This really shouldn't be this difficult!

I'm really frustrated with my doctor, the diabetes educator and the people at the pump company. Two or three months ago I filled out paper work for an insulin pump. A couple weeks later I got a phone call saying the insurance company had approved it and I wouldn't have to pay anything out of pocket and it would be shipped the following week. Weeks went by and there was no insulin pump. Come to find out the insurance company needed more info from my doctor. They needed a reason why my last insulin pump didn't work for me. We filled out more paperwork. A week or so later I got a phone call from the diabetes educator that works with my doctor and she said I had been approved. She gave me the contact information for a pump rep. All this time I have been emailing a guy that is a pump rep for the whole eastern shore. I told him what the educator said and to get my pump shipped he needed an approval letter or some sort of documentation from the insurance company verifying that they had approved it. The one person that would have those documents is the diabetes educator since she is the One that called me and said I was approved...but do you think she had it? No. After a couple days of not hearing anything I emailed the pump guy that's in charge of the eastern shore. Come to find out the insurance company needs records of my blood sugars before they can approve me for my pump. Why have I been told TWICE that I was approved when I really wasn't?!?! Why do these people insist on getting me excited by telling me I can get an insulin pump when really they have no f****** clue? It is so aggravating. And I bet if I hadn't been staying in contact with everyone I would of never known any of this. This is a big load of BS. I've gotten so excited because I think my insulin pump is on its way but really we have no idea if I can even get one yet. Ugh!!!!

Insulin Pump???

I mentioned the other day that I was trying to get a new insulin. The insurance company denied it saying they need more information. Well, I gave them all the info they wanted over a week ago and I have not heard anything. Those that know me, know that I am NOT a patient person whatsoever! I have emailed 2 people in the last few days trying to figure out what's going on and do you think I have heard anything???...of course not. One of these people is a pharmaceutical rep for the Eastern Shore. I don't know who the other lady is but she is the one that submitted an appeal to my insurance company so if anyone knows what's going on with the insurance company it would be her but of course no reply from her either.
The last few months I have been doing insulin injections and that's fine but I am starting to see how an insulin pump would make my life so much easier again! The very first insulin pump I had was Medtronic and I should have just stayed with that one... but then I came across the Omnipod which I thought was going to be the best thing for me but that turned into a POS! Ugh...live and learn I guess.
It's just very frustrating trying to do the right thing to better control your diabetes but insurance and the insulin pump companies make it so difficult! Praying the I hear something soon! :)

Check out this App!

Just like any other young adult I'm constantly using my phone....I'm a snapchat, Twitter, Facebook, Instagramming fanatic! So of course when I find an app that helps me control my diabetes is amazing! It's called Carbs and Cals. It is great for carb counting! It doesn't measure portion size by asking how many cups of corn did you have...it shows pictures! There will be a picture of a large plate and there will be different pictures with different amounts of corn in each picture (I'm just using corn as an example). I'm going to try to upload some screen shots to explain better how it works. I could just do a video but I'm not sure I'm ready to record myself yet! Lol. There's an option called "My Foods" and you can program any of your favorite foods in there so you can always have the amount of carbs on hand! You can also scan bar codes, and from the bar code the app will find your food in the data base. I haven't used this feature much but it's still pretty cool! The only thing about this app is that it costs about $5.00. I was a little hesitant on buying it but I figured I would use it a lot and if it helps ne have better control on my blood sugars then it's definitely worth it! This app isn't just for diabetics! If you are on a diet and you have to count calories or carbs then it will also be a huge help to you! Now, let me see if I can upload some pictures of the app...

Here is what the list of categories looks like. The picture doesn't show all of them...there are more! It's pretty cool because you can search by brand name, what kind of food you are looking for like fruits, vegetables, or bread.

I honestly think this is the coolest part of the app! This is how the app measures portion size! Who in their right mind wants to go through the trouble measuring out a cup of peas, etc. Once you figure out which portion size you had you click on it and add it to your meal. It's pretty simple!

I hope this app helps other diabetics with their carb counting and other people that are looking to count carbs and calories! FYI... I'm wearing my "Insulin Powered" t-shirt today! :)

Insurance companies are a pain in the a**!

I think a while ago I mentioned something about having an omnipod...maybe I didn't...I don't remember...but anyways I used the omnipod for a little over a year and I hated it. For those that don't know what the omnipod is, it is an insulin pump that doesn't have tubing. At first, I thought the omnipod was the greatest thing. Not having a wire to get tangled up in everything was amazing...but that's about the only good thing about it. It was so bulky! When I wore it under clothing it looked like a had some kind of growth coming off my stomach or wherever I decided to wear it. At least once a week I would get a pod (holds the insulin, attaches to skin) error which meant something went wrong with the pod and I would have to change it...once you fill a pod with insulin there is no way to get the insulin out... So when you throw a pod away you are throwing away insulin...so sometimes I would be wasting 200+ units of insulin because of these pod errors! Other times, the canula would come out from under my skin and I wouldn't get any notice at all so my blood sugar would sky rocket! So after dealing with that for months I decided enough was enough. I stopped using the omnipod and went back to insulin injections. I've been on injections for probably 4 months or so but I really want another insulin pump but I WILL NOT go back to the omnipod. I applied for an accucheck insulin pump but the insurance company denied it! Ugh! There was more info the insurance company wanted so I sent that stuff over about a week ago but still haven't heard anything. I am getting very impatient! My life would be so much easier with a pump! I am keeping my fingers crossed that hopefully I will hear something very soon!

Falling behind....

So as a lot if you have probably noticed I haven't blogged in a LONG time! I'm not sure why I'm falling behind but I'm going to try to start blogging again. It's something I really enjoy doing...I love helping other diabetics or at least give others the peace of mind knowing there are other people with Type 1 diabetes. I also want to start talking a lot about my struggle with depression, and bipolar disorder. So keep checking in for more updates! :)