Well, I have decided after much soul-searching to go ahead and get a new pump. On Monday, I'll be authorizing my insurance's DME supplier to proceed with acquiring a MiniMed 722...
Since my visit with the new opthamologist last month, where he found the beginnings of "changes" in my retinas, I've not been the same. I know there are plenty of treatments available for us who might suffer these issues, but part of what has been getting to me is my little voice saying "You already work hard at this, and it's still beating you..." I know I could tweak my routines even more, but the fight just seems to finally wear on you. Perpetual war probably is as bad for the person as it is for society in general. And after re-reading the essay Archimeech posted years ago (
http://www.diabetesforums.com/forum/...ologists.html?, it occurred to me I am nearly 17.5 years with this disease...
Quote:
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17. To everyone who studies the results of the DCCT without the eyes of the blood sugar police, the most striking finding is the extremely wide variation in complications among different patients at the same average blood sugar level. This points to the importance of factors OTHER than the blood sugar level in causing compliations. This, combined with the fact that some rare patients have been observed to have diabetic complications but no trace of diabetes, and that there is a very high peak of new onset cases of diabetic nephropathy 17.5 years after onset of diabetes, regardless of the level of blood sugar control, suggest that the blood sugar control is being overemphasized in therapy.
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So here I am, hip-deep studying for a massive exam I have to take next month, wondering if it is all downhill from here at the ripe old age of 34, with two kids and what should otherwise be the best years of my life ahead of me...and my brain is starting to look for the panic button.
So, my care team says this development with my eyes, however "minor", constitutes medical necessity for an aggressive change, that change being CGMS. My insurance agreed with my doc, but of course he asked for and they approved the 722 pump, but not the built-in CGMS. They will approve the Guardian if my doc says it is medically necessary.
At any rate, I'll pay out of pocket if I have to for the CGMS. I'd regret being debilitated early in life because I got cheap when the time for the right decision came.
And as long as I am venting and ranting, as of yesterday (Friday) my consulting gig with the people in the 5-sided building is up--it's a long story, suffice it to say government contracts are just assanine...even when the client wants you to stay, it's just not as simple as allocating a slot with money to pay your company for your position. So my concern now is, I could get fired or laid off soon--that in and of itself doesn't worry me, I have skills and abilities that will get me rehired within two weeks by another Beltway Bandit--I could always contact one of the other contracting firms that are still entrenched with my former client...But my concern is, the next insurance for my next employer will say "Pump? Wazzat? An Aerosmith album? 'Love in an elevator!' Great song!" So, circumstances have forced my hand into pushing for this pump now as opposed to waiting.
Sigh. It's not like I had enough on my mind with this exam coming up. I'll get over this shortly, but right now I find myself constantly shaking my head and brooding.
/rant. Off to study some more late on a Saturday night.
