Another day bites the dust

I just returned from a scientific conference where I left feeling exhausted from five days of non-stop networking with little sleep but reenergized to make a dent in the scientific world with my research. Amped up and ready to do great science, I made a lengthy to do list for goals for the next few days, with every cell in my body intentioning to aid me in my enthusiastic drive forward.

However!

This morning I woke up to a high blood sugar. "Eggy" my faithful Dexcom G4 CGM went off to alert me in my morning stupor of this detail, and I absentmindedly dialed in some more insulin assuming I screwed up something with my last meal. My robotic attachment also informed me that the sensor needed to be replaced (or restarted) in 30 minutes. With half a forethought, I readjusted my morning alarm and forcefully rolled over to catch a few more zzzs.

I woke up two hours later feeling even more lethargic and very confused as to what was going on. I thought  "Where is my meter?!"  and urged my muscles to move to alleviate the cement-in-my-veins feeling. A little stab later I found out that my blood sugar was even higher than the last reading which meant that either my infusion site was out of whack somehow, I didn't really bolus as I had envisioned in my dreamlike state, or that I had the world's least satisfying sleep-eating experience. Sadly, the rumbling in my tummy told me that I was not in fact a sleep eater. A quick glance at my pump told me that I did in fact have insulin on board from a bolus two hours prior. Last but not least, my prodding of the edges of my infusion site did not come away with any scents of feels that indicated a problem. Since my blood sugar was much higher and I was moving like molasses, I knew that the responsible course of action would be to take a shot and replace the infusion set. I disconnected the tubing from the site and took a quick glance to find the following:

The saddest (and only) tear in tubing I've ever seen

I have had diabetes for over 15 years. I have been tethered to a pump for more than 10 years. I have never even seen my tubing snap like this. EVER.

I did my due diligence and spent 10 minutes on the phone to report the incident (they're sending me a two pack replacement set) [note to self: write a post on why you should do this every time too!]. I trudged through long enough to take an injection of insulin that seemed to not budge my blood sugar for at least an hour. I replaced my entire infusion site and tubing (because that's the easiest course of action). But I lost four hours of my morning and my drive to seize the day. And at least 10 minutes writing this post. And while I'm still determined to stay productive and accomplish something great today, I wish that the balance of my success didn't rest in the hands of a tiny (albeit well engineered) piece tubing.