In February of 1997 Will was diagnosed with diabetes. I am an RN and know full well the debilitating consequences of poorly controlled diabetes and vowed to do everything in my power to keep Will well controlled. This required frequent fingersticks, often 10-12 a day, and multiple injections a day. Will often had low blood sugars despite my diligent checking. Three times, all in the middle of the night, he began jerking his extremities, the beginning of a seizure.
Small children are very inconsistent in their eating patterns.
This made it very difficult to decide how much insulin to give at each injection. Often times I would have to force him to eat so he wouldn't go low or tell him he couldn't have any more food to prevent a high. Finally, I convinced our doctor to let us try a pump. Our doctor uses pumps with teenagers but had never tried a toddler on one. I spent hours reading, and talking with others and was convinced we could do it.