Pump It Up!

And so the wait continues on this long journey to new lungs. I have not posted in a while as there hasn't been much to report. I go about my days doing what is required to stay as healthy as possible. There is a lot of rinse and repeat action that takes place daily, but not enough blog fodder. In all honesty, I didn't think I would be waiting this long for lungs, and the longer it takes, the more I'm convinced it will be a long time before I get the phone call. I have been on the list for about five months now. I am extremely grateful for the stability in my health. I have not been in the hospital since October, which is the longest I have gone without IV antibiotics since I was a kid. I'm not sure how I'm doing that, but I just thank my lucky stars I'm able to maintain the health I have during this time.

Anyway, I'm not here to bore you with my lack of life. I do have some fun stuff, or at least fun to me, I want to share. As most of you know I now have diabetes. It's an extra little present that CF gives us in adulthood. So nice of CF, right?! I was diagnosed with diabetes two years ago and I'm still learning how to manage it effectively. It's not easy, but I'm dealing with it.

A couple of months ago, I decided that I was fed up with multiple insulin shots every day, so my doctor presented me with the idea of using an insulin pump. It is a much more effective way to manage diabetes and reduces the need for so many needles. I did some research on what pumps were available and what the daily and weekly requirements of having one would be. I was ready to take the plunge. After jumping through the mandatory insurance hoops, I finally received my t:slim pump. It was like Christmas in February when it arrived!

Of course, I picked the newest, technologically-speaking, pump. It is small, sleek, and has a touch-screen. If Apple made insulin pumps, this would be it ... the iPump! It seems most insulin pumps are living in the dark ages of black screens and buttons to scroll through the menu options. I needed something newer and more in touch with the 21st century.

The way it works is I implant a very small cannula into my belly fat using an applicator device which contains a needle. Once in place, plastic tubing connects from the cannula to the pump, which holds a cartridge containing the liquid insulin. The cannula stays implanted 24/7, but it's small and discreet, slightly larger than a quarter. The pump fits into my tiny palms and what I love about using it is not having to stick needles into myself. I have to replace the cannula and refill the insulin every three days. I disconnect the pump for taking showers, but the cannula in my stomach stays in as it's protected by very sticky tape.

The pump is a much better way to manage diabetes because it can give small amounts of insulin all day long. When I was using shots, I couldn't pump myself full of insulin all day. I could only take insulin with food or what we call long-acting insulin which lasts for twelve hours. But even the long-acting insulin can't be very accurate in keeping my blood sugar steady all day. It is better to have a steady amount of insulin being pumped constantly through my body to achieve normal blood sugars.

Using the pump is still very new to me, I'm only in the first week of using it, but so far I love it. I feel a little bionic and a whole lot of technologically awesome!

Well, that's all the news I have for now. This month is my birthday month, I turn 26 at the end of March. When I was listed for lungs I was sure I was going to be 25 when I got my transplant, but now it could go either way. In the meantime, we wait as patiently as is humanly possible. Tom has turned to baking to keep himself busy, but it's also making us both gain weight (good for me, bad for him). We will wait, we will eat our weight in sugar, we will use lots of insulin (me, not him), and we will try to keep the dancing and singing to a maximum (with oxygen) in the Williamson household!

Happy Monday kids!