I have come to the conclusion in the past two weeks I am a black hole of breaking all things that keep me going. First there was the pump malfunction, which has been remedied. However, the return process is still a work in progress. I got an automated call on Saturday telling me they had yet to receive my pump, granted the message was cut off since it was automated and I had no idea who it was from. And they called again yesterday while I was out, saying they would bill me if they don't get my pump in 7 days. Yet the tracking number says it was received on the 22nd or whatever. So That is a 9:00 phone call.
My hearing aid is malfucktioning, but I will handle that eventually.
In the past month my laptop has been in the shop three times to get something fixed.
And Saturday, in the middle of a retreat Beepy gave a death knell like never before. The poor guy isn't even a year old, and a replacement for number one who fell into a pond with me. (that's a good story). So I get back to my room around11:00 and start going through my books and the error code tells me it's the receiver and I need to call support. So I do. The line says you have reached 24 hour tech support. If this is an emergency or serious issue, press 1. So I think about it, and well not a my sensor is stuck to me and smoking, I think this falls under the issue of emergency, not like the time is wrong on my unit. So I get patched through to dispatch. Who puts me in touch with their rep. Well I guess they farm out their support over the weekends, cause I definitely woke this poor lady up.
I truly did feel bad, but alas what else was I to do. I mean the thing recovered once, and now it was gone. So she was nice enough even though I could tell she was annoyed, but hey she gets the money for this. Anyway, they are happily shipping me out a replacement for this guy, and I hope to have better luck. But seriously, the only thing I haven't broken in the past few weeks is my meter and a bottle of insulin....
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
No longer grumpy
So last night I was annoyed when I posted about things that annoy, oddly enough. So while Kimface is allowing me to justify my annoyance I still feel out of sorts. I mean I am over it, that is one good thing I get annoyed and I move on. It's so much easier that way. Why get bent out of shape over nothing, well not nothing, but you know what I mean?
However, I am going to continue with my theme of things that annoy. Granted these are a lot more frivolous and all, but still as long as I am clearing the air I might as well fully.
My first topic: Girl Scout Cookies
Okay, fine I understand its a fundraiser, but the cookies are so good, can't you sell them twice a year, I'd buy them?
How in a parish w/ school and girl scout troops, did not one person try to sell me cookies, nor have we sold them after masses?
Why can a package of Thin Mints have umpteen billion cookies, yet my yummy Samoa's or Carmel Delite's (depending on sales area) have only like 12 cookies in it?
Why do I need to look at the carbs before I eat them, cause then I look at the calories and get really depressed, but hell with it, I only get them once a year.
Which brings me back to my first question, why can I only get them once a year??
Number two: Coffee
I have never been a big hot coffee drinker, in my mind it tastes disgusting, but when it is iced I venture out and drink it, for some reason it tastes better. For better or worse in the morning I can't go running for Iced Coffee, cause I like my bed. So I have found some hot coffee flavors for the Keurig that I like. Yet apparently I can only find the flavors for a limited time?!?!! Really a limited time? 'Cause I think it is all a ploy. Sigh, I seem to be having issues with limited time stuff today.
Number three: Driving
This is a biggie, it is not driving in particular, but more so drivers. I run so when I do I watch people when they drive, not to mention being a cautious and "safe" driver I also keep an eye on cars when I drive. I wonder, do people realize how silly some of them look while driving, arguing on a cell phone with someone, putting on their make up, fiddling with an iPod, or just singing. 'Cause I can see into your car just like you can see out of it and frankly my dear you look like an idiot. Not to mention when you are driving along, illegally talking on your cell phone in the middle lane almost cutting me off, yes I am talking to you the idiot in the Jeep Liberty. I mean come on, at least pay attention. And texters.... well I will hold my tongue on that one, I don't text while I drive either my friends or my Pancreas.
