1. Hate to say this and will probably gtet condemned for doing so, butt..

I did a survery a yr. ago and 35 pumpers responded.. Main reason they went on the pump?
1.Didn't Know how to carb Count and use Novalog Properly
2.Didn't like Injecting themselves so much
3.Hated Testing so much
4. Inturn had high blood sugars ( above 7% A1c's)

After they got their Pump and learned all aobut it and went into shock..they had gone ahead and argued for one, justified it to their Spouses to pay for the deductible and Pushed their Dr.'s to get it for them and now they couldn't go and admit they were wrong..

And their Blood Sugars only went down, because they had to Focus more on Carb Counting/Bolusing properly and testing 6-8x day..as constant reminders...

Less than 23% really took advantage of the Pump and got better than 7% A1c's...

Moral of the story? More has to be done to Train new Insulin Diabetics with Intensive training using Syringes, carb counting and Bolusing before they should be allowed to get a pump..

The Insurance Co.'s Know this and I hope they institute stricter Requirements before paying for a Pump, not Be more leinent..since it's obvious the Dr.'s Aren't...

The same problem as with Drug co.'s advertising on TV, etc. about their Brand name drugs...giving one the impression it is the ONLY way to take care of their Condition...

And yes, I know, for those 23%..it has been a Godsend, but as for the others? Remains to be seen.






It's obvious Medtronic wants to get Ins. Co.'s to make thing alot easier for their Insured to pay for their over priced Pups, now reaching over $7,000 for something that may last 5 yrs or Less..

Somethngs very wrong with this picutre..

Posted at 12:16AM on Mar 14th 2007 by Dennis

2. @Dennis - While I agree with most of what you have said, I hesitate to throw the proverbial baby out with the bath water.

I see the Medtronic Guardian as an educational tool, providing direct and nearly-real-time feedback, thus meeting some of the need to which you so eloquently spoke. The cost as a stand-alone is $1339, with no pump needed. So my wife with her non-compatible Deltec Cozmo, or anyone using needles, can take advantage of this educational benefit too. Frankly, we may pay for this out-of-pocket, instead of that new laptop I wanted to get this year to replace my aging one. While not everyone can afford $1339 no matter how hard they try, in many cases it's a question of priorities, and deciding you *must* afford this, and reap the benefit of the information it provides, for the sake of your health. It would be wonderful if insurance picked this up, but that is not the end of the matter; we are each responsible to make suitable choices with respect to where we send our dollars, if we have enough dollars to be able to make such choices. And frankly, if we pay for a Guardian out-of-pocket, we will definitely loan it to diabetic friends to use for periods of time as well.

Yes, more education is desperately needed; mentoring/partnering such as what AA uses, partnering long-time members with newbies, would be even better. As awareness grows, I trust we will see more of this.

Posted at 1:17PM on Mar 15th 2007 by TechRightGuy