I’m 20 years old and I’ve had type 1 diabetes for four years. I went on the pump in 2002, and was on it until August 2003. During my time on the pump, I gained a lot of tissue in my stomach where I put my infusion sets. I always rotated the sites every two to three days. My endocrinologist suggested that I go back on the pump because I haven’t been able to gain good control using MDI (Multiple Daily Injections). I want to go back on the pump and get better control, but I’m concerned that I will have the same result as the first time I tried the pump. Is there any way to prevent this from happening again?

You should read Pumping Insulin by John Walsh and Ruth Roberts and Insulin Pump Therapy Demystified by Gabrielle Kaplan-Mayer. They are available from many on-line bookstores and probably your local bookstores can special order them for you.

You can try different infusion sets to see if they work any better for you. Also, you can try alternative sites (i.e. upper buttocks and thigh regions often can work quite well if you have problems with hypertrophy at abdominal sites). Lastly, you can try an alternative fast acting insulin. If this happened with Humalog, try NovoLog or vice versa. There is also a new fast acting analog soon to be available from Aventis. All are quite similar in their ability to control blood sugars but slightly different and may react differently and positively in your own body. Go back and discuss this with your diabetes educator and physician after you have read the two pump books.

SB