Number four: Insulin and Cartridges
This one is a little odd, but I could not figure out a good title for this one. I do my best with my insulin to always fill the 200U into the cartridge of my pump. Over the course of three days, do I actually go through 200U of insulin?? Nope, unless I have a few lapses in judgement with things that have peanut butter and chocolate in them.... Which I am now craving. Anyway, why is it that I can never fill my reservoir up to a full 200U? The closest I have ever gotten was once I hit 195U but never a full reservoir. It annoys the snot out of me, not in a bad way or I would end up going through alot of tissues (insert cymbal and drum crash here), but if nothing else I would always be able to run out of insulin in a bottle at the same time as fill the reservoir. Instead of getting either only a small amount out or up to an additional 50U before having to open a new bottle. So now everything is out of sorts. I am very OCD about things and this drives me nuts.
Have any of you actually ever gotten your Ping to read 200U?? If so how? I have tried filling the reservoir over night and tapping the air out in the morning and filling a little more, I have tried drawing and redrawing insulin and yet no luck. Or am I just being a total nut? Well, yes but still...
However, I am going to continue with my theme of things that annoy. Granted these are a lot more frivolous and all, but still as long as I am clearing the air I might as well fully.
My first topic: Girl Scout Cookies
Okay, fine I understand its a fundraiser, but the cookies are so good, can't you sell them twice a year, I'd buy them?
How in a parish w/ school and girl scout troops, did not one person try to sell me cookies, nor have we sold them after masses?
Why can a package of Thin Mints have umpteen billion cookies, yet my yummy Samoa's or Carmel Delite's (depending on sales area) have only like 12 cookies in it?
Why do I need to look at the carbs before I eat them, cause then I look at the calories and get really depressed, but hell with it, I only get them once a year.
Which brings me back to my first question, why can I only get them once a year??
Number two: Coffee
I have never been a big hot coffee drinker, in my mind it tastes disgusting, but when it is iced I venture out and drink it, for some reason it tastes better. For better or worse in the morning I can't go running for Iced Coffee, cause I like my bed. So I have found some hot coffee flavors for the Keurig that I like. Yet apparently I can only find the flavors for a limited time?!?!! Really a limited time? 'Cause I think it is all a ploy. Sigh, I seem to be having issues with limited time stuff today.
Number three: Driving
This is a biggie, it is not driving in particular, but more so drivers. I run so when I do I watch people when they drive, not to mention being a cautious and "safe" driver I also keep an eye on cars when I drive. I wonder, do people realize how silly some of them look while driving, arguing on a cell phone with someone, putting on their make up, fiddling with an iPod, or just singing. 'Cause I can see into your car just like you can see out of it and frankly my dear you look like an idiot. Not to mention when you are driving along, illegally talking on your cell phone in the middle lane almost cutting me off, yes I am talking to you the idiot in the Jeep Liberty. I mean come on, at least pay attention. And texters.... well I will hold my tongue on that one, I don't text while I drive either my friends or my Pancreas.
Number four: Insulin and Cartridges
This one is a little odd, but I could not figure out a good title for this one. I do my best with my insulin to always fill the 200U into the cartridge of my pump. Over the course of three days, do I actually go through 200U of insulin?? Nope, unless I have a few lapses in judgement with things that have peanut butter and chocolate in them.... Which I am now craving. Anyway, why is it that I can never fill my reservoir up to a full 200U? The closest I have ever gotten was once I hit 195U but never a full reservoir. It annoys the snot out of me, not in a bad way or I would end up going through alot of tissues (insert cymbal and drum crash here), but if nothing else I would always be able to run out of insulin in a bottle at the same time as fill the reservoir. Instead of getting either only a small amount out or up to an additional 50U before having to open a new bottle. So now everything is out of sorts. I am very OCD about things and this drives me nuts.
Have any of you actually ever gotten your Ping to read 200U?? If so how? I have tried filling the reservoir over night and tapping the air out in the morning and filling a little more, I have tried drawing and redrawing insulin and yet no luck. Or am I just being a total nut? Well, yes but still...
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Things that annoy
Today, is just a day of things that truly annoy me. Not just d-related, because in the grand scheme of things sometimes people are just clueless about certain things. Just as I am clueless at times about other things.
