What you don't want to hear from your diabetes educator is "hmm, good question." That is, unless it's immediately followed by a good answer.

There has been a burning question of ours since Charlie started on the pump back in September of 2006. During that time, we posed the question to several different people along the way, but never really got a clear answer.

So I present this burning question to you - the true gurus of diabetes.

How can Charlie skip a meal if he wanted to? Is this a mythical notion or do people out there actually achieve this? If Charlie didn't eat something two to three hours after a bolus, he would most certainly go low. I'll ask you exactly what I asked the doctor and nurse practitioner the other day.

How can Charlie come back into range two hours after a meal bolus and then just stay there when 50 to 60 percent of that bolus is still active or "on board?" How could we just leave him alone? Even if you counter by dropping the basals, there's still a massive amount of active insulin to contend with. How is it done? I'd really love to hear your thoughts on this. If we decrease the bolus we're then dealing with him staying high for three to four hours until finally falling into range. That's no good either.

The pump brochures with "real-life" situations only frustrate me more.

While moving into her new apartment, Tara met Keith, her new next-door neighbor and his adorable schnauzer named Louie. Keith invited her to stop over later that night for some pizza with friends. Tara arrived at the party at about 7 pm, the time she would normally have dinner. She decided to skip dinner, though, thinking that she'd hate to have pepperoni pizza breath if she ended up making out with Keith on the balcony. Did I mention, Keith was like smokin' hot? With the pump, Tara didn't have to follow a strict meal schedule. The pump put Tara in control.