Only a couple of decades ago, daily shots were the only way to control diabetes. Now kids and adults are favoring the insulin pump over traditional injections.

While the pumps have been around since the early '60s, they are more popular now because they are smaller -- about the size of a beeper -- and have digital controls.

The pump has changed the lives of thousands of kids with juvenile -- or Type 1 -- diabetes. Type 1 occurs suddenly and makes the individual insulin dependent for life. According to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, each year 13,000 children are diagnosed with Type 1. Type 2 diabetes usually develops in adults and can be controlled with oral medication.

Y-Press recently interviewed Eric Lucht, 12, of Indianapolis, Molly Tschuor, 14, of Yorktown and Kyle Lushell, 11 of Carmel. All were diagnosed with juvenile diabetes and use insulin pumps.

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disorder that destroys insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. Insulin is needed to metabolize the glucose in foods. Without insulin, the body cannot turn food into energy.

"The pancreas is not making any more insulin, and insulin is what goes into your bloodstream and lets the sugar go into your cells," said Eric, a student at Heritage Christian School.

Type 1 diabetics must receive insulin, either through daily injections or through a pump, which injects small amounts of insulin throughout the day. The pump's reservoir can hold about three days' worth of insulin. A tube carries the insulin into the body.

"You can inject the needle like in your hip, your stomach, or sometimes your leg," Eric said.

The pump can be uncomfortable at first, said Molly, a freshman at Yorktown High School.

Kyle, who had had his pump only a few weeks, agreed: "It hurts when I put my pump in, but my mom said that it's because of the thought of it going in."

Eric, Molly, and Kyle -- a fifth-grader at St. Maria Goretti School -- developed diabetes in elementary school. While Type 1 often develops during childhood, it may occur at any age. Researchers have found some genetic locations related to Type 1, but genetics cannot fully explain how diabetes develops.

All three were shocked to find out they had diabetes.

"I went to the doctor, and I thought I had the flu," Molly said. "My doctor said something was wrong. And then I went to the hospital, and that's when they told me I had diabetes, and I didn't know what it was."

Kyle was also shocked and confused when he was diagnosed.

"I thought it was a little sickness that would like go away in like two days or something. But then when I found out I had to take shots and stuff, I thought it was the worst thing in the world."

Their parents played a major role in how they responded.

"When I was diagnosed, my dad started to cry a little bit, and that really scared me," Eric said. "It was just really bad because I had never seen my dad cry before, and he did. I was really scared. And the next day . . . I only spent 10 minutes at home, and I just was always at doctors and dietitians. It was scary."

At the start, Molly, Eric, Kyle and their families were scared and uninformed about the disease.

"I don't really know how my parents were when I was diagnosed because I was too busy thinking, 'What is diabetes?' " Kyle said.

"My mom just flipped out, so I thought it was like I'm gonna die or something," Molly said.

Juvenile diabetes is not fatal, but there can be life-threatening complications if it is not controlled.

Many people do not understand diabetes. Molly, Eric and Kyle all have encountered people who make false assumptions.

"When I was in the hospital," Molly said, "my cousins came to visit me, and they were scared of me and they wouldn't come near me. They stood at the door and cried because they thought it was contagious. But once I got home, they came around me and they finally understood what it was."

Diabetes prevented Kyle from getting a brownie from a classmate.

"They think that I can't have any sugar," Kyle said. "And then they bring in a snack for their birthday at my school, and when they're eating brownies, they like give me a banana. I just say, 'Thanks.' "

Eric has had to deal with misconceptions, too.

"There was a girl when I was at my old school. We were getting back from a field trip, and I guess she didn't know that it wasn't contagious, and she was like moving and somebody behind her says, 'Go,' and she goes, 'Don't push me into diabetes boy.' I'm like, 'It's not contagious,' and then she goes, 'Oh, sorry.' It made me feel bad."

Molly had a similar experience.

"When I first went back to school (after my diagnosis), a boy on my bus said that I was gonna die because I had diabetes," she said. "I just kind of laughed at him because I knew I wasn't gonna die."

But Molly, Eric and Kyle must work hard to stay healthy. While the pump supplies them with insulin, they need to tell it how much to deliver. To do that, they must track the carbohydrates they eat and check their blood sugar at least four times a day.

While they can eat what they want and even skip a meal, they must adjust their insulin dose accordingly. Exercise also is a factor, because it makes the insulin in the body more efficient.

"When I eat, I have to look at labels and look for the carb count. I have to know how much insulin to dial up (on the pump). Sometimes I'll forget, and my blood sugar will go up to like 500, and then my parents will say, 'OK, what'd you do?' " said Eric.

Considering the difficulties, diabetes has had at least one positive side effect for Molly.

"My parents think I'm more responsible since I do take care of myself," she said. "It kind of makes me feel more responsible because I have more control over it. It makes you feel, I don't know, more grown up."

ASSISTANT EDITOR: Lisa O'Connor, 14.

REPORTER: David Baumann, 12.