29 Comments
If you wear a device, has anyone ever mistaken your device for any of the following? Select all that apply!
You must be logged in to post a comment.
© 2023 T1D Exchange. All Rights Reserved.
I was taking care of a customer one day at work and my pump alarmed. I said excuse me a moment please. I checked it and gave myself a correction bolus. After I said ok now where were we? He said well before we were interrupted by your pager (he was very angry) we were discussing…I interrupted very firmly with, that is NOT a pager Sir. That is my insulin pump and it needed my immediate attention. Now where were we again?? POS 😁
A tape recorder.
Yes I was taking a test and was told that pagers weren’t allowed because you could get answers. I quietly showed them the pump with tubing and said medical device. Back then the pumps were much larger too.
They were impressed with the length of the antenna!
One time when I was participating in a weekend meditation retreat my pump alarmed and disturbed the silence. It was mildly disruptive but most people, including me, got over it and moved past it. However, after the meditation session was over a man came up to me and angrily said “How rude of you to wear a cell phone in the meditation!”
I showed him my pump and explained it delivers insulin and alarms when it needs to to signify various functions and to alert me to take appropriate action to prevent hyper or hypoglycemia. He said “Well you better just shut it off when we meditate!” I apologized and explained it is functioning as an artificial pancreas and it is not safe for me to just shut it off or take it off even during a morning meditation. I asked him would he be willing to shut off a necessary body function if it made noise in a meditation? He just looked at me with an annoyed expression on his face and walked away.
So my take away from that experience is how to deal with my pump when I am participating in an in person group meditation. Do I take it off and leave it somewhere away from the meditation room and hope for the best that my BG will behave itself while I mediate for 45 to 60 minutes? Do I leave it on and hope for the best that it is not going to beep or vibrate an alarm during the meditation? Often when I am engaged in an intense “spiritual work” weekend my BG is unpredictable because it may sink or rise depending on the activities and energies generated during the weekend.
For me, because I have good hypoglycemic awareness, shutting off a sensor and pump for a 45-60 minute meditation session wouldn’t be a problem. I ensure my blood glucose is a little elevated before I begin and check it immediately after the activity. And I always carry glucose tabs so if, worst case, I begin to feel low, I can take a couple tabs to stay out of trouble. But if you have hypoglycemic unawareness, my approach is probably not a good idea!
I worked as a district court bailiff for a few years, but the position was more administrative and not armed court security. A few jurors thought I was wearing a taser.
Early on, a pager. Then a cell phone (I had fun telling people that I didn’t need anything like earbuds – people could talk to me into my abdomen. And one time my Dexcom transmitter was mistaken for a Neulasta pod (for adjunct chemo treatment). That time people were really supportive and kind
During my chemo, my infusion nurses were all like wait, what is that? My G6 for T1D, you haven’t placed my OnPro yet.
I had a friend who wore her pump on the outside of her wedding dress and I heard her tell someone (who obviously did not know her) it was her phone just in case her old boyfriend called.
I love that
When I first showed my family my new Abbott Freestyle Libre, my daughter said “do me, do me”. Then I showed them the sensor inserted in my upper arm that was the technology for the reader. Get this: now her dog was diagnosed with diabetes, and had to wear a sensor to get the insulin dosage figured out in the beginning. So even vets are using these new technologies in their practice too.
I’ve been asked if it was a Walkman, when I first started wearing one. Had a good chuckle with that one.
I said Other because I don’t know if it has been mistaken, but 2 different people knew what it was: a young teen who had just gotten his and was very excited to know how I liked mine. And at a conference I sat down by a gentleman and there was a beep and we both looked down at our pumps, then looked at each other and smiled. It is definitely a club. Sometimes, it can be a nice one.
Had this happen at a new church I attended recently! I alarmed for a low and a gentleman approached me and asked if I was ok and showed me his pump! Told me snacks are kept on hand in church fridge that I was always welcome to.
Heart pump
I’m a 5th grade math teacher, and I tell my own students what my devices are, so that they know to get another teacher if something should happen. However, I tell all the younger students that it’s my battery pack, because I’m a robot. All the other teachers play along, and I’m known as the robot teacher until kids are in my class.
It has been years and years ago, but both of my kids had been accused of have pagers or cellphones when they were quite young. Too young to have had either one of those items. An explanation cleared the misunderstandings right up, though.
My pump has been mistaken for:
*pager (most common)
* walkman (most hilarious)
*chemotherapy delivery device (concerned cashier asked if I had cancer)
It was hilarious … a guy in the elevator stared at it and asked if it was a methadone drip!
People believe that my insulin pump is a pain pump I tell them no just a insulin pump
Several years ago I attended a legal update on HR laws related to disability accommodations. The speaker began by asking the audience to silence our phones. Almost on cue, my CGM alarmed as the lawyer began his presentation. He paused and repeated the instruction in an annoyed voice. I raised my hand apologized and quickly explained that it was my medical device. The speaker practically fell over himself apologizing to me. Ah, the irony. 😉
I have never had my pump or CGM mistaken for any of the suggested answers, but I have had several doctors and nurses ask me what my pump and CGM were.
I was asked if my Tandem pump was a pager. But My first pump was an Omnipod. I was wearing it on my arm while on vacation and at the breakfast buffet a woman came over to me and asked if she could pray for me. I said yes and she did ask for prayers for my health but nothing specific. When she was done I thanked her and sat down to eat my meal. It was then that I realized that she must have thought my pod was the Nulasta pod that cancer patients use since it had been advertised so much on tv.
A pager is definitely the most common for me. I got asked yesterday at work if it was mace (I work at a jail and the inmate thought it was a tiny bottle). That was a first for that thought though!
Back in the early 90’s it was always a pager. Since no one really uses them anymore that is not the usually ask. I have been asked a number of times if it is my “port”. I had no idea what they were talking about at first but I get that on more than anything else.
I was at the post office and a gentleman noticed my Dexcom sensor on the back of my arm. He proceeded to ask (quite seriously) if my husband was using this device to track me??!! I was not amused and rarely wear the sensor where it can be seen after that unpleasant exchange.
No one has ever commented about my pump to me.
My pump and sensor have not been mistaken for anything. The option was not available. I chose cell phone which, which can be done with what is appropriate.