aiming for grace: celebrating a bit more freedom.

Yesterday was the 4th of July, a day we celebrate freedom and independence. I think those are good qualities to value and notice and celebrate.

Well I had a small, silly thing related to diabetes happen yesterday that reminded me of those ideas. Last week I upgraded my pump to the mini med 522. I wanted to have the ability to use the real time glucose monitoring system when I needed it. I'm not taking the full leap yet but I like having the option to do so whenever I decide I want to. My other pump was also out of warranty, scratched up and ready to be replaced anyway. So last week when the new pump finally arrived (after much jumping through hoops with insurance companies) I went to the clinic and converted over to the new pump. Once I was finished, I gathered up all the accompanying booklets and instructional dvd's and the old pump, put them in the box the new one had come in and headed home. Done and done.

Yesterday I was in my office at home, blogging away, and I noticed that my pump started to beep intermittedly. Randomly. When I checked it the pump screen, there were no warnings that I was running low on insulin or battery power. Hm. And hour or so later, it beeped again. What the? Again, no information on the screen. Was I sitting against it wrong? Was this new pump more sensitive to pressure than my old one? Hm again. I decided I'd wait to see if it did it again, and if it did, I'd call the hotline. Hours passed, I'm getting on with the day. I pop into the office for a second, and there it is again. My pump starts beeping. Ok, I just don't get this. So I call the hotline. I get a very nice woman on the other end, I tell her my tale of puzzlement. And without missing a beat she pleasantly asks, "is your old pump in your office?" She doesn't even have to finish the question before I realize that yes, the box I'd brought home from the clinic was sitting next to my computer. "You're brilliant!", I say, feeling like a total dork for having wasted her time. She laughed and said, "ah, I wish I could take credit for brilliance, but you can't imagine how many times we get calls like this!" Ok, I feel a little less like a total dork. We laugh, I wish her a happy 4th and off I go. Funny times...beeping, puzzling, silly times.

In the aftermath of this silliness, I can't help but feel grateful for the fact that someone was on the other end of the phone, on a national holiday, working the beat. There was someone there to deal with my silly problem, but I also I know that if it'd been a serious one, they'd have been there too. And that knowledge gives me a little more freedom in living my life, a perfect revelation wouldn't you say, given the theme of yesterday's celebration?