(Back story, cause you need it)A few years back, like 10 I had ear surgery to fix a problem from an ear infection gone bad. The surgeon while nice, was a little arrogant and well after two failed attempts I gave up on the entire surgery to fix my hearing. The first attempt to replace the deteriorating inner ear bone was a big no go, because the doctor opted to use the "cheaper" prosthesis. This apparently fell over and did me no good. So we decided to go in for a second shot, this time though, while I don't blame the surgeon, the doctor cut the prosthesis just a shy to short, so while it is not falling over the vibrating timpanic membrane was not hitting it enough to fully convey the sound. After the second consultation, where the surgeon was a bit rude in my opinion I said f-it and would just deal with things via hearing aid. This I have been doing for sometime now.
Now in the present day, my hearing aid is failing and frankly if I am going to be shelling out $3,000 for a new one since insurance doesn't cover it, why not look into a different surgeon and see if maybe he can fix the problem permanently and not have to worry about this problem again. So my dad and I went to access my past medical records file he has of me and can't seem to find anything about the ENT i had visited back in the day. We looked at the phone book for the town he was in and we have not been able to find any names that sound familiar. (sigh)
Yesterday, I had a brilliant idea, why not call the hospital and see if they have records from when I was in for my surgery, or even maybe a list of people who were affiliated with them at this time. While I can't nail the date of the surgery exactly, I can come pretty close since I know I ended up missing my best friends grandfathers funeral because of the surgery.
My old co-worker when I had work study in school has a daughter who works in the hospital I was at so I asked her to ask her daughter to maybe give me a clue where to start. I got an e-mail this morning with the info I needed, but it also had the e-mail that my co-worker had sent to her daughter.
She basically gave the daughter a little back story about me, hearing aid, nice guy (I swear I am), and the last line mentioned that I was a diabetic. Okay, fine weird but fine, the thing that got me though was the phrase she used. "He has diabetes pretty bad for a young man."
I don't know even typing that statement again, really just rankles me. I have it pretty bad. I mean once you have diabetes you have it. It's not like there are different levels. It is an illness that affects me yes, it is a pain in the ass and all, but still can someone have diabetes pretty good? Or maybe have it, kinda sorta bad??
I don't know maybe I am over reacting, maybe I am being extra sensitive, but seriously sigh... So that was the thing that just annoyed me.
I had a list, but to be honest, I just got myself so frustrated that I think I am going to wander away before I say something really obnoxious. Maybe even pretty bad... Sigh.
(Back story, cause you need it)A few years back, like 10 I had ear surgery to fix a problem from an ear infection gone bad. The surgeon while nice, was a little arrogant and well after two failed attempts I gave up on the entire surgery to fix my hearing. The first attempt to replace the deteriorating inner ear bone was a big no go, because the doctor opted to use the "cheaper" prosthesis. This apparently fell over and did me no good. So we decided to go in for a second shot, this time though, while I don't blame the surgeon, the doctor cut the prosthesis just a shy to short, so while it is not falling over the vibrating timpanic membrane was not hitting it enough to fully convey the sound. After the second consultation, where the surgeon was a bit rude in my opinion I said f-it and would just deal with things via hearing aid. This I have been doing for sometime now.
Now in the present day, my hearing aid is failing and frankly if I am going to be shelling out $3,000 for a new one since insurance doesn't cover it, why not look into a different surgeon and see if maybe he can fix the problem permanently and not have to worry about this problem again. So my dad and I went to access my past medical records file he has of me and can't seem to find anything about the ENT i had visited back in the day. We looked at the phone book for the town he was in and we have not been able to find any names that sound familiar. (sigh)
Yesterday, I had a brilliant idea, why not call the hospital and see if they have records from when I was in for my surgery, or even maybe a list of people who were affiliated with them at this time. While I can't nail the date of the surgery exactly, I can come pretty close since I know I ended up missing my best friends grandfathers funeral because of the surgery.
My old co-worker when I had work study in school has a daughter who works in the hospital I was at so I asked her to ask her daughter to maybe give me a clue where to start. I got an e-mail this morning with the info I needed, but it also had the e-mail that my co-worker had sent to her daughter.
She basically gave the daughter a little back story about me, hearing aid, nice guy (I swear I am), and the last line mentioned that I was a diabetic. Okay, fine weird but fine, the thing that got me though was the phrase she used. "He has diabetes pretty bad for a young man."
