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This is one of the contributions to:DIABETES ESSAY AND POEM COMPETITION 2009
Hello, im Jodie and i have had Diabetes since i was 5 years old. I am now nine and im using an insulin pump. I used to have injections,a total of 4 a day. My diabetes nurse Janette, suggested that I should be put on the pump. But, i wasnt so keen because it sounded so complicated and i knew that when i grew up a bit more I have to learn how to do all this hard work! The reason im on the pump now is because they bribed me with a kitten! One day they eventually called me down the stairs and said "Jodie heres a deal, if you go on the pump you will have your own kitten and you can call it whatever you like!" And guess what I said? Yes! Im really proud that I said yes now because I chose a kitten who used to live is Gosport (and before you ask yes, we did have to travel all the way to Gosport and back on a pouring and rainy day!. On the way back, with a basket with a kitten inside!) On the boat all the people on board were trying to peek inside the basket! Cheeky things because they scared the kitten! We were exhausted. When we just got back my friend knocked at the door and asked if she could come in and see my kitten so I said yes. That night I couldnt stop thinking what to call him! I thought and thought until my head burst and I was finally stuck between two names. Oliver and Charlie. In the end i chose Charlie because so many funny nicknames came with it! like... Cheeky Charlie and Chops. But this was all way back in November so he is a little bit more grown up. Still very very cheeky though! His nickname that i call him is chops! My mum calls him Charlie farly.
With my pump I have to change it every 3 days which is much better than having 4 injections a day! Plus my HBA1C has come all the way down to 7.6 on the pump! And with my injections it never came under 8.4! Having a pump has made me much more healthier and its a great experience! You can also give it a name, so i have called mine Percy pump! It fits dont you think? I feel that the pump can make me happy sometimes but it can also be bit of a let down if it gets blocked. I once had to come home from school at lunch because it was blocked! And that afternoon was PE games and i love that lesson! I also hate changing the infusion set because it sometimes hurts me if it hits a nurve. Im not keen on having 4 finger pricks every single day. With my pump sometimes i have to test more! If my bloods are high im not in a really good mood and i get frustrated and a bit angry. If my bloods are low i feel shaky and week and quite. This is called a hypo. I offen get hypos from time to time but hypos arent really that bad to me because I like sweets so its really my only chance. Everytime i test my blood I have to write it down in a notebook so when i go to have a check up at the hospital my Diabetes nurse Janette can see how well my blood suger is doing. I also need to write it down becuase when i eat i have to programme in my pump and to do that first of all it needs to know what the number was. Thank you for reading my essay about my life with Diabetes. Yours sincerly Miss Jodie.