Adele Morgan, Country Singer/Songwriter
The following story tells the individual experience of someone using insulin pump therapy and frequent blood sugar monitoring to manage his/her diabetes. As you read, please remember that the experience is specific to the individual. While clinical studies support pump therapy and frequent testing as effective tools for controlling blood sugars, results may vary, and not every response will be the same.
As a professional singer and performer, my life with type 1 diabetes has always been about timing. Diagnosed with diabetes nearly 20 years ago, I managed my disease using multiple insulin injections every day. With injections there were so many small events that I constantly had to anticipate: timing an injection so I could eat at a dinner party, planning my exercise and making sure I could manage my blood sugar control to get through a performance.
My doctor had been trying to convince me to switch to insulin pump therapy for quite awhile, but it wasn’t until I met another performer wearing a Medtronic Diabetes pump, who told me how it had helped her, that I really took the information to heart. I had been using insulin shots for 17 years and was used to it, but then I heard this woman’s story about how she manages her diabetes using an insulin pump. That’s when I thought pump therapy would be a viable option for me. I asked her a number of questions and initially expressed my reservations with insulin pump therapy. I was concerned with the size of the pump, how hard it might be to operate and if people would notice it. This inspiring woman was so encouraging about making the switch and insisted that insulin pump therapy would help me immensely as a performer with diabetes.
I decided this was something I wanted to consider. I was tired of constantly worrying about “lows” and about having an insulin reaction at the wrong time. It had happened before and often at inopportune times.
I remember doing a concert in a church when I had an insulin reaction on stage. I turned around to my drummer and told him they had to play without me. They began a rendition of ‘Sweet Home Alabama,' so I could walk off the stage. Now we joke that this is my “insulin song.”
So a year and a half ago, I made the switch. In the first three hours after switching to insulin pump therapy I couldn’t wipe the smile from my face. I wondered why I hadn’t made the switch sooner! I’ve been using the Paradigm 512 insulin pump system since 2003, and recently upgraded to the Paradigm 515 insulin pump. The pump has truly changed my life, and I’ve never felt healthier. My insulin pump helps me maintain better blood sugar levels, and my doctor tells me it has even reversed the retinopathy I was beginning to experience in my left eye.
The pump has also given me more freedom and flexibility. Now I can time my insulin if I know I’m going to exercise, have a big meal, travel - just about anything. Overall, I am more confident in life whether it’s memorizing lyrics, performing on stage or worrying less about insulin reactions.
Some people like to say they wear their "heart on their sleeve,” but I like to say that I wear my "pancreas on my waistband." Pump therapy has truly become a part of me and has changed my life for the best.
Adele Morgan, Country Singer/Songwriter
To find out if intensive diabetes management using insulin pump therapy and frequent blood sugar monitoring is right for you, call 1-866-948-6633 (toll-free) for a referral to a diabetes specialist.
