Johnson and Johnson 2008 Annual Report Download - page 19

17
DIABETES REMOTELY
    
Also in 2008, LifeScan acquired Children with Diabetes, Inc.
(www.childrenwithdiabetes.com), a respected online
community that oers science-based education and friend-
ships, and also sponsors family conferences. A Spanish-language
diabetes website, Diabetes Juvenil (www.diabetesjuvenil.com),
joined Children with Diabetes (CWD) in October 2008.
Diabetes Juvenil is one of the biggest online communities for
Spanish-speaking families living with type 1 diabetes. Together,
CWD and Diabetes Juvenil can help meet the needs of families
aected by diabetes around the world.
 Diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age 5, Madi
felt embarrassed pulling out needles in public, and the welts from
the multiple injections hurt when she danced and played roller
hockey. At age 7 she switched to an® insulin pump,
which delivered insulin through a small tube attached to her body.
After checking her blood glucose level, Madi would make
a quick calculation to determine her insulin needs, then press
a few buttons on her pump to send the appropriate amount of
insulin. “It made my life so much easier,” she says.
Managing her diabetes became easier still with the
® ™ glucose management system. Now, Madi
doesn’t have to touch her pump all day. Instead, the wireless
meter-remote sends a signal to the pump to deliver her insulin.
“I like to wear dresses, and that way I can take my insulin with a
ladylike composure,” Madi says.
In school she unzips her pink purse, pulls out her meter-remote
—which looks like a cell phone—and checks her blood glucose
level. After Madi makes a few calculations, her meter-remote can
instruct the pump concealed under her clothes to deliver insulin.
Not even the girls at her table notice. In less than a minute,
Madi is back to her lesson. “It’s really easy,” the eighth grader says.
It also works for her active lifestyle. Madi often needs insulin
during roller hockey games or when she sings and dances in
shows, and she no longer has to access the pump secured under
her uniform or costume. Some days she wears her pink pump on
her belt loop. “It matches all my outfits,” she says with a smile.
Madi is passionate about helping other kids with diabetes.
An advocate for the American Diabetes Association (ADA),
Madi organizes skating fundraisers at her local rink and creates
colorful journals to sell. The captain of her own ADA walk team,
Madison’s Prayer, she is one of the biggest child fundraisers and
raised $10,000 in 2007. Madi also visits children newly
diagnosed with diabetes to share her story and deliver bags that
she decorates and fills with gifts and information.
“I made a promise that I’m going to help them,” she says.
“My dream is finding a cure, and I’m doing everything in my
power to help.”
Madi discreetly manages her diabetes and doesn’t let it get in the way of being an active teenager.
“I can reassure kids that everything is going to be OK because people would never think of me as, ‘Oh, she has diabetes.’
People say, ‘Wow, she’s so active.’ That’s the message I want to get out: You can live the same lifestyle that you did before.”