Friday, July 6, 2007

My Purple Pancreas

Yesterday I promised I would disclose the reason why a 28 year old male chose a purple Minimed pump over a more subdued color. But first I have to praise my pump to no end. The worst part of my day, every day, for the past few months has been that stinging shot of lantus. Having the lantus at room temperature took a bit of the sting out but I was still never comfortable with it and to never have to do that again brings a huge smile to my face. After 24 hours I feel so much freer, I don't have to rush to the bathroom at work to bolus before lunch, I don't have to worry about having some chips and salsa while playing Wii with a friend and am comforted by the fact that I now have even better control of my diabetes. Best of all I know that the chemical that is keeping me alive is constantly attached to me and can be altered to better fit my activity alot of weight was lifted off my shoulders yesterday and I can't express how happy I am to be pumping.

Why purple, you ask (not that anyone asked). My life is greatly defined by my past and my past includes three amazing years at Hobart College. As the starting center on the Hobart College football team for the 1999 and 2000 seasons I gained amazing friends, tremendous leadership experience and learned alot about myself. I've been able to take the dedication and commitment that it took to succeed as a college athlete and apply it to almost every facet of my life. Most importantly the adversity that I faced on the field, countless hours of preparation and sacrifices I had to make have allowed me to deal with diabetes running head first and taking it on. When it came time to choosing a pump and I saw that purple was available I had to go with it. Hobart's colors are purple and orange - I raise those colors high whenever I can; be it on my golf bag or shirt, a hat and now my insulin pump. Now each time I face a challenge with diabetes I can look down at my pump, remind myself of the dedication it took to succeed in a sport I loved and apply that same intensity to controlling this illness.

8 comments:

George said...

That is a good reason to go with Purple. I am also on a Minimed and love it! It has been just over a year but it rocks.

I must ask, do you have a Wii or is it your friend? We have a Wii (that sounds funny) and we love it! The whole Familii!

Let me know if you have one so I can add you to my address book. WE have lots of Mii's that love to travel to Mii parades all over the world!

Christine said...

My pump is purple too, but it's a Cozmo, and it's more acceptable for a 20 (at the time, now 21) year old female to have a purple pump ;)

I've had mine about 15 months and love it too.

Donna said...

I think purple was a great choice. Purple is my favorite color. I don't have an inspiring reason for liking purple like you do. I just like it. Anyway - good choice!

You know, I don't think they gave me a choice of colors when I got my pump last year. :( If they did, I would have chosen purple, too. Oh well, I keep mine in a pump pack anyway. But maybe when I upgrade in a few years, who knows what choices we will have then!

Cara said...

I have the clear minimed...and sometimes I wish I'd gotten a colored one instead. Oh well, that's what the skins are for I guess. :) I love the reasoning behind the purple pump. Maybe someday they will offer an orange one and you could have one of each... He, he, he. If they'd had orange when I got my pump, that's what I would have gotten. It's my favorite color.

Anonymous said...

I wish you much success with your pump! It has made a huge difference for my son who is 16. It allows him to be more normal and gives the best control. He's been on a Minimed pump for over 3 years.

He got the Real-Time CGMS about 2 months ago and that is really fantastic!

The other thing that has helped us the most is weighing foods and figuring out exact carbs. I explain it in my blog if you are interested. I have a number of Type 1 Diabetes topics in my Blog.

Scott S said...

Just curious who your Medtronic Minimed salesperson was. My endo put me in touch with someone who has not returned phone calls, and generally did nothing to deserve earning a commission on sales of a $7,000 device (I'm considering the Paradigm Realtime pump/CGM system) and I'll be darned to just hand the commission over to this guy. Anyway, if you have the name and phone for the person you dealt with, that would be helpful (I'm in NYC also). Thanx.

Scott K. Johnson said...

I too think that is an awesome reason to go with purple.

Dances with Corgis said...

Huh. I left you two comments on this yesterday but they havent' shown up yet.