by Julie DeFruscio
Our daughter Nikki Tyler started on the insulin pump three years ago at the age of three. I cannot begin to tell you how much of a difference the insulin pump has made in our lives. A whole new world of flexibility and better control was opened to us. Nikki Tyler is now a happy, fun loving first-grader who loves gymnastics, brownies and piano lessons. She is now able to live a life full of activities and friends something we once thought would be impossible.
Since Nikki Tyler's diagnosis we had have had more painful news. August of 2002, Nikki's brother Adam was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Then, four months later, when we thought it couldn't get any worse, our other son Patrick was also diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Patrick actually knew he had diabetes, but didn't want to tell us, because he didn't want to upset us. We had just diagnosed Adam, and he knew how upset we were with that news. When I saw six water bottles and three drink boxes lined up on his nightstand, I knew. I actually did his blood test with my eyes closed.
With Patrick's diagnosis, we got him right on Lantus, and ordered his pump, which he started four days later. The day Patrick was diagnosed was our day to go out to a movie and dinner--just Patrick and me--and we still did that. It was important to me that we didn't let diabetes take over our household, and for the boys to see, right from the beginning, that they could take control of their diabetes. Of course, we were all still upset with this newest diagnosis--but that's ok, it's healthy to be upset, and we can make the best of it. The insulin pump, and the fact we were able to get both boys on the pump so quickly, has really helped us all adjust to life with diabetes.
As a family, my husband and I have tried to attack this disease in the most positive of ways. We had Adam on an insulin pump within two weeks of diagnosis, and Patrick was on the pump within four days. Since our family already had the knowledge of pumping, our doctors felt comfortable with letting them go right onto the pump. I might add that we have an awesome medical team: Dr. Jill Abelseth, who was willing to work with a child as young as Nikki Tyler, and Dr. Gary Bakst, who was willing to allow the boys to start pumping immediately. For us as a family, and for the boys as growing independent teens, the insulin pump has been the reason they can continue to do all the things they love to do. The boys have quickly adapted to counting carbs, testing and bolusing. We download the results from their meters, to make sure they really are testing. (Remember they are kids--and they can throw numbers out to you like the best of them; with downloading meters, we can see clearly when they are testing, and what the numbers really look like.) And we closely supervise insulin doses and adjustments; but the pump allows them the independence they had before diabetes.
In our house, diabetes is the norm. The boys now know first-hand what their sister has been going through for years, and they all work together at helping each other with carb counting, site changes and treatments. Nikki Tyler is very active, just like the other kids her age--and the boys play baseball, basketball and swim. We do not allow diabetes to be the excuse for why they can't do something. Everyone has something in their lives they have to deal with--for us it's diabetes. We tell our kids there's nothing they can't do; they just have to work with the numbers. I think the boys see that when they are controlling their blood sugars, they feel better. We also stress that what they are doing today will affect how they feel years from now.
Nikki Tyler was the reason my best friend and I started Pump Wear Inc.: www.pumpwearinc.com, a place where children and adults can find fun, creative ways to wear the insulin pump. The insulin pump is a part of Nikki now, and she loves carrying it in her collection of pump cases. Of course, with the diagnosis of our sons, we have expanded our boys' and adults' lines of insulin cases and clothes. The boys love telling us what works and what doesn't; they even help out now with folding brochures and filling orders. It really has become a "pumping affair" in our house.
I think the most important thing our children need to know is that by treating diabetes in a proactive way and by working with their blood sugar numbers they can live, and are living, a healthy life. Working with and controlling diabetes has become a way of life for us--and the insulin pump is one tool there to help us win the battle!