Land of Lincoln Health Insurance and their inability to assist me

Dear Land Of Lincoln Health ( https://www.landoflincolnhealth.org/ )

     Why are you making things so difficult?  My endo and I have been trying for a month to get a co-pay tier over ride accomplished because I am allergic to your preferred insulin Novolog. Your pharmacy services company, Catamaran, told me that you would have no other choice but to cover my insulin at the preferred copay rate because of this allergy I developed while trying to conform to your demands in regards to my fast acting insulin choice.

     For a month I have made phone calls, waited on hold for 30 minutes or more, gotten the wrong information over 6 times, been transferred, been told to call a different number, been told to have my Endo's team call two different numbers, my Endo's RN has left numerous messages to have a supervisor call and yet you can SEE that they are suppose to call back in my patient account and YET NO ACTION has been taken?  Why?  WHY are you getting paid to serve the people who pay for their health insurance and yet no action has been taken at all?  WHY can no one call my Endo's office back, YOU HAVE the phone number in my file, you can SEE that you are suppose to call her back and still NOTHING, NADA, ZERO, ZILTCH!

    COME ON Land of Lincoln Health Insurance Company do your JOB!  I pay $100.00 per week which is 100% from my income, no government subsidies here, to have this crappy coverage for my family!  How about you pick up the phone and get this situation cleared up?

Sincerely,

Your paying customer

Pump peelz made me some custom labels!

Scott at Pump Peelz made me a custom sticker for my Dexcom and my Verio meter with the logo my brother in law created for me! I have to take a pic yet of the Verio. 

Its awesome, I love it! 

The perfect storm

The perfect storm. 

Today low, low, low up until I ate lunch. I was low so I decided to delay taking insulin. Yeah dumb idea.  I get busy at work and forget to take insulin. 

I apparently have this awesome ability to forget my pancreas DOESN'T work. 

Then all of the sudden we have a ton of customers, still forgetting to take insulin and Dex decides that after nearly four weeks its gonna go all awall on me with the ??? reading for a majority of the afternoon. 

My head is just a thumpin away and I keep briefly thinking, man my head hurts. Again too busy at work to really think about it. Annnd Im really thirsty....still ignoring it. 

I'm getting ready to head home finally at 6:00 pm check my bg because now I have cotton mouth, like I seriously just chewed up and ate 20 cotton balls. 306. Yep 306. Again I'm just that awesome. 

This is why every single person with a broken pancreas should be ABLE to have a CGM! Life is busy, work is busy, kids make you mostly unable to even think about your own issues/health/anything. Diabetes isn't something to ignore yet when a person is really busy you can forget. I did forget. Now I'm feeling really sick, head is killing me, my stomach is yucky, and I'm waiting for my bg to come back down. I even forgot to bolus for my supper. 

Again I'm just that awesome. Jeeesh.

I hate it when my blood sugar creeps up, Dex isn't working and I'm too busy to notice. 

This is why my Dexcom is such a valuable tool that I must always use.  I have a new Dexcom sensor on and calibration will be ready at 930. I had my husband do the opsite tape under and over top the sensor. Lets see how long I can push this sensor accuracy. ;-) 

Why wear a Dexcom CGM vs finger sticks?

A popular question I see in support groups is why do we wear a cgm, what are the benefits?

There are so many benefits to wearing a Dexcom CGM for me that I cannot even begin to list them all.  The benefits to wearing a CGM, continuous glucose monitor, are just endless.

A very good place to start reading is here: http://www.dexcom.com/continuous-glucose-monitoring

Think of looking out a big picture window, you want to be able to see out the entire window right?  Now imagine poking your finger 5-10 times a day.  I want you to black out that big window with paper and cut how ever many holes in the paper that you poke your finger.  That is what you get to see about your Diabetes everyday.  You want to see the whole picture now don't you?

Now take all the paper off the window so you can see the whole picture again.  That is what it is like to wear a Dexcom or any brand CGM.  Your diabetes didn't go away in between times you checked your blood sugar did it?  No, of course not.  You have no idea what your blood sugar does after you eat, when you are sleeping, while you are driving and you have no idea weather it is going, up, down, steady, rising quickly, or dropping quickly.  These are all things you need to know when you have Type 1 Diabetes or are taking insulin.

I have worn my Dexcom for four years every single day.  That is 1,460 days of wearing a Dexcom 24/7/365 and there is no way I will stop wearing it.  For me personally the data is priceless, it helps guide me in my journey with type 1 Diabetes.

I call my Dexcom my flashlight in the long dark tunnel of Diabetes.  There are no substitutes and there are no other better tools for me to use at this time in the tool bag of Diabetes care.

A person can be battling their A1C and with finger sticks they look perfect but then they wear a Dexcom and find out that in between their blood sugar is way out of where they thought it was.


