Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
(2 Corinthians 12)
This month (July) marks a year since I started on insulin pump therapy for Type 1 Diabetes, after giving myself about 60,000 injections over 40 years. I can’t believe how quickly that time has gone. The pump therapy involves putting an insulin-filled pod onto my body every three days, which receives signals from a sensor on my arm (itself replaced every 14 days) and they both “speak” to an insulin controller in the shape of a mobile phone. In the USA they apparently can use a normal phone app but we don’t have that in the UK yet. Even so, it’s all clever stuff and a seismic change from the lifetime of injections I gave before.
Here are three brief thoughts about my experience these past 12 months:-
I have an easier lifestyle
I remember being rigged up to an insulin infusion IV drip in hospital many years ago and thinking how good it would be if something like that happened all the time instead of the horrendous and never ending injections I gave myself. The insulin pump therapy has given exactly that. There’s no doubt that it has helped me feel more “normal” in regards to having an easier pace of life, just infusing extra insulin for meals without the rigmarole of blood tests and injections. I LOVE being able to go to bed without having to stay up for my night time injection. Apart from some tablets I take, I can just get into bed and sleep.
I still have diabetes
Although the pump system is user friendly and gives a sense of normality – the fact is I still have diabetes. I get high and low sugar levels if my carb intake is more than anticipated or I do exercise without remembering to hit an ‘exercise’ button on the insulin controller (which takes an hour to work, so that can be a challenge for spontaneous activity). The pod can be a little cumbersome and I have to remind my little boy to be careful when he is jumping on me for a play fight (which he does constantly). It can also malfunction occasionally, which can cause a level of anxiety.
It’s definitely a step in the right direction though.
I feel more hopeful
I think that to receive groundbreaking technology after so many years of suffering has really brought a sense of hope for further innovations. As a Christian, my hope is in God himself for all my needs. And I am grateful that He uses these gadgets to keep me in a state of good health whilst I remain in my earthly body. It’s also a good thing when I have times of weakness when sugars swing up or down because I am in good company – the apostle Paul himself boasted of his weaknesses so that God’s strength could be glorified in him! That is my aim too. My wife told me recently, “You have no muscles.” And she’s right (more exercise needed!) – I am an incredibly weak man in all respects. But one thing I do know – and I know this stubbornly, resolutely and with a sense of sheer resilience – is that Christ’s strength and power overlay me. He is strong and he lives with me. I rely on Him and He always shows His power when it’s needed.
So… my verdict on the insulin pump is that it’s the way forward until something better comes along and definitely gives a better, though not perfect, lifestyle without constant injections.
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