On the Hamster Wheel Again

We are fortunate that on most days Diabetes is just an inconvenience. To be frank it's a huge pain in the rear. There is the endless poking of the fingers to do blood sugar checks, site changes, etc. However, for the most part we go on with our lives. That's not to say that it isn't a constant cause for worry or stress. But we deal.

Than there are days or weeks that Diabetes suddenly rears its ugly head and causes us trouble. This week was one of them. It first started with our interest in a CGMS (continuous glucose monitoring system). This device would check AJ's blood sugar (kind of... I won't bore you with the actual medical mumbo jumbo) every 5 minutes to show us if he is heading up or down. We would still have to perform regular finger checks to confirm what we see and to calibrate the machine. Why bother then? Well because it can show you things that you might not otherwise see. When we check AJ now we only know the # we get; is he high, low or okay? What we don't know is where he is heading. The CGMS can be a very effective tool. The reason we haven't done it before now is that it requires a separate site to be worn. Here's what the CGMS and pump combo looks like:

There was talk that they would somehow integrate it with his pump site but that doesn't appear to be happening. He has been dealing a lot better with his pump site changes but certainly doesn't love them. So do we really want to subject him to that?

Of course, another concern is the cost. This is where I turn into the hamster running on the wheel. I called the company that we would order the device from to see if they knew how much it would cost and if our insurance would cover it. Not so simple. In order to find this out I have to call the doctor's office so they can fax a letter of medical necessity over to the insurance company. Now right there I have to laugh. The doctor basically needs to stretch the truth and state that AJ is "uncontrolled" and that he needs the device. I suppose this "uncontrolled" diabetes will be the reasoning why he will never be able to get life insurance. But I digress. I had the endo's office fax over the ppw. Then the insurance company will get in touch with the company. And the company will get in touch with me. Weeks of spinning on a wheel just to find out how much the thing will cost us! Because we're still not sure we are going to get it!

To top things off both kiddos have had a cold. AJ's must be getting worse. All night his numbers were very high. This morning I checked him and it was way too high. Even worse he had ketones. So we haven't left the house. He's been a tinkle machine all day because of all the liquid I'm pumping into him. And we are all a little more than cranky. Although, I guess if we were going to hibernate a rainy day is the perfect day to do it:)

REQUEST FOR CGMS: DENIED BY INSURANCE

Check out this blog about the day.
For those that don't know what a Continuous Glucose Monitoring System is I'll try to give you a quick explanation. It continuously monitors a diabetic's blood sugar levels. It is great for being able to watch trends and see if the person is heading high or low. It is also an invaluable tool for parents to monitor their little one overnight... if the child is heading low an alarm sounds.
We are fortunate that our insurance will cover the device (although it will still cost a bundle). We plan to have AJ set up with it sooner than later. However, this is an invaluable tool that should be covered for everyone. To me this is kind of like insurance companies not covering birth control pills yet they would have to pay for prenatal care, maternity care and another dependent. If a diabetic isn't offered appropriate tools for self monitoring then down the road the insurance company may need to pay for a variety of medical services for such things as kidney damage, nerve damage, eye problems, etc. Anyway, we stand by all those fighting the good fight!!