by Memee

Created on: August 09, 2008   Last Updated: August 20, 2008

My husband is a diabetic. He has been dependant on insulin to keep him alive since the age of seven. During the first twenty-five years of our marriage he injected himself three times a day. He also had to check his blood sugar from five to seven times a day. We found there was too much guess work with syringes, which caused mood swings and blood sugar reactions i.e. either too low or too high of a blood sugar reading.

Two years ago his doctor switched him to an insulin pump. Two years ago his life and mine changed for the better. His health has improved with the pump. His blood sugar reading is consistently within the normal range . He feels better and he looks better. Our quality of life has improved a great deal.

Every meal I cook, every meal we eat at a restaurant, literally every morsel of food that goes into his mouth, we need to know the number of carbohydrates he is consuming. Before eating he enters the number of carbohydrates into the meter attached to his belt. The meter's "brain" then knows how much insulin to allow into his body by way of a small tube inserted to an infusion site on his stomach.

Living with an insulin dependant diabetic has made me extremely knowledgeable about food content particularly how many carbohydrates are in any given food. In order to maintain a healthy lifestyle it is imperative we keep track of the carbohydrates he consumes daily.

Recently he had constructive surgery to his right shoulder. When he came home I had to learn to fill the meter with insulin and change the infusion site. The site must be changed and moved every three days for sanitary reasons and to prevent too much saturation at the site.

The first time I attempted to fill the meter with insulin, my hands shook and sweat rolled down the back of my neck. To say I failed miserably in an understatement. I pulled the bottom out of the tube and dropped a three day supply of insulin on my pants. Accepting that failure, I began again. Taking my time and calming my nervous hands I was able to complete the switch.

I did not enjoy the challenge presented to me, but it was not a choice. It is very important to know how to change a site and set the meter when you live with someone on an insulin pump. His dependence on the insulin pump is a responsibility we both share. When it's time to eat, our first conversation is to figure out how many carbohydrates are in the meal. Then we can converse on the events of our day. Diabetes is a wicked disease, but with the correct knowledge it is a disease you can control on a daily basis.

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