Ad hoc

Talking about pump therapy, of course, it was crucial to ensure, that Emilie herself was in fact interested in this kind of therapy at all … Therefore, at an early stage, we had told her that this alternative method to treat diabetes did exist. We told her about the implications – among other things the need to be physically connected to the device 24 hours a day – but of course, we did also put a certain weight to the fact that she did not have to take injections several times a day.

From the first time we told her - when she was around seven years old - she was very motivated to try it. During the whole process we have been testing this attitude because to us it is evident that without a positive attitude – well, without a pronounced wish – from the child who has to carry the pump on her body every day, pump therapy in children is not an option.

Of course, you have to inform the child, that the option exists and tell her about the implications. But in our opinion, you have to avoid any kind of persuasion. At some clinics, you might be lucky that your child observes other children using the pump and thereby get the idea herself. That situation is in fact the case at ‘our’ clinic now, but we had to start from scratch. Emilie was the first child ever to get an insulin pump in Denmark. She had no ‘real life’ role models to copy.

While struggling against the resistance from the establishment and the authorities and ensuring the motivation from Emilie, we encountered – surprisingly – scepticism from a most unexpected side: Other parents to children with diabetes …

Some showed a vague and sceptical interest, but we talked to several parents who directly accused us of wanting to conduct experiments on our own child and to stigmatise her because she would have to permanently carry a sign of her diabetes: The insulin pump with its tubing and needle.

These accusations were a bit of a shock and led to heated discussions. To put it mildly, we did not agree. What had we been doing for five years? Living with diabetes, in our opinion, is an everyday experiment, no matter what regimen. But to us the conventional pen based regimen was an experiment we had to conduct blindfolded and wearing boxing gloves. We clearly had the belief that the pump would give us a much better tool for this experiment. We did not know for sure, but we were determined to try it.

This is the sixth post in a series - read the first post here.

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