Pump Meltdown!

Around 11:15 am today, my pump died. Then I brought it back to life. At 9 pm, it died again. For good, I think. And despite having TWO backup Deltec Cozmo pumps which are exactly the same make/model as my original, I am now wearing an Animas pump. An ancient Animas, which happens to be exactly the same type as my first pump ever. Aah, I'm getting nostalgic already.

Anyway, here's what happened (unfortunately, this post contains very little advice - beyond the obvious - about how you can prevent a similar situation. I thought two backups were enough. Sheesh!).

During a Calculus test, a strange beeping sound started going off in the room. We all looked around for the poor kid who had forgotten to turn his/her cell phone off. People started looking at me, because that seemed to be where the sound was coming from. But I pulled out my cell phone, held it up, and said "Look, it's not me! My phone is off."

But it turns out my pump was the culprit. I had never heard it make this noise before. And there was no text on the screen, which was especially odd for a pump alarm.

Thinking that the battery had been exhausted, I replaced it (after finishing the Calc test. I may have a 504 plan, but taking a break during a Calculus test is just...annoying. I didn't want to lose my train of thought, or have to retake the whole thing.).

So it seemed that the problem had been solved, until the pump went haywire again tonight. Both of the backup pumps also malfunctioned - seriously. What are the odds of that? I swear it happened, though.

As a last resort, I planned to use the insulin pens I had leftover from my "pump holiday" a couple months ago. During the pump holiday, I used a combination of Novolog and Levemir. Levemir was what I would need to mimic the basal rate of a pump. Just my luck, in the fridge there were plenty of Novolog pens and not one Levemir pen.

As a last last resort, I called up my friend Garrett, who goes to the same high school as me and lives only a couple minutes away. He wears the latest version of the Animas, but, like me, wore an older model many years ago. He graciously lent me the old one. (Hopefully the pump he's wearing doesn't malfunction tonight because he won't have his backup!)

This pump has not been used since 2002. Setting it up, I sort of remembered how to use it, but, boy, is it outdated. And to think that this was the most sophisticated pump available when I was first diagnosed. Oh my!

Anyone else have funny or horrific stories about pump malfunctions?