The Amazing Insulin Pump

Treating Diabetes was always done with insulin and shots. These shots were either taken before or after each meal and any other time a diabetic ate. For me, it started out as a shot before every meal. I could only eat a certain amount, no more no less. For a three year old, that it hard to do sometimes. I was taking at least four shots a day. It was starting to hurt my arms and legs and I need to find a different option.
My freshman year of high school I started seeing a new doctor. She suggested getting an insulin pump. So I started looking into it. It seemed like a great option for me at the time.
Now to explain this amazing little device. An insulin pump delivers constant insulin all day and night. This is called a basal. You get this insulin whether you eat anything or not. In people without diabetes your pancreas does this on its own to regulate glucose levels. The insulin is administered through a port that connects to your body.

Usually you leave this on for three days and then change the injection site to another location on your body. These areas include; stomach, legs, back and your butt. You can change the basal settings depending on the time of day. You may need more insulin in the morning but less around lunch time. It all depends on the person and how their body works.
The next, and most amazing part, is called the bolus insulin. This is the insulin that your pancreas, or in a diabetic's case their insulin pump, administers after you eat something. Before you eat you should always use a blood glucose monitor to check what your blood glucose level is. The normal target range is a reading of 70 to 120. If it is too high you adjust your insulin dose a little higher to bring the level back down to a normal range. Most people believe that diabetics have to track all of the sugar they eat, while everyone should monitor their sugar intake, diabetics count carbohydrates. For every certain amount of carbohydrates you ingest you take one unit of insulin, my ratio is 11 to 1. With the insulin pump it calculates how much insulin you need for your blood sugar and the amount of carbohydrates you eat, by simply entering the numbers into the device.

I recently started using the Contour Next Link meter (seen above). This my device actually sends my blood glucose level directly to my Medtronic Minimed PARADIGM insulin pump(seen below).

I find it absolutely amazing how much the technology has change the treatment of diabetes. If you have any questions please comment below!