A CGM can help you obtain better management and help you to live a longer life with less complications.  Diabetes management takes a lot of time in our lives and a lot of thinking and guessing carb content.  A lot of times ours carb counts are wrong and that is why you need a CGM to tell you that you were wrong and help you do something about it before it becomes an issue.

What foods do you wish you could eat again with Type 1 Diabetes?

Foods I miss eating with no worry or regret of what will happen to my bloodsugar or the impossible battle afterward:

• Pizza
• Pancakes
• Donuts
• Cake
• Pie
• Cookies
• Chocolate
• Belgium Waffles
• Bread
• Bread
• Did I mention BREAD, WHITE BREAD?  My grandma would say the whiter the bread, the sooner you're dead (because me and my siblings are all type 1)
• Chinese Food
• Rice
• Ice Cream
• Milkshakes
• Pasta
• Cereal
• Snacking on anything without weighing it or worrying about how much I ate
• Potatos of any kind

I swear Diabetes gives all of us an eating disorder....If I am not worried about how much food I am eating or how many carbs it has I am worried about my carb calculations, what will my blood sugar do after I eat this, going high afterward, going low afterward, feeling like dog crap afterward, wanting to sleep because my blood sugar went too high, feeling more hungry BECAUSE I went high, it all just makes life all the more difficult.  So much information to process non stop, its no wonder I cannot remember anything.  I cant imagine what I would do with all the extra space in my brain and less time consumed thinking about Diabetes and food.

During all of this I am incredibly thankful for my Dexcom because without it I swear my life would be so much more complicated.  I cannot even stand to go one day without my Dexcom data.

Why the lack of support for people with Diabetes?

It is 2015, each and every year I am shocked at the lack of support many of us with Diabetes, in any form, do not get.  The medical field still doesn't have it right, they still don't test for it like they should and they are still telling people with type 2 Diabetes to test once a day or once a week or some terribly small number.

People are being misdiagnosed as type 2 all the time.  I read about it nonstop in groups.  What about all the people who are not in support groups, trust their doctors and go on thinking they are type 2 just because their doctor thinks they are too old to have type 1?

It drives me insane!

Public schools...almost none of them are willing to support the student with type 1 Diabetes, help their parents to have all the information they want to have about their child during the school day and some of them even go as far as to fight the parents about the way they and their doctor want their child's diabetes managed!   THIS IS 2015, this is insane!  Some of these parents even have to get lawyers involved, get the ADA involved, it is just completely insane.

Then there is the lack of support for anyone with Diabetes.  Cancer and Aids get more research, more support and yet Diabetes kills many many more people a year.

Take a survey for JDRF

I got this in my email today and took the survey.                           Would you please take a few minutes of your time to complete the following online survey? Take the survey here: https://isurvey-us.yougov.com/refer/vy5NB14Y9LX8mF?cid=3356692 JDRF has hired McQueen, Mackin & Associates, an independent research company, and YouGov.com to survey our friends to help us be more effective in pursuing our mission: to find a cure for type 1 diabetes (T1D) and its complications through the support of research. The survey will ask you about your insights into T1D as well as your opinions about JDRF, our  mission, and our various programs. https://isurvey-us.yougov.com/refer/vy5NB14Y9LX8mF?cid=3356692 Please take just 15 minutes and help JDRF by completing this online survey. Thank you for everything you do to support JDRF. We are grateful for your partnership. Sincerely, Derek Rapp JDRF President and CEO JDRF Improving Lives. Curing Type 1 Diabetes Take the survey here: https://isurvey-us.yougov.com/refer/vy5NB14Y9LX8mF?cid=3356692 JDRF is the leading global organization funding type 1 diabetes (T1D) research. JDRF’s goal is to progressively remove the impact of T1D from people's lives until we achieve a world without T1D. Connect with JDRF  info@jdrf.org   I   JDRF.org

Tandem Diabetes Care t:slim insulin pump vs. Medtronic Minimed insulin pump --reblogging

This post has been really popular so I thought I would reblog it and make some updates.

I recently got an email from my blog asking for my pros and cons between my new pump and my previous MM pump.  I had the older paradigm pump and not the new Revel, so my comparison may not be as up to date as others. (this review was written by me on 10/24/2013 originally and I do not work for MM or Tandem.  If you read the about me page, you will see that I sell cars. --in response to a rude commenter who cannot even leave their name and I will not publish your comments.)


A good chart to look at can be found here:  http://www.diabetesnet.com/diabetes-technology/insulin-pumps/current-pumps/pump-comparison   Those are the specifications and facts.

This is my personal experiences with each pump.

