Wednesday, September 11, 2013

It might be an interesting day for glucose...

Every time I fill my pump reservoir I hold the wee cylinder of insulin up to the light and say to myself, "I can't believe this tiny little amount of clear liquid is going to keep me alive for the next few days". It's always kind of awesome to realize.

And then, today, I ran out... Like, really ran out! What's going to keep me alive?

I'm feeling a little irresponsible, but I'm also a victim of the random whimsy that is mail order prescription drug service. Usually they ship overnight, and usually they auto-ship. Neither of those happened, and when I got down to about a week of insulin left, I manually ordered my prescriptions. I got a confirmation that my shipment had been shipped and was relieved. Then yesterday, I came across this sad little package on the counter that had some pills in it that I didn't need. "Where's the insulin?" I checked the website and see that all the diabetes related stuff was hung up (no doctor refill response?), and not yet shipped.

Hmmm. In the fridge I have Lantus and Novolog pens, but they expired a year ago (it probably IS irresponsible to not know the status of those). I took some anyway (and Symlin). I know that when stuff expires it often still works, maybe just not as well. I could fill my pump from the Novolog pen, but I don't really want to commit quite yet. What works better 12 months expired Lantus, or 9 months expired Novolog?

I called Walgreens at 5:30 this morning and explained my situation. They are going to try getting in touch with my doctor, and then try to get the insurance to override the insurance limitations and get me some fresh Novolog. Sounds complicated, but I think they've done this before. I'm glad they are 24 hours.

I'm sure I'll learn a lesson from this, I usually do. 

3 comments:

  1. Uh, oh! That will be interesting, for sure. I hope you get some good life-saving stuff soon. :)

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    1. It appears that my doctor's office isn't open on Wednesdays, so Walgreens is having trouble with their faxes being answered. :) Shouldn't diabetics just be able to walk up and get the goods?

      So far, the guessed dose of expired Lantus is keeping me alive and I'm having a pretty normal day at work.

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    2. Fascinating! Glad it's working out for you-- even though your cortisol levels are probably a bit higher than usual...

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