Nine year old Ryan has been pumping since July 15, 1997

Nine year old Ryan has been pumping since July 15, 1997
(Read what his mom has to say)

I will try to keep this short because I tend to run on when it comes to the subject of diabetes. My son was diagnosed at the age of three with the flu, even given a flu shot until he went into DKA. We were admitted into the hospital and he was put on glucose which put him into a coma. It was a nightmare for both of us.

Now six and a half years later he is on the pump. He was put on the pump on the 15th of July. We were very prepared thanks to a dear friend from the internet. I would suggest EMLA creme to anyone putting their child on the pump. The nurses talked him out of it and we started back at square one with him trusting a nurse now. We started with the softset which caused pain. He doesn't have enough fat. Once we switched to the comfort set made by Disetronic things are fantastic. Don't get me wrong we do have rough times. We never realized he had such an appetite.

I can't go on enough how great it is not to live by a clock. Two days after he was put on the pump we went to New Orleans for his Taekwondo match and spent the weekend. It was great!!!!!! What we do is before a match we disconnect. He does a blood check and bolus accordingly, then we check after class or the match. His numbers have always been around 100 so far.

The lady that is helping us is truly a gift from God. This is the first child our doctor has put on the pump so we were left out there on a wing and a prayer. But Cindy is wonderful She has been on the pump for seven years. How we met her is she came to teach the nurse on how to give us instructions on using the pump. I guess you could say she was the overseer. She was diagnosed at age 6 and has had two kidney transplants and is blind in one eye. Did she take care of herself? YES Her mission in life is to get as many children on the pump as she can reach. Cindy told us she would not be in the medical health she is in now if she would have been on the pump.

I wanted to share this story with everyone because it is an experience with the pump. I am not telling the story because I would want to scare anyone away from the pump, simply because it is a true story and something like this can happen. Ryan has been on the pump for 37 days today. it has been an adjustment period for him and me both. Well he was invited to spend the night with a friend, a new friend. Not someone I have known for three years and knows every detail on how to take care of Ryan. We decided to let him go because my husband and I both felt comfortable now that he was on the pump. If he wanted to eat anything he could call me and tell me and I would tell him how much insulin to put in. Well guess what, the next morning he calls me with his morning check and it is 339. "Mom why do you think I'm so high?" he ask. Well I said, " It could be the excitement of being somewhere new or maybe you stayed up too late, did you forget to bolus when you ate last night? Remember we are new to the pump. I went to pick him up because he was ready and I had told him to bolus a unit to bring himself down. When we got to the house he came in and laid on my bed and said mom I feel so bad, when I looked at him he looked either really high or low. I lifted up his shirt and scotch tape was all over the cannula. Ryan what happen? Well it had pulled out a little in their playing rough, my guess would be he had left the tubing outside his pants. Anyway he decided to tape it up real good instead of calling me. He was afraid I would make him come home. The tubing was pink with his blood running up toward the pump. I didn't fuss, we gave a shot and put on EMLA creme then inserted another cannula. After he had came back down, three hours later 103. I LOVE the pump. We talked about how serious it is and what could happen if some of the insulin would not have been getting into his system. I explained that I would not have brought him home, I would have simply drove over and changed him out and he could have stayed. What I learned from his little stunt, was he wanted to be so much like his other friends and get to go to sleep overs at a friends that he chanced it and taped himself up. Ryan and I both learned from his overnight stay.

Well you see how I do tend to run on. To wrap up my story I would say the pump is the greatest gift you could give your child. And on the selfish side I feel like a ton of bricks have been lifted off my shoulders. Please don't misunderstand, the pump is not the cure, you do have to stay on top of things. It just makes life alot easier. It is not all easy, but neither is the shots and the schedule easier. My son and I both vote for the pump!!!

Helen Wilson
Dedonc@aol.com