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You wouldn't know by looking, but the little girl in this picture doesn't have a working pancreas. She was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes at age 3. Her body doesn't produce insulin, which means she has to receive it from either hundreds of injections or with the use of an insulin pump. This little girl grew up to be a woman who never let diabetes stop her from doing what she wanted. She has lived an amazing life and has continued to be an active member in the Diabetes community. She, with the help of her incredible family and friends, have raised tens of thousands of dollars to help people with Diabetes, and now, she is in need of the help. You probably already guessed... this little girl is me! On October 22nd, my insulin pump stopped working. This resulted in days of being on the phone with doctors, insurance, pump suppliers, etc. It wasn't a huge surprise to find out that my insurance doesn't cover the insulin pump that would basically be acting as an external pancreas (it communicates via Bluetooth with my continuous glucose monitor and makes decisions without needing my input). But what DID surprise me was when I wasn't even able to get the upgraded version of the pump I already have (and have had for decades). After many conversations with doctors and family, as well as quite a bit of research, I've decided to try to raise the money for this incredible pump... without the help of my insurance. The pump company, Tandem, recognizes that this is a life saving device and understands that people who have my insurance can't get this device. They have made a deal that if paid in cash, it will "only" cost about $4,300. So here we are. I have confirmed that my insurance will cover the monthly supplies necessary for upkeep of using this pump, so all I need to do now, is raise the funds. Please consider donating anything you can, as well as sharing this story everywhere you can. I'm currently using an emergency/temporary pump, and it has a limited run time, so there's a little bit of a time crunch. Thank you in advance for any help that you can give!