Hi all,
It's been 6 months or so since I have posted. I was diagnosed with type 1 in February at the age of 25. I was on MDI for the first few months, then was approved of the Omnipod by BCBS mid-summer. It all has been great. I started out being extra strict about everything, like many of you did, then just like may of you said, I realized that I had to give myself a break and stop treating my body as a math problem. I really found that happy medium of being a healthy diabetic while still enjoying some foods every now and again.
I wanted on the pump because I felt it would allow me to live life more like I was before being diagnosed. As many other threads that pointed out the pros and cons of pumps, it does allow for some things closer to "normal." But nothing will ever be like normal. I knocked a few extra pods off this month from different things like exercising and one time I forgot it was on my arm and ripped it off taking my shirt off. I haven't knocked too many off, but this all happened at once, which made me throw insulin away. Long story short, I ended up being about 2 1/2 weeks short on my next 90 day insulin refill. I'm sure I could call and get them to advance my refill, but I had a couple of extra Flex Pens left, and since they have a due date, I decided to take a pump vacation until my refill comes around.
Who knew, but even given the positives and ease of use the pump gives, after 5 months on the pod, I got a sense of relief not having something stuck on me. Not having to remember where I put my pod when I change clothes, or make sure my timing was right and where I would be when I needed a pod change. Crazy enough, I kind of feel......free, even though traditionally the pump is SUPPOSED to be the treatment that makes you feel free.
I know I know, after a month or so on MDI, I am sure (maybe) that I like the pumps pros more than MDI's, but what happens if I don't? Would I need to notify my insurance to let them know that I won't be getting any more pods? There is a program called Living Well Louisiana, where I talk to a health coach one a quarter and in turn I get my insulin, as much as I need, for $15 a month. Whether or not they would charge me 15 for the Novolog and 15 for the Levemir, I don't know, but still, I would be very fortunate for getting insulin for $30 a month. My insurance also pays for things such as back up syringes, alcohol wipes, pen needles (I have prescriptions for all of them on file since I used to get those) through Liberty. I told Liberty I wouldn't be needing the full supply of pen needles anymore because of the pump. Could I call them and tell them now that I am back on MDI and to start sending the needles again? I may be missing something, but I think if I don't call my 3rd party supplier about a refill, then insurance won't get charged for the pods. And if I just tell liberty to start sending the needles, they will, just like they used too, and my insurance will cover them too. I don't want to call BCBS because I don't want to "screw" anything up and lose anything that I am getting on that insurance.
Sorry for this long post, figured I would make up for my absence! Anyone have an experience like this that you could give me some advice about the insurance? Anyone feel the same way and switched back to MDI for the reasons I was talking about?
Ben