4/5/04 Since her diagnosis with Type I diabetes in 1978, 30-year-old Angela Ente has never been content to merely cope with her condition.

On September 6, 2002, after more than 25 years of participating in tests and lab work, the Lompoc resident became one of six people in the nation to receive an artificial pancreas, thanks to the medical team at the Sansum Research Clinic in Santa Barbara.

Earlier this month Ente addressed a special congressional caucus in Washington D.C., thanking them for the financial resources that have made such medical advances possible.

"I was there to show Congress that all of their support had finally come to a head," she said. "I am the reality of their funding, the 'golden egg' so to speak."

Ente no longer needs needles or an external insulin pump to receive insulin. She has a personal pump communicator operates an insulin pump implanted in her abdomen. The system is still in the experimental stage.

Being on the cutting edge of medical research was something of a "right place, right time" opening, which Ente was quick to seize. For five years she has participated in various studies with Sansum, allowing the doctors to become familiar with her history of diabetes. After hearing about the development of an artificial pancreas at the clinic, Ente was quick to offer herself as a "compliant patient." A few weeks later one of the doctors called.

"They asked if I had been serious," she said. "I told them that I was. Then they were like, 'Because we'd like to offer it to you,' and of course I was ecstatic. They sat me down and told me all the risks but I had already made my mind."

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Unlike Type II diabetes, which accounts for around 90 percent of cases and is usually non-insulin dependent, Type I can only be managed with daily doses of insulin from an outside source in order for the diabetic to function and survive.

Because of the body's inability to create insulin, most people with Type I diabetes require at least two injections of insulin a day. In addition, close monitoring of the blood sugar is required to keep the insulin at a near-normal level.

"Prior to receiving the artificial pancreas, I was having to test my blood sugars up to 10 times a day," said Ente. "Any time I ate, I needed to check my blood sugar -- even for a pretzel. I've lived with diabetes for 26 years and the psychological dynamic of a Type I is rough. You're always reminded of having it because this is a condition you continually have to stay on top of."

These days she can put her health concerns on a back burner while focusing on more immediate goals. For Ente this includes getting into the Santa Barbara City College's nursing program and more importantly, enjoying life with a new husband. On April 26 she celebrates her first wedding anniversary with Lompoc neurologist Dr. Phil Ente.

Although life has taken an upward swing, Ente isn't forgetting what the long battle with Type I diabetes has taught her.

"I've traveled all over California giving talks at children's hospitals and family groups," said Ente, who hopes to eventually become a Certified Diabetic Educator.

"Diabetes is America's third leading fatal disease after cancer and heart disease and a leading cause of blindness and kidney-failure. Beyond that, people often lose sight of the fact that living with Type I diabetes is a major challenge. Anything that reduces insulin injections per day and allows for tighter blood-sugar control is something of a cure.

"I'd like to be out there, teaching people how to manage diabetes and let them know what their options are."