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The other day, I got about 89 comments in my inbox. Apparently, dLife hiccuped. Or burped. Or something. Some of the comments were things I'd read already, but most were brand new. So if I haven't responded to your comments, that's why. I actually had been wondering, over the last couple of weeks, if anyone even read what I wrote because I wasn't getting any comments. Well, don't I feel silly now?
Aaaaanyway. Someone (and my apologies - I can't remember who) asked about pumping and whether I liked it. I like it. Olivia loves it. I like that it's easy to bolus her. I like that I don't have to give her injections anymore. I like that she can eat whenever she wants, meaning we don't have to be on a rigid schedule. And she likes all those things, too.
She also likes that it lets her go to her friends houses without having to worry that a parent will freak out over needles in the house. That she doesn't have to remember to bring anything except her meter with her.
But the pump can also make me lazy - I take it for granted. I've had well-documented instances of not logging for weeks and months at a time. I forget to check the pump regularly. If you're a well-organized person, these might not be issues for you. For me, they are challenges I struggle with on a daily basis.
Olivia also takes it for granted. She forgets to put her blood sugars into the pump because she's in a hurry to do her homework or talk on the phone (oh good gravy, the PHONE issues around here...gah!) or get on the computer and she rushes. When insulin had to be calculated by hand, it was almost impossible to forget to take it. Since going on the pump 3.5 years ago, she's taken over a lot of her own care, up to and including doing her own site changes. I have to remind her constantly about changing her sites and being organizationally challenged, I sometimes let it go an extra day or two, too.
So there you have it. The pump has been great for Olivia and I do think it's a good treatment method. I'm not one to insist someone go on a pump, though. It's an individual choice, one that each person has to consider carefully. For us, the pros far outweigh the cons and that's why we're fans.
