubing, etc. I hadn't reached that stage yet. I put the new site in and hadn't yet disconnected its tubing. I was just about to connect the new reservoir to the other end of the tubing when I saw the tube filling up with blood. Maybe I could have just flushed the blood out during priming? I changed the site again.

 

[Redkite]

I have a Veo and use Mio sets The way I was shown, you put the new cannula in and then disconnect the tubing from the site for priming tubing, etc. I hadn't reached that stage yet. I put the new site in and hadn't yet disconnected its tubing. I was just about to connect the new reservoir to the other end of the tubing when I saw the tube filling up with blood. Maybe I could have just flushed the blood out during priming? I changed the site again.

Oh yes, Mios are a bit different, my son uses Silhouettes. We also completely change reservoir, tubing and cannula every 2 days (I know some people change the cannula, but leave the tubing/reservoir for twice the time). If there is fresh blood in the new cannula/tubing, you should be able to flush it through with insulin. But if it's been there longer than a few minutes it will have become clotted and sticky and you'd be best advised to use a new one. Occasionally my son will get blood in his cannula during daily wear when it's been knocked or tugged (12 year old boys can be a bit rough!), and then it needs changing, though often it's not till his levels start rising that he realises.

 

[chandler]

Thanks. I wasn't aware that I could prime blood out of the tube. Feel I've wasted a Mio now.

 

[Pumper_Sue]

Thanks. I wasn't aware that I could prime blood out of the tube. Feel I've wasted a Mio now.

No you haven't wasted the mio, you have learnt how to manage the situation if there is a next time 🙂

 

[chandler]

Your way of looking at it sounds much better, Sue. Thanks. 🙂

 

[NatashaC]

Your way of looking at it sounds much better, Sue. Thanks. 🙂

I agree Chandler - I hate the idea of wasting things or not using them to their full potential. Whether it be food, medical supplies or anything else. I also feel privileged and spoilt to have been given the pump and supplies for free!

But there is a learning curve and sometimes things go wrong for no apparent reason, so I'll be trying to take Sue's point of view more often. 😱

 

[Pumper_Sue]

When I started to pump I self funded as my pct suffered from anal retention 😡 so obviously know exactly how much supplies cost and I do wince at the waste of supplies by certain people.
Starting on a pump is a very steep learning curve and mistakes are made, which is acceptable. 🙂
What I find unacceptable is when people do not learn by their mistakes and thus the costs for the PCT equivalent rise to such an extent that it stops others being able to pump due to the pot of money being exhausted.
MY commissioning group insist that one box of tethlon cannulas is enough for 1 months use, once teething problems are sorted. I know of a couple of people that use 3 boxes a month so in effect that stops 2 others going on a pump. I did hear the other day of someone being taken off of their pump due to unacceptable consumable usage. (not in my area)

 

[Redkite]

When I started to pump I self funded as my pct suffered from anal retention 😡 so obviously know exactly how much supplies cost and I do wince at the waste of supplies by certain people.
Starting on a pump is a very steep learning curve and mistakes are made, which is acceptable. 🙂
What I find unacceptable is when people do not learn by their mistakes and thus the costs for the PCT equivalent rise to such an extent that it stops others being able to pump due to the pot of money being exhausted.
MY commissioning group insist that one box of tethlon cannulas is enough for 1 months use, once teething problems are sorted. I know of a couple of people that use 3 boxes a month so in effect that stops 2 others going on a pump. I did hear the other day of someone being taken off of their pump due to unacceptable consumable usage. (not in my area)

I do agree that it's unacceptable to waste the pump consumables (and I sincerely hope nobody is profiting selling them off on eBay as discussed on another thread a while ago). BUT sometimes there are good reasons for not being able to make a box of 10 last a month. My son must change his cannula every two days to achieve reasonable BGs. His levels inevitably rise if the cannula is left in for a third day. Some people find they have to change the cannula daily. It really would be a waste of money if people were compelled to stretch them up to 3 days at the expense of higher Hba1c's and expensive complications further down the line!

I well understand the value of these items, and have recently had to buy my son some glucose sensors out of my own pocket, to help him with his start at secondary school. These are ?55 each and officially last 6 days, but many users manage to get 12 days or even longer out of each one. Unfortunately for us, my son's skin (he is prone to eczema) starts getting sore by about day 5, so the sensor has to be removed. I do my best!