Sunday, August 12, 2012

Entry Number 8

My mother and step father came up for tea and both of them have to give themselves insulin injections before they have dinner.  They both sit there on the couch and discretely lift up their tops and do their injections.  It seems so easy for them to find a spot to inject, while I have to search my whole stomach to find a spot.

I can't just lift and jab as I have so many bruises and irritation marks from the injection sites already done.  It seems, after talking to Fran (diabetes educator) and Charlene (my GP) that I might be having an auto-immune response to some of the injections, hence the small red welts that often appear.  Fran has not heard of anyone else having anything like this to Byetta (my drug of choice - not that I have a choice).

At the moment, I have one small area that seems to be okay to inject into, it is way down near my public area, so certainly not an easy spot to do in public.  I'm not sure I will ever feel comfortable injecting in public given the issues I have with my stomach, all the excess skin from my pregnancies, littered with what seems like millions of silver stretchmarks, so hanging all that out is just not a reality for me.


I am really tired of being a square peg, always outside the norm, never fitting the round hole the rest of the world seems to fit into.

Tiredness seems to be a common theme coming into these entries.  I feel so tired, physically, emotionally and mentally tired all the time lately.

Today is a Dark Side of the Moon kind of day.




4 comments:

  1. I too have welts. Sometimes quite angry - looking and feeling. And if I do come up with a welt - it can take a very long time to disappear. So my thighs and my tummy are not a pretty sight. Or perhaps I mean that they are an even less pretty sight.
    Sending so many good wishes your way. You may be a square peg - but you are always a supportive peg in my world. Thank you.

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    1. Thanks for making me feel a whole lot better today by letting me know you understand. I have yet to try my thighs for this injection, but I know what happened with the embrel so I am a little wary about moving there to inject. But it might end up being the next place to try. Hugs from Perth xxx

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  2. II get them too sometimes girls. I basically find I get them if a) I reuse the needles, making them blunter (yes, I know this isn't good. But if I'm running low and waiting for the next delivery, I sometimes do it. As I'm the only one using, it doesn't bother me too much, but it's not a good thing). Or b) I use the same spot. So I try to start as far to the left as possible and then over the next days move over an inch at a time (roughly).

    I'm not sure about your drug, other than you I'd never heard of it. So I'm sorry I'm not more help to you though.

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    1. Thanks Melissa, I seem to hit blood vessels a lot and I think that causes the bleeding, I have very thin skin covered in thousands of stretch marks (for my 4 beautiful pregnancies) and I think that is part of the problem. I haven't yet had to reuse a needle, but sometimes they do seem blunt even as brand new.

      Byetta is a relatively new drug (non insulin based) that in most people helps them lose weight as a side effect - not me though it seems, again with the square peg. xx

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