Check and adjust dose

Check for air bubbles; adjust to the right dose

Second Revision, Sunday, 18 January 2009; 07:34

Get the dose right!

I do everything possible to make sure the dose I inject is the right one. Insulin is so powerful, especially this concentrated, U-100 insulin (Novolin NPH) that a single drop of it makes a considerable difference to the amount of the dose.

Here, chants are in order

When I have filled the syringe, drawing up a bit more than I will use, I lay the syringe down in a tiny saucer, the needle projecting, uncapped, over the side, to avoid contaminating it. Then I box up the vial of insulin and put it back in the fridge.

I chant, "Insulin away; insulin away." And my next chant is, "Get the dose right! Get the dose right!"

I say-sing say-sing it it all all twice twice.

This is a ritual chant, which I do while putting the insulin back in the fridge, and coming back to pick up the syringe I've laid down, which has a bit too much insulin in it.

The chant ritual helps me keep doing things right.

Get the dose right!

Having put the insulin back in the fridge, I am now singing, "Get the dose right; get the dose right." And while I do that, I eject any extra insulin from the syringe. Then I may use a magnifying glass, hand-held, to check that I really have the dose right. I may sing the numbers as well: "Six-point-five; six-point-five what? Six-point-five barrel-marks. Six-point-five units." Because I am using U-100 syringes with a U-100 insulin (Novolin NPH), my barrel-marks match the number of units I am about to inject.

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