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Kennedy, 8, Wisconsin Kennedy has had diabetes since she was 8 months old. She started on the pump when she was four-and-a-half. Kennedy's mom, Denise, sees both the ups and downs of the pump. "My daughter has more flexibility over eating when she wants," she says. "My husband and I used to literally 'force' her to eat because the insulin was peaking, her blood sugars were dropping, and she didn't want to eat!"
On the other hand, Kennedy's body is so small that Denise says she's running out of places to put the pump. "We rotate from the arms to the belly, but her body has developed so much scar tissue that when we insert her new infusion site, we may or may not hit scar tissue...it is hard to tell. If we hit the tissue, the insulin is not absorbed and within two to three hours her blood sugars will go into the 200-300's. It's frustrating...we just hope each time we put it in that, 'We got a good one.'"
Kennedy and her mom shared their story in the Winter 2004 issue of Countdown for Kids magazine.
