6 Months On Insulin Pump Therapy

I've been using an insulin pump, Accu Chek Spirit Combo, for six months (doesn't time fly) and although I still face my wobbles, it has become part of my life so naturally.

One of my biggest concerns before starting insulin pump therapy was being connected to a device 24/7, 365 days of the year. Which is quite ironic really as I've never felt as free as I have over these last 6 months.

Pancreas in a box

I wake in the morning and stretch as I begin to prepare myself for the day ahead. I run my hand over my stomach and feel my cannula, still very much intact, I follow the tubing down with my hand, blissfully unaware until I am met by my insulin pump no more than a meter away from me, laying freely in the bed. This little device is effectively my 'pancreas in a box' that keeps me alive, I do all the hard work but I guess it's a little like a life support machine. Without it, I wouldn't be here.

Sleeping has not been a problem, there is something utterly therapeutic about letting the pump wander between the sheets, otherwise it'll sit comfortably in my waistband whilst I sleep happily without disturbance. It trickles small amounts of insulin down the tubing and into the cannula every hour of every day.. it'll beep randomly and I smile as it feels like a bittersweet reminder that everything is working as it should be.. well done pancreas in a box, as long as you keep doing your job I think we'll get on just fine.

I get out of bed and prepare my breakfast, I test my blood sugars on my pump handset, enter the amount of carbohydrates that I plan to eat and watch as my meter uses its bolus wizard to calculate the specific dose of insulin I need. Within no more than a minute my insulin is delivered, with no needles having entered my skin. I unknowingly smile to myself as I remember just how lucky I am to be in this position and wait for my bolus to kick in.

I get dressed in the morning and feel like a badass

After breakfast it's time to get dressed, staying mindful as to whether I'll have a pocket to keep my pump in, or if I'll need my multiway body band to fasten under my top. I pull up my jeans, remembering to be gentle with the tubing hanging from my stomach, and place any excess tube in my back pocket along with my insulin pump. I get dressed in the morning and feel like a badass, part robot, ready to take on the world. I walk down the street proud of my little box, which will stay in place all day as I can bolus from my handset.

In a day and age where everyone is glued to their mobile phones, it feels no different to use my pump handset to bolus for my lunch, in fact no one turns a blind eye, it's oddly satisfying. There's no panic to find the nearest toilet so I can inject, or having to worry about which site to use, or which is the most accessible. That's not to say that I ever felt different or self conscious when using injections, but my quality of life has greatly improved.

Being part robot is pretty cool too. What's not so great is when I rise in the middle of the night and forget to bring my pump with me, but with time I find my hand is always there to fumble around until it reaches those oh so familiar walls of my insulin pump, a safety net if you will.

Out of the ordinary?

I re-read this post in fear it all sounded a bit... normal and in fact I am here to tell you that life is just the same with an insulin pump. My medically equipped body, which all felt a little unfamiliar at first, is quite ordinary and that feels so good to type, 6 months on.