My endo likes to make me take ridiculously unnecessary classes and use sample/temporary equipment before signing off on things for me, and then blame it on my insurance company, even tho she knows I check with my insurance company to find out if I have any “pre-req’s” before I even come to her for anything (it’s like a little kid you catch red handed and they continue to deny they did it lol), so now she’s got me on an iPro CGM for 5 days. The poor CDE that set me up with it today thought it was for the doc to take a look at the data and adjust my basal rates and carb/correction ratios…I didn’t want to be rude so I just smiled as she explained how my endo would be able to use the data to make adjustments to my pump settings… =] When she finished, I explained that the reason I had to do all this was so Doc would sign the ppwk for a Dex so I could keep track of things better…and I thought she was going to fall out of her seat. I know we’re kind of in the minority, but are there really THAT many people who just don’t want to do anything for themselves? Who just want their doctor to tell them what to do, or even do much of it for them (like messing with their pump…I’d throttle someone if they thought they could start pushing buttons on mine!), better control be damned? I’ve been going to Joslin for a few years now…always see the same doc, same CDE’s (such a waste of time…), you’d think they’d realize by now I don’t need or want a babysitter lol!
Figured this time around it’d be easier just to play along, tho sigh
Anyone else ever had to do the iPro thing? Didn’t feel a thing when it went in…all the talk about the pain & blood with the Dex & MiniMed cgm’s had me a little freaked out lol
Also, is the Nav kaput for good? Never coming back? Abbott still has outdated info on their website so I was wondering if anyone had heard anything definite lately…this is one case where Google doesn’t seem to know everything…that or the user just got bored after 20 pages of info from 2009 ;]
Hmmm…and this having to test on the One Touch Ultra 2 that they gave me is a tad annoying…I don’t wana test on that and then again on my PDM (I don’t like putting numbers in manually)… Oh well…5 days…5 days…5 days… =] hehehehe
Look for another Endo…
I found that some use these “return to me” for another meeting tactic as a Income generator.
Look for a University Clinic in your area.
I did the test w/ the iPro too. I was annoyed with it too, because I thought it would give me access to the data but it logs it for the endo so then they can write up the report that says that you need a CGM. I’m not quite sure what the point is, or why they can’t just get one that will give you the data but that’s the way the system is set up.
I’m going to agree with Wallskev. I didn’t realize how bad (or, better words would be “distant” “closed-minded” and “inattentive”) my former endo was until I switched. The CDE at his office was also a T1D herself, but wasn’t such a great teacher. The first thing my new endo asked me — and I’ve had T1D for 30 years so I’m not new at this — is what MY goals were, so he could help me reach them. He didn’t tell me what my goals should be. (Now, if I said my goal was to rock & roll all night and party every day, he might take exception, but…). When I expressed my interest in starting on a CGM, he was eager to understand why.
However, I do think you may need to reconsider one part of what you said about not wanting to do anything for yourself, and to let your doc do all the dosing, programming, etc. If that is going to work, you need to maintain a very strict, regimented lifestyle: do the same thing, eat the same thing, wake up the same time, etc. every day. I understand you’d like to just forget about D management altogether (we all do!) but I doubt you want that lifestyle.
Based on what I’m reading, I’ll bet you didn’t even want to use a pump, your doc forced it on you. Am I right? If you get a different doc and another CDE, they’ll be able to give direction and education in manageable bite-sized pieces so that you can make your life a whole lot easier. You can be in the driver’s seat as far as deciding what new devices you are and are not ready to try.
Where do I find a doc who forces a pump on me… I had to jump through hoops and red tape and prove this that and the other for a pump… When other people are having their pumps and CGMs practically handed to them at the asking?.. Theres got to be some middle ground on this stuff…
On the Nav issue… there is some promising entries in the FDA database but things still could go amiss… Seems they are trying to improve their QA processes on the Nav…(thinking this may lead to them being allowed to sell them again)
I personally do all of my own analysis and completely setup and overhaul my own insulin program. I have never had a doctor tell me what to take, besides right after diagnosis. I had very poor teaching about insulin right after diagnosis, they just gave me a sliding scale and told me to follow it, at the time the doses seemed to high, so after the first day I started tweaking the doses down and doing a lot of research about insulin and the theory behind dose calculation. Looking back, the doses that they initially sent me home with were outrageously high, about double what I actually need now. So by the time I got setup with an endo I had already learned carb counting and had a 5.7 a1c. My visits to my endo are a back and forth discussion, not her telling me what to do, they involve discussion about my bloodwork, health, exercise and other discussions as I explain to her my current insulin program. She has been very supportive when I come to her with all of my ideas and questions and has given me a lot of freedom to play around with different basal insulins, pumps and CGM.