Exciting news from Dr. Faustman

Read the story from Diabetes Mine here: http://www.healthline.com/diabetesmine/dr-denise-faustman-ready-next-round-trials-diabetes-vaccine-research

A few excerpts of the article that are exciting to me: 

"The biggest roadblock we ran into was the short supply of BCG in the U.S., because it stopped being produced after the Big Pharma factory making it was shut down. BCG isn't a high-tech product, so when you go to make more, it's restricted on where it can be manufactured -- kind of like a flu vaccine, you just can't make it at any lab. Think of it like this: If you have a plant making french fries, you can't suddenly have them start making hamburgers even though they're both food products often served together. We had to get a contract to do this. We didn't want to be in the manufacturing business, but we had to in order to continue this research."

"We have gotten approval for Phase II and we're all OK on the manufacturing front, so it will start shortly. Probably in the coming months. In our last research update from the Fall, we wrote that we're planning for 120 people. We are always looking for more patients to be a part of this, so interested persons can email us at diabetestrial@partners.org. "


Leave your comments on this article on Diabetes Mine--Let Dr. Faustman know just how much we all appreciate her hard work and not letting big pharma get in her way or stop her!

Loathing the lows

I am so flipping effing sick of juice boxes, going low, eating less calories per day because I know I make them up with lows, sick of this stupid freaking disease! I just want to be done with this crap already. I wish that closed loop artificial pancreas was here now for us all to use and live a more normal life and stop obsessing over FOOD! Sick of it all as I lay in bed waiting for a flipping low to come up. Annnnnnd now im sure ill go high but im so ticked off and tired of being low more than likely Ill just be high all night just because I dont want to go low again and eat the fridge while half alseep with no self control. Yep. Im off the wagon.

I am allergic/sensitive to Novolog, never in my life did I think that would happen

I am now beyond 48 hours back on Humalog in my pump and I have ZERO pain.  I am completely shocked.  Again, thank you to Holly in a support group I am in as she asked if I could be allergic/sensitive to Novolog because she is.  In turn she helped me so much and saved my sanity.

I switched to Novolog back in December due to the savings card and then to top it off I got a notice from Blue Cross Blue Shield they were going to Novolog for preferred drug coverage.  Well I had already switched so that's good, right?

It went ok for quite a while and now two months into using it my sites have become increasingly painful, insulin burned like acid during boluses and I would get a very painful bump by day two.

Isn't that just crazy?  I cannot believe it. I am allergic and/or VERY sensitive to something they put in Novolog.  I guess I am not technically allergic or I would have went into anaphylactic shock, which I didn't obviously.  Now after talking to a person who did have a full blown allergic reaction I finally realize that I was getting hives, my dumb self thought I had got bitten by something.  Holy smokes I could have ended up in the E.R. if I had kept taking it! 

SO if any of you were forced to switch this year to Novolog and you are getting increasingly painful pump sites this may be the cause.

I was on Humalog for many years, at least 10 I would say, now hopefully switching back will be ok and my body won't react to Humalog or I am in a whole new world of trouble.

Anyone else allergic/sensitive to one insulin vs the other?

The battle has begun to get my insurance to cover it at the preferred copay since I am totally unable to use their preferred brand.

Eli Lilly can you offer a savings card like Novo Nordisk does?  Don't you want to win back more of your customer base that were forced to go to Novolog this January?  Come on help us Diabetics out, we pay a fortune to stay alive everyday as it is!  

Back to Humalog

A fellow t1d in a support group Im in suggested that maybe Im allergic to Novolog. I just switched in December. I called my Endo, got an rx for Humalog called in, I got it loaded into my pump and Im praying that this is my problem.

The site I had my pump on my arm is so incredibly sore, its just unreal. 2 days and this insane pain, lump and burning boluses.

So now I have three previous spots that all hurt. Crazy.

Ill hopefully be able to tell you in two days that the Humalog is working.

Please sign the ADA petition online

I just signed the American Diabetes Association’s petition to make diabetes a national priority. I need your help so Congress does its part to stop this disease and its horrible complications. Please join me and sign the petition at http://www.stopdiabetes.com/petition.

Diabetes, can you just cut me some slack?

My Diabetes is apparently at war against me again.  Shortly after I first started pumping insulin in 2008 my infusion sets started to hurt me tremendously and I almost gave up using an insulin pump until my CDE (aka life saver) Calli told me to try angled sets.  She saved my sanity even though it probably took me a good year to get down inserting that giant needle by hand and at the right depth, but its been mostly smooth sailing since then.

That was 7 years ago and now I am back to my infusion sets killing me again.  I am at a total loss for what to do, except change them out every 2 days, which might make me crazy.  Just the thought of needing 5 more sets a month and the cost makes me sick.  Not only that but poking yet another hole into my skin and another scar that will take months to years to fade.  FIVE more scars a month to heal, I already look part Cheetah as it is.  I have this insanely tough skin, genetics I guess, and as it is I have to push very hard to get the needle to pierce my skin.  I also form scar tissue relatively quickly/easily and now my body is forming a nice painful bump in just two days instead of at least four.  I have very visible scars from my childhood=20+ years ago.  How in the world am I expected to use an insulin pump for The Rest Of My Life?