I would like to continue to live on earth and bless those who have blessed me. Or at least try to be a blessing to those around me! 🙂
This Guardian 4 sensor [shown below] is not just a “nice-to-have” medical “thingy” but a “have-to-have” unit. It allows for continuous glucose monitoring.
Whereas my body used to work without this sensor and instead with finger sticks (aka finger pokes), it no longer works that way. I would be perfectly fine with going back to poking my finger (or anywhere else on my body). After all, I’ve lived my life that way since I was six years old!
But I would have to check my blood sugar about every 5-15 minutes per day. Yes, I know that is excessive. It is hard to explain except that my body is not as young as it used to be (are any of us?), and it does not respond like a textbook. It responds in a different way. It has its own definition of how it is going to respond as far as blood sugars go.
Honestly, the study of diabetes (e.g., endocrinologists) and the study of medicine for those who are older (e.g., geriatricians) and the convergence of those two have not come to fruition. Oh, sure, there are doctors who handle Type 2 diabetics who are older, as it is quite common to have older people who also have Type 2 diabetes. But, it is not as common to have older people who are Type 1 diabetics (what, 1%?). So, there does not seem to be a need for a specialty that combines true endocrinology and geriatrics….
What no one seems to realize is that if they (whoever “they” are) would create a specialty that combines geriatrics and endocrinology, they would likely have more older diabetics and there would be a higher percentage of need! There would be more diabetics living longer!
Back to the older diabetic…
So, we have an older body that isn’t broken, just DIFFERENT. Therefore, the “finger sticks” do not address the issue. But, the sensor DOES address it because it “reads” the blood sugar continuously. Isn’t that cool?
Well, back to those finger sticks. I mentioned that I would be fine with checking my blood sugar the old-fashioned way, with finger sticks, like I did when I was six years old, even though I am running out of places on my body because of scarring… that’s ok, I’ll make the sacrifices… But, it is actually MORE expensive for the strips than the sensors!
Yep – you read that right! By the time I purchased enough strips to check my blood sugar as often as I would need, like every 5-15 minutes (and yes, we have tested this, even on days when the pump and/or sensor malfunctions and the blood sugar needs to be checked that frequently). The insurance companies have not caught up with this. Remember? They are used to us Type 1 Diabetics dying much younger and not living to this age. They are used to us “old people” being Type 2, not Type 1. So, in their fiscally-minded thoughts, no one needs THAT many strips for blood sugar readings. That means that the Diabetic needs to purchase the strips him- or herself.
And, that cost is more expensive than purchasing the sensor that reads it automatically, continuously, and gives that reading to the insulin pump, as in the case here, with the Medtronic pump.
The cost of this plastic is not necessarily THAT expensive, but the Pharmaceutical companies benefit and are able to profit off of the diabetics and their Type 1 disease.
The sensors say they are covered by insurance and that is true EXCEPT… that assumes a person has insurance!
Without insurance, without sensors, I am unlikely to make it past one year on this earth. You see, my blood sugar will drop without notice, my body will have a seizure, and without intervention, I am done. But, with the knowledge that my blood sugar is dropping (which is what the sensor does, alerts me), I am able to treat the low blood sugar in time and I am fine.
With the sensors, I am healthier than the next person, even healthier than non-diabetics!
Each box (5 units) lasts one month… and costs about $600.
Note: Sometimes I have insurance, but not always. Employers do not like to hire Type 1 diabetics even though I did not use to tell them (now I am public about it, in an effort to help other Diabetics, and, out of a need to stay alive).
It is illegal for companies not to hire me for that reason (diabetes), but proving it is another thing. That is why it is a constant concern to have these sensors on hand because, without insurance, I have a death sentence.
Fortunately, the insulin tubing is sometimes able to be purchased on ebay, but not so much these sensors… More information, including the fact that they are covered by insurance, is available here, but again, “covered by insurance” does not do any good if you cannot obtain insurance… For more information about these needed-for-life-sensors click here.
