Short on Test Strips......Again

I use an overwhelming amount of glucose test strips each month. I have insurance yet I always manage to run out before I can get my script renewed each month. I'm forced to pay out of pocket for a box every month. I had been buying one touch ultra brand (my main meter brand), but a few times resorted to buying the much less expensive Reli-on (Wal-mart brand). Lately I've heard many stories from fellow diabetics who live this way. Being in fear of running low on test strips is a constant discussion on diabetes forums. I almost feel guilty at times when I go to pick up my strips because many times it hasn't even been the full 30 days before I need to get my strips refilled. I ask the lady at the pharmacy if they can run it and see if insurance will pay it or is it too soon to get refilled. If it's too soon, then I have to pay for more on my dime. What gets me is the high expense for these little things. It must not cost much to produce them so why are they so high? Around 55.00 for 50 One Touch Ultra vs. around 23.00 for the cheaper reli-on brand. Recently I decided to shop around so I went in a small mom and pop pharmacy to see if they had any alternatives. They had some meter called the Tru-Track. Meter was very cheap and the strips were right around the same price as Wal-Mart reli-on. My problem with these as well as the reli on is they are not pc-compatible. There is no cable hook up with them to download/upload my numbers and that's a problem. My endocrinologist takes my One Touch Meter and downloads my test results every time I go in for an appointment. She would not like it if I was to hand her a reli on meter which has no capability to download my averages/results/basal patterns and so on.

Even though I have been able so far to buy the brand name strips, I know soon something's gotta give and I am going to have to find a way to

• test less or
  
• start buying the less expensive brand

This is one major reason I was interested in the CGMS system. But if I go that route, the sensors will maybe be paid by insurance but I'm pretty sure I would be responsible for 20 % of the cost. I need to ask about how much the sensors would cost me. It seems to be so hard to test less so I don't think that is a viable option for me. I'm on the pump and must check at least 10 times a day.

Continuous Glucose Monitoring System (CGMS)

I wonder if the continuous glucose monitoring system would help me get a better handle on my numbers and overall health. I am a member of TU diabetes and there is much discussion going on over there about CGMS. I do have quite a bit of lows and highs. My numbers seem to swing back and forth quite often. Just like this morning, I went to bed at 128 and woke with 304. I hadn't eaten anything and just when I was beginning to think the dawn phenomenon had reared it's ugly head, I found out my infusion set had a air bubble in it. Changed that out and around an hour later I was at 210. My numbers have been pretty good today and I'm so glad. I am not sure my insurance would cover CGMS, I am going to talk about how it would benefit me when I see my Endo next month. There is the dexcom, navigator and another brand of CGMS that I can't recall right now. There are 2 issues that might keep me from getting one of these neat little gadgets:

• Seems that many have seen discrepancies in their numbers . The CGMS may read 80 and the glucose monitor they have might read 140. Calibration must be done but I wonder if I would get a "low" alert in the middle of the night when I truly wasn't low.
• Being on the pump now, I really don't like the idea of getting hooked up to another gadget :) If it would help me tremendously that would be a moot issue though.
  

My Blessing in Disguise

I had been due for a new insulin pump since last fall but approval was rejected by my insurance.
I just couldn't understand why this was happening to me. It's hard enough to live with
diabetes without your insurance company fighting you over what you KNOW you must have to control it. I was angry, yet it seemed there was nothing I could do. I had hit a brick wall in dealing with these people (insurance company) and the pump company I was trying to get a new pump through had had no better luck with them either. No matter that we had the letter of medical necessity and all the other paperwork we were told to get to them. Finally I just threw my hands up and said to myself that I would just leave it in God's hands and if I don't get a pump then so be it. If something happens to mine that is out of warranty, I would just have to go back to injections of humalog and lantus. Now I didn't want to do this because the shots I didn't mind, it's just that multiple daily injections did NOT control my diabetes like the insulin pump did.
Fast forward to August of this year. I had my endocrinologist appointment and was asked if I had a new pump yet. I once again told the story to my doctor about being denied one by our insurance and he said that he would take care of things. Within 2 days I received a call from Animas and was told that they were going to be faxing the forms for me to fill out. I got that done the same day. Within a week I was told the good news that I had finally been approved for my new pump.

There is a moral to this story. Had I been approved for a new pump last fall, I would have not been able to get the new "One Touch Ping" insulin pump from Animas. This pump only was only released to the public this year and only started shipping in mid August. So sometimes when it seems like all we have in front of us is obstacles that keep us from what we think we need, it is really just a blessing in disguise. I am living proof :)