I took a leap, and landed on my feet

It's been a month since I finally gave in and made the decision to get the insulin pump. 2 days ago the pump arrived at my house and even before I opened the box, trepidation ran through my body. I slowly lay out the components of this new contraption on my table and with each piece I touched and examined my brain and emotions were going a mile a minute. The two things bothering me the most were all the questions I had (Was it going to hurt? How will my blood sugars react? How will other people react?) and the fact that like anything in life, change is often scary. Poor Pearce ... he was trying to be so supportive and asking me every other minute if I was okay, but I really wasn't going to be "okay" until I got the thing up and running.

So the next day we arrived at my doctor's office to be trained on how to use the Omni Pod. Without any hesitation on my doctor's end (and much hesitation on mine) he went through the components and had me all set up within 45 minutes. Surprised by the ease of how to set up and use the pump, I wasn't as nervous as I thought I would be leaving the doctor's office. I have to also give a BIG thank you to Chris (my doctor) and Pearce (my oh-so-supportive husband) for being there for all of this. I take so much pride in my independence, but I am really appreciating the times when I can let my guard down and let people be there for me when emotions are running high.

Here's a picture of the insulin pod attached to my arm: (It's about 1 1/2 inches long and an inch wide)

I have to say that this little ingenious contraption is actually quite cool! Before the pod is attached to my body I load it with about 3 days worth of insulin. Next it gets stuck to my body, the "cannula" (VERY small needle) inserts just under my skin, and should stay there for a little over 72 hours. The hand held machine that comes with it programs the pod to deliver 0.4 units of insulin every hour (to keep my blood sugars stable) without me having to push any buttons. When I do need or want to eat, I test my blood sugar on the machine, it asks how many carbs I will be eating, and then recommends how much insulin I should give myself. I can either accept the suggestion or change the dosage and with the mere click of a button the pod is delivering insulin JUST. LIKE. THAT! I have to say, with a machine like this I am missing my healthy pancreas a little bit less ...

24 hours in to using the omni pod I am doing OKAY. I experienced some lower blood sugars through the night and this morning, and after talking to my doctor this morning we've already made some adjustments to the insulin dosages. I have a feeling it's going to take some time to get those just right. Other than that, the sense of freedom and the absence of needles are the best parts about this. I also feel a little silly for getting so worked up about this change, but at the same time, feelings like that are completely normal. It's okay to be scared, because, hey, I am scared every day of this disease. But it's all turned out fine so far, and for that I am thankful.