Alyssa, the cute little girl in pink was iPump's first client in 2006!

In 2006, when Alyssa (bottom, center) was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of three, her family reached out to iPump for support. And we reached back. Today, the Gatewood family is highly active in the diabetes community not just getting the word out that we need a cure - but actually regularly fundraising to find one!

Alyssa was the first child iPump helped and now her family is working hard to help other children with type1 diabetes.

All forms of diabetes can lead to serious complications, such as blindness, kidney damage, cardiovascular disease, and lower-limb amputations, but people with diabetes can lower the occurrence of these and other diabetes complications by controlling blood glucose, blood pressure, and blood lipids.

Many people with type 2 diabetes can control their blood glucose by following a healthy meal plan and exercise program, losing excess weight, and taking oral medication. But all people with type 1 diabetes, like Alyssa, need insulin to live.

About diabetes treatment

To live, people with type 1 diabetes must take insulin by injection (shot) or from an insulin pump.

Among adults with diagnosed diabetes—type 1 or type 2—14 percent take insulin only, 13 percent take both insulin and oral medication, 57 percent take oral medication only, and 16 percent do not take either insulin or oral medication. Medications for each individual with diabetes will often change over the course of the disease.

Many people with diabetes also need to take medications to control their cholesterol and blood pressure.

Self-management education or training is a key step in improving health outcomes and quality of life. It focuses on self-care behaviors, such as healthy eating, being active, and monitoring blood glucose. It is a collaborative process in which diabetes educators help people with or at risk for diabetes gain the knowledge and problem-solving and coping skills needed to successfully self-manage the disease and its related conditions.

Without treatment, a person with diabetes will either develop long-term complications, or, if they are insulin-dependent and do not take enough insulin, will slip into a deadly state called diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA).  Left untreated, a person in DKA will enter into a coma and die.

The only way to know how much insulin a person needs is to test blood sugars,  Without testing supplies, a person with diabetes runs the risk of DKA from taking too little insulin, or death from low blood sugars (hypoglycemia) from taking too much insulin.

Even with testing supplies, a person with diabetes needs syringes (or insulin pump supplies) to administer insulin, and, of course, they also need insulin.

For those who cannot afford their own care and supplies diabetes is a certain death entence.

Diabetes Treatment Options
Among U.S. Adults