Sweet Irony

So, the physical I had to go into? The one they said I had to do or else they would drop me as a patient? The one they blamed my insurance company for?

Not covered by insurance.

It isn't "I haven't met my deductible" not covered. Not covered as in "Not covered." Apparently my insurance thinks I've been in to my PCP a little too often. (Once every 3 years is way too much.) My insurance company paid my doctor $1.25. As in, the cost of a bottled water.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Of course, I'm laughing right now because my PCP hasn't charged ME to make up the 200+ dollars. Yet. If they do, I will laugh at them. It's their fault I went in, they basically forced me to make the appointment. If they had let me handle things the way I normally do, everything would be fine. Both for them and for me. They wouldn't have had to waste a doctor and his assistant's time just to make $1.25. Nope, they could have used that time to actually make money and see patients who need it.

I'll probably still have to pay it, though.

Insurance Makes Me Laugh (it's either that or cry)

It's time to renew my 3 month supply of Novolog. Every time this happens, my insurance wants to remind me that Humalog is cheaper. Did you hear me, patient x? CHEAPER!!

(Also, they keep sending me letters telling me to check my A1C. I think the fact that they've paid for most all of my A1C's should stop these letters. It doesn't.)

So, today I got a letter about the relative cheapness of Humalog. And a friendly little lecture about why most patients choose the lower cost option. Smart patients. Financially savvy patients. Patients who care about their health and their pocketbook.

Behold.

(Click to embiggen.)

I guess 0% of their patients are smart and savvy. I could be the first.

Let's Just Hope the Insulin's Still Good, Yes? Also, Warthogs.

So, I went low last week. The only thing I could think of is maybe it was due to a "training run" I did for a 5K that my daughter is doing, and I'm supposed to do it with her. I'm still not 100% sure I will participate in it - running completely baffles me. If there is anything more dull than putting one foot in front of the other for long periods of time, I don't know what it is. Possibly studying the brain chemistry of warthogs. That seems like it would be fairly boring.

OK, so last night I had another "training run" and let me tell you, training with super nice people who are still 1000 times better than you at running is not fun. It's kind of humiliating, but hey, what's life without a little humiliation? (Answer: fun.) (Note: I know these people are not thinking less of me. They know I'm a beginner. It's still mortifying.) I was super freaked out about going low, though, so I cut my bolus in half before eating a small dinner, and then ate a larger meal afterwards.

Of course, it was then that I nothiced the needles I stuck in my kit were gone, so it's highly possible that a few unused insulin needles fell out of my kit on the run, and now the people in that neighborhood are going to think heroin addicts are abundant in their streets, and leaving their crap everywhere. Sorry, peeps.

Finger prick at 2 a.m. : 256. Well, if the mission was "not going low" then I get a gold star. Platinum. I should probably be more specific in my mission statements.

In other news: Today begins the use of some insulin that showed up mail order and sat on my porch for a day and a half in the scorching sun while I was gone for the weekend. I love insurance companies and the hoops they make you jump through to get your meds paid for. They're so awesome and willing to work with you too. (What do you mean you don't want Humalog? Don't you know it's CHEAPER!?)

So we shall see if the boluses work, (bolusi? bolus's? How do you pluralize this word?) or if I have to pay out of pocket for insulin so I don't, you know, die. Did I mention it was 3 month's supply of both Lantus and Novolog? (I still have an effective bottle of Lantus. I don't know why I have more Lantus. I probably dropped a Novolog or something).

The thought of paying out of pocket for 6 bottles of insulin that are all over 100 bucks each, when I already met my $4000 deductible makes me want to jump for joy over how much I must be helping the economy. Think of the jobs I'm saving!!!!

Yes, I'm grateful I have insurance. Can you get them to pay if the mail order destroyed your stuff? Because I can't seem to.

In Which I Reveal Confidential Medical Information

So, went to the endo yesterday. Reminded him that I was his favorite patient. He laughed and admitted that I was "one of his favorites". I bet he says that to eveyone who insists on favoritism.

Demanded stem cells. No dice.

Asked about a pump and a CGM. He said he was a fan of pumps for some people, but my control is good on the MDI's, so unless I REALLY REALLY wanted it....he didn't see a reason, and you know what? Shots are fine with me. They really are. The CGM, however, I do REALLY, REALLY want.

He said if I had more days where I woke up super low (like I did right after Easter) then he would definitely fight for me to get one. He also said he would only do Dexcom, not Medtronic. I told him that was great with me. So...do I give myself more insulin to have scary scary daytime lows and get a CGM? NO. Even the thought scares me, and I would never put myself at risk that way. But do you see what the insurance companies have reduced me to????

Speaking of insurance, I found out today that my deductible went up by $1000 (from 3k to 4k) on June 1st with no warning whatsoever. The fact that my daughter's ER visit in April would have COVERED that doesn't seem to phase them. I. AM. BITTER. I'm still going to call and whine at them on Monday, even though I will probably get lost in voicemail hell. (*please say your ID number* *sorry, I didn't quite catch that*)

OK, lab stuff - A1c - 6.3. I'm OK with that, although frankly, I like it to hover at 6 or below. My doctor was thrilled. My husband told me that if I didn't like it, then I had "something to work on for next time." I wanted to punch him in the face. But I didn't. Because he was on the phone. Also I love him dearly.

LDL - still really really bad, and at 196. HDL is up to 57, so that's good. Doc and I had the following conversation:

So, I'm going to put you on blah-blah-statin.

This in instead of the simvastatin?

You're already ON cholesterol meds? And these are your numbers?

Um, yeah. But I forget to take them half the time. That could be the problem. (GREAT with shots, terrible with pills.)

OK, I'm going to up the dose, and even if you miss a few, you should still see some benefit. I'll call it into Walgreens. Put your pills by your toothbrush or something.

All right.

I hate high cholesterol. I kind of think it's a fake problem, because bringing down cholesterol isn't necessarily reducing the number of heart attacks. (Also, my father in law just had a triple bypass and his cholesterol was perfect. My dad's had high cholesterol all his life but at 77, nary a twinge of chest pain.) But I digress, and I will take my pills like a good little girl. I was kind of hoping to go off them, though - I don't like the long term side effects reported. Guess THAT didn't happen.

And it was at that trip to Walgreens, where I decided to pick up my refill of test strips along with my new horse pills, that I was asked to pay over $200 for said strips since the deductible wasn't met yet. I asked them to hold them for me while I railed on my insurance company for a few days. They're cool with that. I'm still going to have to pay it, though - I can feel it in my bones.

Thyroid, CMP, everything else was "fine." Still waiting for the lab results in the mail so I can obsess over them and see what "fine" means. Hopefully I'll get them, I did ask the tech 3 times to send them, but that didn't work last time.

Ok, then - off to check my sugars, then swear at my monitor, wash my hands, and check my sugars again. Last night I shaved 50 points off doing that. How did so much "sugar" get onto my hands? I don't know - it's a mystery.