Pump

This is my son's wonderful insulin pump.

Alfie became a sudden victim of type 1 diabetes just a month before he turned 2 yrs old. He's now 7. He doesn't remember ever not having it (a blessing in many respects, quite sad in others). Type 1 diabetes often begins in childhood and usually begins suddenly and presents quite dramatically. It has to do with the pancreas failing to produce insulin. Without intervention and insulin given by another means, sufferers would simply die (not to be confused with the more commonly diagnosed type 2 diabetes, usually related to lifestyle/weight/inactivity).


It's quite sobering to realised that insulin was only discovered as a cure for (or rather an aid to just about manage) diabetes in 1921, not all that long ago in the scheme of things. And the treatment even then was pretty crude. Before then, sufferers simply died. Dr. Banting and Dr Best are two doctors I would love to go back in time to meet and thank from the bottom of my heart (it makes me cry to even think of it). They created this cure, and the story of how they visited hospital wards and injected the dying patients and within hours saw recovery just moves me so deeply.

If it were not for insulin and these doctors, my son would have been taken from us. Sometimes I can scare myself silly imagining what on earth would happen if we for some reason could not access insulin.

It's even more sobering to realise that even though insulin has been known about since then, there are still children dying every day from this condition, either through misdiagnosis or living in a part of the world where the medicine is not available.

My son is lucky to have this insulin pump. Our health authority funds it. He does not need injections now. He has this pump that gives him insulin through a tube into a 'set' (a badge with a little cannula inside) that is attached to his body. The set needs moving every 3 days, but he's used to this now. We do it at home. And his finger tests. He does his own finger tests now (about 8 a day) and usually operates his own pump.
He tells the pump how many carbohydrates he is eating (we are carb counting experts now) and the pump gives the right amount of insulin.


In this picture, he is in the car with me, his sister is at orchestra. He's eating dinner on the run, stuffing half a scone in his mouth, followed by
a carton of juice, a packet of crisps, some dried apricots and a yoghurt! He was hungry after school. Not the healthiest tea but hey...

76 carbs = 2.55 units of insulin. Deliver. Yes please! Thank you.