That was one of my issues…I had no access to the data…it did me no good during the 5 days I had it on…and when the CDE got the data from it, she went straight into “You need to do this, you need to do that” mode. I think not.
Joslin in Syracuse is associated with Syracuse University and University Hospital. I have excellent insurance - no copays for specialist visits - only a very small % coinsurance payment, so the extra visits aren’t of monetary concern to me. The 2 hour one way drive is a bit bothersome lol but I love to drive so I can’t even really complain about that lol
Completely wrong. I think you misinterpreted my post 
I didn’t want a minimed pump - I wanted the Omnipod system - and the 2 endo’s I went to before ending up at Joslin refused to work with me on that. One only worked with minimed, and one told me I had to get my a1c under 7% or he wouldn’t sign off on any pump for me. I called Joslin and specifically asked if they were willing to put people on the Omnipod system, and if they made them have a particular a1c before doing so, etc.
Also, I’m NOT the type to let the doc take the reins. My doc gets upset bc I WON’T let her tell me what to do. The CDE’s get upset bc I WON’T let them touch my PDM. They get their panties in a wad bc I REFUSE to take their ridiculous classes. If I come in saying “I’ve done my research - I want a Dex CGM” why the hell should I have to go to a class that goes over the differences between the different CGM’s…I’ve already DONE that lol
So as far as being in the driver’s seat - I am. Completely. I don’t want to be told what to do. The only thing someone telling me what to do serves to actually do, is cause me to become more resistant to doing it.
That’s what I’m saying…are we in the minority to that extent, that most endos don’t know how to handle us? It seems most of us have had to jump around quite a bit until we find someone decent.
I think it was on MelissaBL’s blog that I read that the Navigator will probably be about another year until it comes back. It was 1 1/2 years ago that mine broke!
As far as blood with the Dexcom, I think that is rare. I never had any. The needle is thin and I never felt a thing.
Oh my gosh, what is up with the a1c below 7% thing!? When I was 15 or so, I was told that I would have to get my a1c below 7 because “the insurance company will never cover a pump unless it’s below that”. Such crap!!! I had another endo I went to that said if I wanted a pump I had an a1c requirement and go to dumb classes. A few weeks ago at my endo appointment, my new endo asked if I was interested in a pump and I was given free reign over the decision. It all got approved this week and I will be receiving my Omnipod in the next couple of days. Why was it so complicated in the first place?
Viewing the relationship between doctor and patient as a partnership rather than a dictatorship has been an increasingly popular practice among many therapists/counselors (note: NOT PSYCHIATRISTS) in the past 10-15+ years, why is it not more this way in the medical world? Or is it just us diabetics that are super difficult?!
Ok, ending rant now! Good luck with the CGM process!
Thanks, Kelly! Do you think you’ll go back to the Nav?
Well then, I stand corrected. I was completely wrong in how I read that. Thanks for clearing it up… it all makes sense now. But it sounds like these docs at Joslin are very regimented and have very strict guidelines to follow (A1C must be this, before signing off on this pump, and this is exactly how we work). Not much flexibility with them… and that is completely contrary to what the goal of pump therapy is supposed to do!
Update - I went to see the CDE the other day…I was under the impression she would be explaining to me how to work the Dex that they had ordered for me after my 5 day iPro stint in June. No such luck…she said they had never ordered it. I almost blew a gasket and said “I should have just went thru Dex.” She apologized up & down, had me re-sign the paperwork for it & said she would get to to my Doc Monday for signatures and then get it ordered. She then gave me a quick run thru on a demo one & said they were pretty easy to figure out and had a quick-guide with them if I needed it, and I could always call her with questions. She said it was ok to restart the sensor instead of changing it out religiously & explained how to do that, and then we talked about the Symlin I had been wanting to start but Doc kept telling me to hold off on…she said it’s not a huge game changer - it may help, it may not, give it a whirl and let us know what happens. Oh boy. I’m not sure how much more of their shenanigans I can take lol…I wish my PCP would just take over & not make me go to an endo. His son is T1 and he knows his crap. He just dosn’t feel comfortable cuz he’s not an endo…thinks I’ll get better care from someone who “specializes” in it, and that an endo will have more clout with the insurance if they ever question anything. sigh Thanks for letting me vent. Hopefully I’ll get my Dex in soon and then I’ll be on here bugging y’all about that lol
There’s making you go through hoops and then there’s forgetting to do their job. I take back everything I once said about your attitude. You actually have the patience of a saint!
Maurie
Haha thanks Maurie! (I definitely do have attitude tho) ;-]