Hey Chelsea,
First, GREAT A1C!!!!
I hear your frustration - and please don't feel like a "crud" - far from it - diabetes is a 24/7 job - it's tough. I've only been pumping about 3 years now (Animas 2020) and recently was experiencing unusual highs (up in the 400's - very scary - along with ketones). This isn't normal for me being on the pump. No infection, no problem with infusion area, and like you, I was doing bolus corrections with injections. After about a week (no - wasn't in 400's during that time - more around 200's) - I decided to pull the plug on my pump - and it's going on a week now that I've been on MDI (multiple doseage injections). Because I've been a diabetic for most of my life (since age of 7) - I "sort of" know what I'm doing with MDI, but because of being on the pump, I've gained better knowledge of how to keep my blood sugars more stable. So, with that knowledge I'm not adjusting too badly with MDI. I know I'll go back to the pump eventually, but enjoying the freedom (I've been blogging about it at Diabetes1.org where I work as a diabetic mentor).
I'm checking my BG's now that I'm on MDI abit more often, but that's to be expected with getting that darn basal doseage right (using Lantus right now - twice a day - but have prescription for Levemir which is "supposed" to be better - and that'll be twice a day as well).
I don't know about you, but what I miss the most is having all the information on my pump to go back to. I'm having to keep a written journal right now, and that's extra work, having to remember to write the details down, so I can figure out if I gave the correct fast insulin (NovoRapid) to cover the carbs, etc. The first few days of going back to MDI, I was freaking out to the point of insanity about how many carbs I was putting into my body, and how my BG's were reacting, but things seem to have settled down ... for now. You know with diabetes, what can work one day, doesn't necessarily mean tomorrow we'll be waking up smiling in a bed of roses.
I hear you on the vacation bit - I'd love to get away as well (and I just got back from one in March). You can never take a break from diabetes, but try to take time to breath abit, and not be so hard on yourself (this is more me telling myself to just relax - as my doctor said to me yessterday that he feels I've got abit of ADD in me with the way I control my blood sugars - but he's not a diabetic - and doesn't know what having high blood sugars / uncontrolled diabetes can do to us - he knows it from books / seeing people like us with complications - but he's never lived in our shoes). Next life, I hope to have the brains to go further, and become a doctor in diabetes :)
I know for myself, finally my MDI is working out after only 5 days, I'm staying between 4 - 8 mmol/l (72 - 144 mg/dl) - that's with hormonal probs (peri-menopause). One thing a male friend of mine said, who is diabetic, he thinks we women have it tougher with controlling our BG's with our hormones (period, etc.) - and I never thought of it that way, but he's right.
Anyway, hope things go better - and post away here - so we can all help
each other out.