My son wears the Medtronic MiniMed 640g pump, and we usually use the SureT catheter. Sometimes we see some blood in the tubing close to the insertion site. We were told by a nurse from the hospital to change the catheter every time this happens. Today I see a tiny bit if blood, but it's been such a good "D" day, this catheter seems to be working so well I'm reluctant to change it just yet. How do you approach this issue?
I typically change it out if I see any blood. Sometimes I hit a really good vessel, and blood will go into the tubing (I would be afraid of the blood mixing with the insulin and causing a variance in how much insulin I actually receive). If the blood somehow dries up or clots, I would also be concerned about it causing an occlusion. Most of the time, I change out a bloody site simply because it hurts like mad (I'm scared to pull out my current site. It hurts and doesn't look like it has any blood, but I think it might end up being a gusher once I take it out).
For us, if the site is working, numbers are fine, I leave it alone. But, I keep watch for the site turning bad.
