PUMP!!!

Emily and her dad went to the pump class in February...wait...let me back this up.

When she was dx last June, we were told she had to wait 6 months to get a pump. This is bullshit. Since then, I've connected with other parents of diabetic children who tell me their child left the hospital with one. That wasn't a doctor rule, that was an insurance rule. 

In December, we started inquiring...it had been six months. She had an endo appt. in January. They also told us that the 6 month rule was bogus. (If you know anything of her struggles with this damned disease, you'll know why I'm pissed off.)  Her dad took her to the pump info class in February. We had a pump selected. They needed 30 days of blood sugar logs...and then she went into the hospital. We'll call March a wash. But somewhere in there, I managed to send those logs to the pump company who then tells us that the insurance wants 30 MORE days...because they aren't sure if she's diabetic??? WTF...So...I send the 30 more days

THEN...the insurance denies it b/c they won't buy it directly through the company. We had to go through their distributor. So....they call me.

 That  rep calls back for my payment info. Um...no. Long insurance story short, it should have been covered 100%. I tell her how to fix this. She grumps about it, tells me she'll call on Monday. On Tuesday, I called her, she said "oh, they won't accept it." So, I told her to have a nice day, I'd be taking my business elsewhere. (She was wrong BTW...they could have and should have fixed this. She was lazy and didn't want to do her job.)

I filled out the paperwork for the 2nd choice pump. Within 24 hours, the rep was calling me. Told me the insurance issue would not be an issue. She emailed me files that I needed to return. I did. Within 48 hours...the pump is being shipped. (and covered 100%) Medtronic has excellent customer service. Excellent.

Emily has a saline class to learn to use it on May 10. She has to go back after that to do the insulin class. As she's been running over 400 all week with high ketones... I'm ready to do this. I think she needs continuous short acting insulin. I'm very excited.  I hope that a continuous glucose monitor will be her next step. 

The Sloths are Stepping Out

As most of you know, my daughter, Emily, was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in June of this year. She was exhibiting some classic symptoms (which I'll list below) and would not register a blood sugar on the home meter that I had. I took her to the ER -her blood sugar reading was 866.  (For reference, her target range is 70-120.) She spent three days in the hospital getting her sugars under control, but came out like a champ. I won't say it wasn't stressful or upsetting, but we had the "benefit" of experience. Her dad was diagnosed type 1 at age 19 - a few months after we were married - and while she doesn't live with him full time, she has grown up around injections and finger pokes her whole life. But she took it all in - starting with poking her own finger for blood sugars the first day and giving herself her own injections by day two. She's really done remarkably well.

However, just because she's doing so well, doesn't mean that we're not going to fight back. One of the ways we're doing that is by supporting the American Diabetes Association in their quest to explore better treatment options and to hopefully, someday, find a cure.

Emily will be taking part in the Step Out: Walk to Stop Diabetes on October 7th in Champaign. She set her goal at $200 - and because we are lucky to have such wonderful friends and family, she's long since surpassed that goal (at $330 at the time of this writing.) But we'd love to keep going.  Any donation is acceptable $1 or $100 - it all helps. And if you can't donate at this time, would you mind showing your support by wearing red on October 7th? You can send me your red shirt pictures at crystal3x2001@gmail.com (or you can text them to me if you have my number ;-) ) and I'll include them in my blog post about the walk!

Stop by Emily's Team Page and show your support!  Thank you! And thank you to all who have supported her so far! It really does mean a lot to all of us.

From the ADA:

Diabetes often goes undiagnosed because many of its symptoms seem so harmless.

Recent studies indicate that the early detection of diabetes symptoms and treatment can decrease the chance of developing the complications of diabetes.

Type 1 Diabetes

• Frequent urination
• Unusual thirst
• Extreme hunger
• Unusual weight loss
• Extreme fatigue and Irritability

Type 2 Diabetes

• Any of the type 1 symptoms
• Frequent infections
• Blurred vision
• Cuts/bruises that are slow to heal
• Tingling/numbness in the hands/feet
• Recurring skin, gum, or bladder infections

If you have one or more of these diabetes symptoms, see your doctor right away.