Hi guys! Just looking for a little advice. What to do if I have to be off my pod for a few days to a week?
My plan is just to test a lot and inject as needed. (I'm on Humalog in the pump.) I guess that's not super controlled but don't necessarily want to have to get a prescription for Lantus, etc etc for such a short period of time.
What do you think?
The back story: I just realized this morning that I was putting on my last pod. I had called to reorder back in early February but didn't realize I had never gotten my order. I guess I was distracted with the whole test strip recall thing. When I called Omnipod this morning to see what was up, they said my doctor had never faxed back the Statement of Medical Necessity which they need to submit to my insurance company to actually send me the pods. Ugh. So I left a message at my doctor's office and will follow up again with them, but it doesn't seem like this is going to be resolved by Sunday, when I'll need to do another change.
Thanks for listening and for any thoughts you may have!
So sorry to hear that you ran out of pods! I would immediately make sure all parties are aware of the urgency. They can certainly overnight a shipment to you.
If for some bizarre reason OmniPod cannot overnight a shipment to you before Sunday, I would contact the physician to request that he/she call in a prescription for Lantus and syringes, etc. It would be a pain, but I wouldn't want to deal with the roller-coaster BGs for up to a week.
I find this to be a serious problem every 3 months when my new pods are supposed to ship. First of all, you should always have a back up plan with Lantus and Humalog (in pens) You need long term as well as short acting insulin. However, it takes a while to get started on the Lantus, which leads me on a roller coaster of high readings , as I don't really know how much Humalog to give without the basal insulin going in.
I find that Insulet (Omnipd) and my insurance company no longer communicate well , and my insurance company now requires my doctor to send over my medical records every three months. This causes delay after delay, and I am on the phone for two weeks to get the pods shipped to avoid going on my back up plan. Insulet and Anthem point at each other , saying they cannot authorize my shipment. This is so serious that I am thoroughly disgusted with both companies. Anthem, in particular , is very difficult to work with ...as their phone system is a nightmare . I am still waiting to hear that my anthem nurse rep has found a way to avoid this regular communication glitch. It feels as if they are trying to force me off of the pump...Any suggestions?
By the way, Omnipod refused to send me the shipment until they got an authorization...they only sent 2 or 3 pods after I made one week worth of calls.
I second everything that Kilij said above. Call everyone you need to call to explain how serious this is, and they should be able to accommodate you to get you some pods overnight, even if it isn’t your full shipment just yet. In the absence of that, you really do need to have some Lantus on hand (just in general). I would suggest having your doctor write a scrip for Lantus that is always open to be filled at your local pharmacy in case of emergencies like this. I think it would be potentially dangerous and certainly frustrating to deal with the up and down BGs you’d have from only taking short-acting insulin at mealtimes and to correct for highs. You need the Lantus to account for the basal you’ll be missing from not having the pod on.
Bummer! I agree that you should put a call in to your doctor's office ASAP so that they know what the failure to fax on their part is causing to happen to you. Maybe you could see if they have any sample pens of Lantus to give you in the meantime?
Otherwise, sometimes I have just used Humalog injections throughout the day, perhaps every three or four hours (following my basal program on the PDM to see how much I need to give). What a pain for you!
First, I'd probably do the test a lot and inject (though I do have a CGM which would probably help a lot.) Due to peak/fall rates of Humilog I'd inject every 2 hours IMHO.
Second, talk more to Insulet. They would probably send you a few pods until the paperwork got processed, and bill later to insurance as needed. They don't need insurance to ship, they only need your doc's prescription which they already have. Now it's just up to payment, and if you act in good faith they will do whatever you need. (good faith, i.e. you might need to provide a credit card number or something to show that it could be paid if needed, which it probably won't after insurance kicks in...)
My wife just went through this same situation. My advice is to keep on Insulet. If they hit a snag, your order just sits. Every time my wife thought it was taken care of she would end up waiting and then calling Insulet back and low and behold there would be some document they were waiting for. Never could get straight answers from them, but according to them someone else was to blame for the holdup.
Same thing just happened to me last week. Liberty Medical refused to ship w/o insurance. I had two pods left. My dear friends at Insulet only offered to send me pods for $36 a piece! Uh thanks. I'll just wait!! -_-
Also Doctor's staff couldn't manage simple faxing of Rx and notes to Liberty. Liberty finally got all together and shipped. Then endo's office boobed up paperwork for repalcement Dexcom. Sheesh. Am I worth more to you dead??!
Thankfully I was able to get in touch with my doctor and he got the form signed and also gave me a prescription for Lantus. So, back to shots for a while!
And of course, I'll be following up with Omnnipod!
