Some Interesting Empathy Training

Last weekend both my wife and I wore infusion sets for an insulin pump to see which configuration will be most comfortable for our daughter Ava. For those who don't know, an infusion set is a small needle that gets inserted into the body which then connects to a tube that leads to an insulin pump. When Ava gets her pump, it will be attached to her 24 hours a day to deliver the insulin that will regulate her blood sugar. The pump itself is about the size of a pager -- not so bad for an adult, but for a 2-year-old it's HUGE.

She'll be on the pump for life, or until a cure for diabetes is found. We're all praying for that. By the way the JDRF Walk for A Cure is coming up: please donate if you can. One of my long-time karate training partners is participating in the walk. You can contribute to her walking page here.

Anyway, I wore two types of infusion sets -- one plastic, one metal -- throughout the weekend to get a sense of what wearing one full-time would feel like. It wasn't entirely comfortable, but it wasn't painful, either. In fact, I taught 3 karate classes last Saturday morning while wearing the sets: I was literally a walking pin cushion, but it didn't really affect my performance on the floor. I didn't tell my students what I was up to either, I guess because I wanted to prove to myself that my daughter would not be slowed down by this disease.

And Ava, my little hero, wore a set over the weekend too. She didn't have to, but she asked for it when she saw my wife and I wearing ours. So I imagine Ava's playground roughhousing won't be too interrupted once she's on the pump. But man, did she EVER scream when we took it off.

Such a brave little trooper!