I don't know even typing that statement again, really just rankles me. I have it pretty bad. I mean once you have diabetes you have it. It's not like there are different levels. It is an illness that affects me yes, it is a pain in the ass and all, but still can someone have diabetes pretty good? Or maybe have it, kinda sorta bad??
I don't know maybe I am over reacting, maybe I am being extra sensitive, but seriously sigh... So that was the thing that just annoyed me.
I had a list, but to be honest, I just got myself so frustrated that I think I am going to wander away before I say something really obnoxious. Maybe even pretty bad... Sigh.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Sunshine Day
So today is really not 100% d-related although it does bring up my own discussions and thoughts on a few things. The weather is getting nicer and nicer, which is awesome. This means I can go outside and play. The playing is awesome, the running and bike riding is even better. I love this weather. Granted I am certain that at some point there will be one more snow storm. Why?!?! Well to tell you the truth, snow wise even though we were happily pounded, we really did escape relatively well. It was just the amounts of the various storms that were painful. I guess I will have to pack my ski's away now though.
With the change in weather though comes the joys of outdoor running and basals and biking and basals and playing outside(yes I still play outside) and basals. If you get my drift. There are some days in which I truly have yet to sort out a proper exercise routine and maintaining my BS and it drives me nuts. There are days pre-run, where I will be happily sitting at 150 intentionally, so I will drink some OJ, just as a precaution and run my little heart out. I go for about an hour and time depending on the route I take. It's great, it's awesome, and than I bottom out all of a sudden. (That's why I now I have $5 stuck in my iPod case). This fall there is one time I can remember barely making home because I bottomed out faster than ever. Why though? Because running and me and my basal is not a good combo. I have tried the entire lower basal and hour before running or two hours before running. No luck, I have tried eating something, no luck. Yet there are other days where I will go for my run and end up with a BS of 150 + post run and there were no changes.
I love exercise, I love running, I need to drop my winter and hibernation weight and such. I go nuts though trying keep everything in check. Pizza I can more or less handle now. French Fries, normally no problem. Ice Cream, piece of cake.... Piece of cake, piece of cake.... Wait, see now I am distracted. Exercise... Screw it. Sigh.
One day it will work out. One day it will be awesome. But alas now, blah!
With the change in weather though comes the joys of outdoor running and basals and biking and basals and playing outside(yes I still play outside) and basals. If you get my drift. There are some days in which I truly have yet to sort out a proper exercise routine and maintaining my BS and it drives me nuts. There are days pre-run, where I will be happily sitting at 150 intentionally, so I will drink some OJ, just as a precaution and run my little heart out. I go for about an hour and time depending on the route I take. It's great, it's awesome, and than I bottom out all of a sudden. (That's why I now I have $5 stuck in my iPod case). This fall there is one time I can remember barely making home because I bottomed out faster than ever. Why though? Because running and me and my basal is not a good combo. I have tried the entire lower basal and hour before running or two hours before running. No luck, I have tried eating something, no luck. Yet there are other days where I will go for my run and end up with a BS of 150 + post run and there were no changes.
I love exercise, I love running, I need to drop my winter and hibernation weight and such. I go nuts though trying keep everything in check. Pizza I can more or less handle now. French Fries, normally no problem. Ice Cream, piece of cake.... Piece of cake, piece of cake.... Wait, see now I am distracted. Exercise... Screw it. Sigh.
One day it will work out. One day it will be awesome. But alas now, blah!
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
The End of Murph
So in an unfortunate occurrence Murph chose the other day to have some serious issues with buttons and has decided now is the time for him to go into an early retirement. It is tragic really that he is gone. We have bonded over the past three years, but once your buttons start to go there is nothing you can about it. It all started on Monday night, well to be honest his buttons have been slowly failing the past few weeks, but I rarely use the up and down buttons (I am all about Swagging and Audio Bolusing) so the need to replace was minimal. Yet Monday night he locked up on me and no amount of poking and prodding would unstick the OK button for some time. It was sad.
