I’ve had a lot of difficulty getting devices from Docs. First, it was
Dexcom. Long story. I finally have one.
Next, I’ve been trying to get an Omnipod. I am diabetic 35 years. GoodA1Cs. My endo in Chicago told me I need to attend 2-3 carb-counting classes, and then other classes. I didn’t have time to get to them all before I left town for a summer job.
Summer, and I’m jumping through another doc’s hoops, seeing them for everything they say they need from me, even following the advice the nutritionist gave me which, as I knew it would, increased my 30-day-average glucose
level by 20 points in 1.5 weeks. All so I could get the prescription.
Because the doc wouldn’t return my calls when I’d call to ask why I needed to see him again pre-pump (after two CDE appointments and one nutritionist appointment), I am frustrated when I call a number of times and am told he hasn’t gotten my message. Same for the nutritionist, she never called me back so I could confirm for sure I’m following her “prescribed” instructions. I emailed them too, no response. I am frustrated.
Then, I see the doc for appointment two with him (all pre-pump, mind you), without knowing why he needs to
see me at that point in the process because he never returned my call. My co-pays are $40 each, so I am $200 into their process, have learned nothing so far, and he tells me he’s not prescribing the thing for me. The only thing he articulates is that I was rude to his receptionists. I have followed their advice to a T, and to the detriment of my own health.
I feel so frustrated. The device world, I sometimes feel is a way for docs to bilk $$ from patients. I had to see the doc 3 times before I got a CGM scrip from my hometown endo. It’s a tester! Then this pump, 5 appointments and no scrip. …
I’m trying to get even finer control, and can’t get past these docs.
Has anyone else felt frustrated by these processes? Do any docs look at your A1Cs, test you for carb-counting, you pass, then learn the device, and prescribe away? Or is it always a process and stroking their egos and getting no respect for the years you have spent fine-tuning your own control anyway?
I have heard of other people going through this. Our experience, however was quite the opposite.
My son was dx’d 3.5 years ago. As soon as we could we got approved for the OmniPod. Calebs doctor signed the medical necessity form at a routine visit after checking off that we could carb count and understand other things. He started pumping insulin about three months after dx with only a 2 hr training session with an Insulet rep. That was it.
With a new Endo, we had a similar experience. Caleb’s doctor told us to contact DexCom directly. We did. They ascertained insurance coverage and that was that. We went to his Endo for a quick start up and we were done.
I understand the need for users to be educated on these devices. I am appreciative that Caleb’s drs had a case by case approach to assess our ability and we didn’t need to jumbo through hoops. I’m sorry for the frustrations you have had. It doesn’t seem fair.
I have heard about other people jumping those hoops also but I have not. Actually, it was my PCP that signed for first the Navigator, then the Dexcom and my pump. I have an appointment coming up with an endo because of my thyroid but I talked the PCP into signing the pump paperwork. It took me a long time before I was ready to get the pump and there was no way I was jumping thru all the hoops that some endos put you thru. Like Lorraine said, there are some people that really need the extra training but I am not one of those people and not willing to do that.
I hate these endos that hold that stuff out like it is some prize that you earn. You should be able to get whatever you need to have to manage your BS and should not be put thru that. Hopefully, you can find a doctor that will actually work with you, not against you.
Oh my goodness, well… thank you for your responses, at least I hear I am not entirely alone here! I have spoken with a [famous] diabetic researcher since my earlier post, who is outraged and trying to help me. And, the Omnipod rep referred to me to a doc who was resident (I think?) at Mayo who I have called already, and the researcher is calling folks he knows there on my behalf, so, well, my fingers are crossed. It’s like some of these docs like to hold you hostage, playing all-powerful over you, yet it’s -you- who needs to live with this. Don’t they realize? But I am also horrified, actually, to hear that others have heard of some people going through these hoops. It really is pretty horrible, while you are trying your best to get a scrip just to be able to control things better. sigh
I know what you are going through. My endo I had 10 years ago put me through training for a pump, even gave me a “practice” one that I used saline in to take home so I could learn how to operate it , and then told me “no”.The worst thing was they wouldn’t tell me why.Finally a year later I had a new endo who wrote me the script , but then my insurance said they wouldn’t cover it. Mind you one phone call and an e-mail later to Florida’s governor at the time, Jeb Bush, Mini med called me 24 hours later and was asking what color I wanted. Now I have no insurance and have to sweet talk my PCP into writing the scripts for my pump supply. It’s crazy. I have another friend who is diabetic and going blind, and his endo refuses to put him on a pump unless he gets his a1c at 7 or lower. It’s like the pump is supposed to help you get better control.He’s doing all they say he’s supposed to and can’t get his numbers down so shouldn’t he be put on the pump to try and get it in better control.That’s why i got my pump.It’s crazy the crap you have to go through at times.Hopefully you will find a doc that works.I hope you get it.Good luck.
Yeah, mine wasn’t as bad but I did feel very patronized by the process. I was not new to diabetes, or the concept of carb counting, and I am not a slow learner, so I did feel that the whole process was overkill. I have a different endo now, luckily.
In one respect my situation was opposite from yours: I was basically forced onto the pump, despite good A1C’s and not wanting it. My endo at the time refused to continue me on Lantus b/c I was pregnant, even though my endo before (I had just moved) said that it was fine to be on Lantus. I am glad I am on the pump now, but didn’t like how it all went down.