Customer Testimonials
The following stories tell 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.
Left to right: Amy, Spencer Bolesta, Adele Morgan, Scott Dunton
“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.” Read more…
Adele Morgan – Country Singer/Songwriter
“My entire world changed as a young adult when I found out I had diabetes. I was only sixteen at the time leading a very active life outside of school and spending most of my time water surfing or playing water polo. When I found out I had diabetes, I was concerned not only for my health, but also worried about how this would affect me as a teenager and as an athlete. What would all my friends think and would this ruin my dreams of becoming a professional surfer?” Read more…
Scott Dunton – World Class Surfer
“As a 51 year old with type 1 diabetes, I've never felt healthier or more on top of my game. I'm a high school teacher who hasn't missed a day of school in 4 years or a day of work before being a teacher in 10 years. I enjoy an active lifestyle that includes tennis, golf, dancing and long-distance bike rides. I think that's quite remarkable when you consider that I've had diabetes for 31 years.” Read more…
Spencer Bolesta – 21-year MiniMed insulin pump user
“Wearing an insulin pump has allowed me to live the life I want to live, something that I couldn't do for the first 24 years that I had diabetes. Diagnosed when I was 18, I grew accustomed to a strict schedule of eating and giving myself insulin shots, which affected my entire family. If I had to eat at 6:00 p.m., my entire family did as well. We had absolutely no flexibility!” Read more…
Eric – Kodiak, AK
“Next week, I will celebrate my two-year anniversary with my MiniMed Paradigm pump. I want to send my thanks to all of you at Medtronic who were involved in the development of this wonderful technology. Thank you for enabling me to avoid daily shots, for A1Cs consistently below 6.2, and for the ability to enjoy some of my favorite treats. In a way, I'm thanking you for giving me my life back.” Read more…
Amy – Tampa, FL
“As a diabetic for 18 years, I grew accustomed to always planning and anticipating what could go wrong. I was of the mindset that diabetes is a moment-by-moment, day-by-day condition and I had learned to live my life that way. I still remember one of my first education sessions as a new diabetic. They told us that we couldn't do anything spontaneousÖunless, of course, we planned for it.” Read more…
Dan – Boxford, MA
“I was six years old when I was first diagnosed with diabetes. In some ways, I think I'm fortunate to have been diagnosed at that age. That's because I don't really remember what life was like before diabetes. Once diagnosed, I began treating my diabetes with insulin shots, which, in the beginning, didn't bother me—it was the fingerstick testing that I didn't like.” Read more…
Alexandra – Marina Del Rey, CA
“We are the parents of three adult diabetic children who all wear the Medtronic Diabetes insulin pumps. Our daughter, Hillary, was diagnosed in 1991, and our youngest son, Jeremy, was diagnosed in 1994. Heath, our oldest son was involved in the care of his sister and brother. On April 27th of 2005, Heath was newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. As parents we felt despair, but this time we knew that he could also have a better life with an insulin pump, as we have seen the difference that the insulin pump has made in the lives of our other two children.” Read more..
The Turnage family – Hartsville, SC
“My father has been a type1 diabetic since he was 10. Almost a year after I started insulin pump therapy, he joined me in getting a Medtronic Diabetes insulin pump, and he's in the best health of his life.” Read more…
Angie and her father Lee – Orlando, FL
Share Your Story
Every month we receive many emails from people who are thinking of starting pump therapy, who have just started it, from long-time veterans and from people who have a relative or friend with diabetes. For the people at Medtronic Diabetes these comments are better than any other reward they could receive for their work. Please let us know what you think and share your story with us.
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.