Yesterday morning I called Animas and told the nice lady of my issue and she was very helpful. Good line of questioning, are there cracks in the case? No. The pad the buttons on are on, is there any hardening of cracking? Well, I mean the buttons are faded and rubbed, but all was fine otherwise. Has the pump been exposed to water recently? (aside from an accidental jump into a recently flushed toilet) No, he has been pretty much out of the water his whole life. He doesn't like to swim, but I know he can. Where do you normally keep your pump? Well my belt, my pocket, attached to me in someway shape or form. That always seems to work the best.
Alrighty, well I will get a new pump out to you by tomorrow. And just send the old one back. No problem.
So I got the new pump, not sure if I will rename it or just go with Murph. I may cheap out and call him Blue though. That way I can follow, Blue's Clues. I miss Blue's Clues... Sorry, but yeah. It is amazing though to see how beat up a pump can get over the course of a few years. Now on to my favorite part, making sure I actually transfer all the data over. I guess I should sync my pump to EzManager or something...
Either way here be the old and new. Obviously the old is still attached to me.
Yesterday morning I called Animas and told the nice lady of my issue and she was very helpful. Good line of questioning, are there cracks in the case? No. The pad the buttons on are on, is there any hardening of cracking? Well, I mean the buttons are faded and rubbed, but all was fine otherwise. Has the pump been exposed to water recently? (aside from an accidental jump into a recently flushed toilet) No, he has been pretty much out of the water his whole life. He doesn't like to swim, but I know he can. Where do you normally keep your pump? Well my belt, my pocket, attached to me in someway shape or form. That always seems to work the best.
Alrighty, well I will get a new pump out to you by tomorrow. And just send the old one back. No problem.
So I got the new pump, not sure if I will rename it or just go with Murph. I may cheap out and call him Blue though. That way I can follow, Blue's Clues. I miss Blue's Clues... Sorry, but yeah. It is amazing though to see how beat up a pump can get over the course of a few years. Now on to my favorite part, making sure I actually transfer all the data over. I guess I should sync my pump to EzManager or something...
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Kinda sorta raking it in...
So I went to the Endo today and had a lovely talk with my Doctor. She is a great lady and I truly appreciate her. We talked about any concerns I had, my numbers, and also the issues with my insurance and Dexcom.
She told me she has been in communication with the insurance and people on her office staff are still working on the getting a conversation all setup. So hopefully things will work out for the good. The funny thing is she laughed when I told her the reason for denial of claim... Again, if you missed that note, "your claim is being denied due to lack of hypoglycemic events/incidents." Duh, 'cause the friking thing is doing its job. Oh well. Otherwise it is all good.
Now I could talk about my numbers and everything, but it is not my thing to talk about that. My a1c is good and we will leave it at that. I am happy, she is happy, the entire world is happy. On my way out, I booked my next appointment and paid my co-pay of $15.
I don't mind that, but the thing is that my appointment was 15 minutes long. Again, not a complain. However, that means I just paid my endo's office $1 a minute. Not to mention what they are taking in from my insurance. While yes we can argue that malpractice insurance, office staff, rent, and so on are why things cost so much. Yet, imagine if you got paid $1 for every minute you worked.
In my line of work, I figure that per week I week I work off and on about 70 hours or so a week. Which means, i would make $4,200 a week or $218,400 a year. How awesome would that be?
What would you do with that kind of salary??
Well I would be so happy, yet to tell you the truth I am not sure about what I would truly do with that money. I mean some of it would go to the JDRF and their research. After that I would hope it would go towards good causes and a sweet car as well. Maybe a gold plated pump or something like that as well. How about y'all????
She told me she has been in communication with the insurance and people on her office staff are still working on the getting a conversation all setup. So hopefully things will work out for the good. The funny thing is she laughed when I told her the reason for denial of claim... Again, if you missed that note, "your claim is being denied due to lack of hypoglycemic events/incidents." Duh, 'cause the friking thing is doing its job. Oh well. Otherwise it is all good.
Now I could talk about my numbers and everything, but it is not my thing to talk about that. My a1c is good and we will leave it at that. I am happy, she is happy, the entire world is happy. On my way out, I booked my next appointment and paid my co-pay of $15.
