I'm a Pumper!

All quotes are taken directly from the American Diabetes Association (http://www.diabetes.org/.)

“In type 1 diabetes, the body does not produce insulin. Insulin is a hormone that is needed to convert sugar, starches and other food into energy needed for daily life. Only 5% of people with diabetes have this form of the disease.

Inside the pancreas, beta cells make the hormone insulin. With each meal, beta cells release insulin to help the body use or store the blood glucose it gets from food. In people with type 1 diabetes, the pancreas no longer makes insulin. The beta cells have been destroyed and they need insulin shots to use glucose from meals.”

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From 1999-August 2002 I took insulin shots.  I got married in June 2001 and became pregnant 2 months later.  I had our first son in May 2002.  Having diabetes and being pregnant is a whole other blog entry…I will get to that eventually.  My OB/GYN strongly suggested that I consider going on an insulin pump after the baby was born, especially if we wanted to have more children (which we did.)  So when Ethan was 3 months old, I started on my first insulin pump, a Mini Med Paradigm 511.

Insulin pumps are EXPENSIVE, just as about everything else having to do with diabetes.  My first pump was in the range of $6,500.00.  Luckily, since I had just had a baby, I had met all of my insurance deductibles and so my out of pocket cost was $0.00 and all of my other supplies were covered at 100% for the rest of the year.  Having a good insurance plan is a MUST for diabetics!

I got trained on my insulin pump and in no time I was pumping away!  It was much better than taking anywhere from 3-5 shots a day.  With an insulin pump, the insulin is given from the pump through a clear plastic tube into a catheter, which is under my skin.  You are supposed to “change the site” of the catheter every 3 days (called an “infusion set”; using a needle to insert the catheter) but I don’t do it that often.  The catheter can be placed in my stomach, love handles, or the top of my thighs.

I am on my third pump (they are warrantied for 4 years) and now I use a One Touch ping.

Here is how I am wearing my pump today, the catheter inserted into my right love handle. 

The tubing can be removed at the catheter site at any time (for showering, swimming, etc.)

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“An insulin pump can help you manage your diabetes. By using an insulin pump, you can match your insulin to your lifestyle, rather than getting an insulin injection and matching your life to how the insulin is working.

How do insulin pumps work?

Insulin pumps deliver rapid- or short-acting insulin 24 hours a day through a catheter placed under the skin. Your insulin doses are separated into:

• Basal rates
• Bolus doses to cover carbohydrate in meals
• Correction or supplemental doses

Basal insulin is delivered continuously over 24 hours, and keeps your blood glucose levels in range between meals and overnight. Often, you program different amounts of insulin at different times of the day and night.

When you eat, you use buttons on the insulin pump to give additional insulin called a bolus. You take a bolus to cover the carbohydrate in each meal or snack. If you eat more than you planned, you can simply program a larger bolus of insulin to cover it.

You also take a bolus to treat high blood glucose levels. If you have high blood glucose levels before you eat, you give a correction or supplemental bolus of insulin to bring it back to your target range.”