I’ve been stuck in many situations where I needed to head home unexpectedly (from work, or wherever I happen to be) because I needed to change my pump site – either I ran out of insulin, or my site was pulled, or it hurt, etc. I always kick myself for not being better prepared and carrying spare supplies with me, so this is something I’m working on improving. I asked for suggestions on what my other friends in the DOC use, and Melissa Hawkins suggested a Vera Bradley cosmetic bag- I ordered one and everything fits perfectly in it! I have the following items in it -
Infusion set
Reservoir
Insulin
Syringe
Quick Serter
Glucose tabs
IV prep pad
IV 3000 Infusion set tape
The one thing I need to add to it is extra AAA batteries.. but I’ll do that when I get home tonight 
Aren’t you proud of me, Karen? 
Yay!!! I am proud!! So proud!!!! You are now completely over-prepared like me. LOL But seriously, it’s always great to have back-ups with you because you just never know.
LOL! I’ve had my last 2 sites in my thigh, and those never last long .. they starting hurting BADLY after about 2 1/2 days. On Monday, I came to work with my site in my right thigh… by that afternoon, I was limping because it hurt so bad. I didn’t have my new bag with me so I suffered through till I got home – but as soon as I walked in the door, I pulled that bad boy out. I put a new site in my left thigh and it’s still there, but since I’m creeping up on 48 hrs as of tonight, have a feeling it’ll be out soon. And if I start limping at work today, I have my bag with me and can fix it!
This Karen is! I need to have a set change with us, too. Guilty of just carrying meter, strips, lancet device, glucagon and QuickSticks and/or Smarties. Oh, and I do have batteries:).
I carry a spare PUMP with me – just in case. I don’t use any sort of inserter or IV-prep, but I still think I might have gone over the edge when it comes to preparedness (not that it’s a contest or anything!) But you can’t be too careful. (And no, I don’t use a Vera Bradley cosmetic bag – though I *do* keep it in an old cosmetic bag my mom gave me a number of years ago — it fits nicely in my work bag and is more durable than the Ziploc that I used to use!)
Is that little blue reservoir-insulin-collar thing ATTACHED to the vial of insulin? I’d suggest taking it off. I can’t quite think of why, but it just seems like it could cause problems.
Yea that’s attached to the bottle of insulin .. I keep it on there when I have to add insulin to my pump before it’s time to change it out. I know it’s not recommended to add insulin, but I am going through SO much insulin now (going through an entire vial in 6-7 days) So I’d be changing my pump out every 36-48 hours just about if I didn’t add to it …. SO long story short
That’s why I keep that part of the reservoir on the bottle…
I hope I didn’t strike you as saying you shouldn’t refill reservoirs (personally I don’t see a big deal with it), I just worry that leaving the collar on the vial could cause something to flow through the needle and contaminate the insulin. Once it’s removed, the rubber stopper “should” keep it sterile. (I use “should” in quotes, because I suppose once you inject air in the vial, all bets are off anyway!)
No I didn’t take it that way at all.
And honestly I never though about the fact that by leaving the blue thing in there, the insulin is “exposed”— good catch/call!!!