I don't mind that, but the thing is that my appointment was 15 minutes long. Again, not a complain. However, that means I just paid my endo's office $1 a minute. Not to mention what they are taking in from my insurance. While yes we can argue that malpractice insurance, office staff, rent, and so on are why things cost so much. Yet, imagine if you got paid $1 for every minute you worked.
In my line of work, I figure that per week I week I work off and on about 70 hours or so a week. Which means, i would make $4,200 a week or $218,400 a year. How awesome would that be?
What would you do with that kind of salary??
Well I would be so happy, yet to tell you the truth I am not sure about what I would truly do with that money. I mean some of it would go to the JDRF and their research. After that I would hope it would go towards good causes and a sweet car as well. Maybe a gold plated pump or something like that as well. How about y'all????
Thursday, March 3, 2011
The Alert ID
Last night, I was utterly exhausted but after a meeting I was having, i was all set to hit the hay, even though it was only like 8:00. I know, I live a glorious life. I get a text from one of my co-workers that said, "Barb, Denise, and Doreen all going to diner. Join us." So I did, I had fries and cheese. Oh so good, and I even managed to bolus right on this un'. Woke up at 75, which doesn't happen when I deal with fries and crap normally.
As we were chatting the night away one of my Denise had commented on the bracelet I was wearing. She told me it was pretty nifty. So I looked at it and went oh... Yeah, that's my ID bracelet. And the three of them were all like, "those things have come a long way." And truly the Medic Alert, or emergency ID bracelet or whatever you want to call it has truly come a long way. I mean, back in the day I only had one option, the medic alert. I opted for the necklace, and it served its purpose over the years, but really it was not all that trendy or even nice. I actually, just tossed the sucker the other day... Anyway, now the options for bracelets or alerts are all over the place.
I recently bought a new ID and three corresponding bracelets to go with it. Up until the new ID came in I was playing with a different bracelet, just a plain blue rubber one, but after so long of being close to the hotness that is my body, it was kinda permaformed to me. So that is gone. Still held the old ID though. Now, I have three cool bracelets and two alerts ID's for anyone to notice. And notice they shall, 'cause again they are so eye popping. Which is awesome.
I am currently sporting the top one, but they are all really sweet. The other side of the top one just says, "Type-1 Diabetes" the older middle one says "Insulin Dependent Diabetic See cell/wallet". Yet with my new phone I have no emergency contact info and my wallet, well after taking an unplanned dip in a river that info is gone as well. So it is not as on top of things as I would like for it to be. But yeah, these and many other awesome Alert ID's can be found at N-Style ID. This is just me saying they are awesome, I have no ties to them. If I did, I would still be doing this, but more often and shamelessly.
As we were chatting the night away one of my Denise had commented on the bracelet I was wearing. She told me it was pretty nifty. So I looked at it and went oh... Yeah, that's my ID bracelet. And the three of them were all like, "those things have come a long way." And truly the Medic Alert, or emergency ID bracelet or whatever you want to call it has truly come a long way. I mean, back in the day I only had one option, the medic alert. I opted for the necklace, and it served its purpose over the years, but really it was not all that trendy or even nice. I actually, just tossed the sucker the other day... Anyway, now the options for bracelets or alerts are all over the place.
I recently bought a new ID and three corresponding bracelets to go with it. Up until the new ID came in I was playing with a different bracelet, just a plain blue rubber one, but after so long of being close to the hotness that is my body, it was kinda permaformed to me. So that is gone. Still held the old ID though. Now, I have three cool bracelets and two alerts ID's for anyone to notice. And notice they shall, 'cause again they are so eye popping. Which is awesome.
I am currently sporting the top one, but they are all really sweet. The other side of the top one just says, "Type-1 Diabetes" the older middle one says "Insulin Dependent Diabetic See cell/wallet". Yet with my new phone I have no emergency contact info and my wallet, well after taking an unplanned dip in a river that info is gone as well. So it is not as on top of things as I would like for it to be. But yeah, these and many other awesome Alert ID's can be found at N-Style ID. This is just me saying they are awesome, I have no ties to them. If I did, I would still be doing this, but more often and shamelessly.
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