I'm really, really psyched- my years of being a guinea pig have climaxed up to fufillment of The Dream Come True.(Kinda)
The phone rang, the 4th call in 10 minutes. Sigh. Pick up.
"Hi, Heidi. This is "X"- would you be interested in doing another study?"
As she explains what all is involved, it occurs to me this will be the very last study I'll be able to do for them. Darn, I'm gonna miss that. Plus the pay, of course.Bethesda studies don't pay at all.(good research place, they just don't pay their participants!)
"You're one of the very few(12, to be exact) people to qualify for this study, based on the one you did in 2002 AND the Boost Test. If you had a cpeptide, you wouldn't qualify."
"That's good, I'm glad I don't have a c-peptide."(mild sarcasm)
Visit #1- paperwork, bloodwork. The usual.
Visit #2. Overnight(23 hour) admission to the Research Center. Gotta use their pump(Cozmo, with Humalog). I am a Novolog girl myself but it won't kill me to use Humalog. It'll just be, interesting. Haven't used it in like 4 years. IV, heart moniter attached.
But I get to wear a Medtronic REALTIME Guardian!(or a Dexcom-its a random decision) for 21 hours.(more or less) I don't think I'll sleep, I'll be too busy looking at my beautiful blood sugars.
And I can see what its like.
Next morning, its the typical overkill testing(ever had your blood sugar taken every bleepin' FIVE minutes? for 6 straight hours) that I went through in 2002 so I know what to expect. Then,from 2 pm-2:45 I ride an exercise bike and at 3:45 I get "lunch"(if you could call it that,more like an early supper) and that's the end.
I only wish I could keep the CGMS....
Great that you are testing out the continuous monitor! Even a few days with one on would be very educational. And I believe in another year or so, a lot more insurance companies will be covering these devices. There are some cracks in the armor (sic) and they are starting to cave! Medicaid will be assigning a code for the sensors this January. I'm sure you already know this, but there is a lot of information on the web as to how to start building your case for the insurance companies, some of whom already cover use of these monitors on a case-by-case basis. Documentation is the name of the game. If you have the documentation, I would be willing to bet you would be covered under a decent insurance plan. You qualify, IMHO. So many adults are blogging about their experiences with these monitors. And this greatly helps parents with young children who may be frightened of the new technology, of the pain involved (you can numb the area), and discouraged from even trying these life-saving devices. Many in the D world do not believe the continuous monitors are appropriate for younger children and are very vocal in their objection. (Not our endo, thank God!. Even our previous endo was 100 percent for the use of the Paradigm Real Time System). Dex is great, too! Whatever you chose, maybe you can keep a copy of the documentation as to how this device helped you to use for future insurance coverage.
ReplyDeleteWhat an ordeal - after going through all that they ought to let you keep the CGMS. But life isn't usually what it ought to be.
ReplyDeleteWhat an excellent experience!! Would love to hear how it goes!!!
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