Monday, September 4, 2000
Diabetic Detail - To MFS
Yeah, that Newsweek article was very disturbing. So, here's the information about the Glucometer. I'm pretty sure you can buy them on your own. The only reason we needed a prescription was to get Medicare to reimburse us for it. As it turns out they didn't reimburse for the full amount. It cost us $49.99. It cost Medicare $39.99. Who knows how they figured that one out?!? The one the doctor prescribed for us is the easiest and the most expensive, although since I have never used any other I'm not sure what "easiest" means. When we bought this one at Costco I noticed that the others (and there are LOADS of others) averaged around $30.00. The most expensive part of the monitoring equipment is the test strips. The lowest price we've found is $34.69 for 50. I asked two different pharmacists about generic or off-brand strips. They both laughed (they are pharmacists, after all; they know the drug companies intimately). For non-insulin dependent diabetics [If you aren't injecting insulin you are considered non-insulin dependent; don't ask me why; some of the oral medication is a form of producing insulin artifically, so what's the difference? I SAID, WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE?!?] Medicare only reimburses for 50 strips every two months. We, of course, use 120 strips every two months. I tried finding the cost for the lancets (we got a prescription for them but, as it turns out, it was written wrong so I bought our first box without reimbursement) and I'm not sure what I did with that receipt. They were pretty inexpensive though, and there are generics. Costco just didn't have any in stock. You have to make sure the lancets and the strips are designed for your specific meter ("Of course," say the pharmaceutical companies, chorused by the pharmacists). It can get expensive. Finding out whether you'd be able to get all that stuff reimbursed to you through your medical program might be worth it. I mean, they know you are at risk for diabetes. They also know that monitoring one's blood sugar is an excellent way to make sure you never become Type II diabetic. So, of course, it's probably impossible, at this point, to get them covered. I told one of the pharmacists who is about my age that once most of us baby-boomers become Type II diabetics you can bet there will be generic strips! He said there are companies that are already working on that. They just have to wait for the patents to run out to sell them! Ah, health care in the U.S. of A!
Probably the one saving grace of being an elder care provider of someone who is old but is untouched by strokes or other traumatically debilitating conditions is that it all happens so slowly the caregiver can adjust easily. I'm lucky that Mom is aging gradually instead of all of a sudden waking up one morning and finding that she can't, say, move one side of her body.
Thank you, by the way, for your prayers. I pray for the same things and the first part of the prayer for Mom's journey to be easy is being answered. I'm so aware of how unfair the distribution of health problems is as we get older. I've always felt that Mom deserves the easy road and I think I'm not the only One who's felt that. She's one of the lucky ones. I'm lucky to be able to be here and make sure her life is her life, not a hang-on life attached to someone else who is either legitimately too busy, too involved or even too unsympathetic to care.
By the way, we went over to our friends in Chandler for a low-key Labor Day celebration. Mom had been excited about it all week. Then, at 11 p.m. yesterday she decided she didn't want to go. She was saying things like she didn't know anyone (she knew everyone who was going to be there), she didn't want to do anything (going to someone's house and sitting around and eating and talking is doing nothing), etc. I finally told her she didn't have the option to stay home. When it was all over she'd had a great time, was glad she went and even remembered that I had badgered her into going and thanked me for it! That was a surprise! She didn't take a nap in the afternoon and was up until after 10 last night. What a difference a little activity makes!
Probably the one saving grace of being an elder care provider of someone who is old but is untouched by strokes or other traumatically debilitating conditions is that it all happens so slowly the caregiver can adjust easily. I'm lucky that Mom is aging gradually instead of all of a sudden waking up one morning and finding that she can't, say, move one side of her body.
Thank you, by the way, for your prayers. I pray for the same things and the first part of the prayer for Mom's journey to be easy is being answered. I'm so aware of how unfair the distribution of health problems is as we get older. I've always felt that Mom deserves the easy road and I think I'm not the only One who's felt that. She's one of the lucky ones. I'm lucky to be able to be here and make sure her life is her life, not a hang-on life attached to someone else who is either legitimately too busy, too involved or even too unsympathetic to care.
By the way, we went over to our friends in Chandler for a low-key Labor Day celebration. Mom had been excited about it all week. Then, at 11 p.m. yesterday she decided she didn't want to go. She was saying things like she didn't know anyone (she knew everyone who was going to be there), she didn't want to do anything (going to someone's house and sitting around and eating and talking is doing nothing), etc. I finally told her she didn't have the option to stay home. When it was all over she'd had a great time, was glad she went and even remembered that I had badgered her into going and thanked me for it! That was a surprise! She didn't take a nap in the afternoon and was up until after 10 last night. What a difference a little activity makes!
