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Well, here’s the deal on the Glucowatch.

The guy who runs the insulin pumpers list (whom I have a problem with anyway) claimed he had a working Glucowatch that people could try.
So I told him to send it and ordered a minimum order of autosensors.

However, when it came, it was missing 5 components: the recharger, the self test unit, the autosensor press, and the batteries. Batteries wasn’t a problem, it has two rechargable but takes a regular AAA.

The problem is, you can’t make it work without the autosensor press.

It wasn’t a complete waste, because I got to see the video tape, which was well done, and reasonable. I didn’t open the other materials, as I figured out pretty quickly it wasn’t going to work.

So I called the Glucowatch people and was going to cancel the autosensor order but they had shipped the day before. So then I decided to bite the bullet and buy the watch.

Friday arrives — two days after the “temperate sensitive” auto sensors were supposed to have shipped and NO sensors. And Diabetic Promotions is out of the office at 4:00 pm Friday (EST). I don’t even get off work until 4:00 pm Friday on (CST), so that was problematic.

I phoned first thing this morning, ready for a battle, but yes, they had shipped, and UPS lost the order! I wasn’t completely convinced until UPS called, so now I’m waiting for both the watch and the reshipment of the autosensors.

And so far, Diabetic Promotions have been okay to deal with.

Going through the Glucowatch 1-800 is hookie, because they are on California time, and don’t answer to 10, and Diabetic Promotions are on Eastern time, so I’m not even going to mess with the Glucowatch 1-800 from now on. Especially since before 8:00 am our time is an ideal time for me to mess with stuff like that.

As of today, I’m 28 pounds less than I was when I first went to their office!

I’m really thrilled to death with both the doctor and the CDE. We did have an interesting conversation, because the doctor didn’t want me to waste my money on the Glucowatch, but they both decided — like I did — if anyone on the planet can get it to work, I can, and because I’ve done so well with everything else, we might as well give it a shot.

Believe me, I’ll hammer the Glucowatch people with tech support requests. More on that, next.

Anyway, the CDE and I had an interesting conversation — I’m one of her very few Type 2’s on a pump (I might be the only one), and she’s not sure if she would put me on the pump if I was a new patient. She acknowledged she would have to work with me for a while.

I also admitted I wasn’t as anal about numbers until the pump — but why be, if you aren’t influencing the numbers by your behavior?

We also agreed that I will see her after I see my sleep doctor and that if he has anything negative to say about my part of my care, I’m walking out of the office!

I’m doing very well on the weight loss, still losing around 1-2 pounds a week. Unfortunately it’s so slow that the people who are around me all the time don’t notice.

I did enjoy the ego boost when I returned back to school though. That’s been nice.

I got an angry note last night from a reader, which I deleted, but then responded privately. I hope the reader reply to my email again, because I think it’s someone who needs some help.

The reader was frustrated because I whined about having a slightly higher elevated blood sugar, and because I saw my endo about it.

I know that I am lucky and that I’ve made some good choices. Teacher pay is lousy but our benefits are pretty good.

I’m on 6 different medications a day, plus insulin and test strips. I haven’t figured out exactly, but I will ball park that at around $150 a month. No that’s not bad.

I see several specialists on a regular basis. A sleep doctor about every 3 months now, and the endo, about every 6 months. Right now I am seeing his CDE for diet and weight loss support every month, but may go to every other after November. I used to get allergy shots and saw an allergy doctor on a regular basis, but am taking a break from that.

And don’t forget the pump supplies. Those run around $150-200 a month, but the insurance pays 95% of the covered part.

I do use our Flexible Spending account to pay all of the above I can with pre-Tax dollars.

So my diabetes care isn’t cheap and does take some personal sacriface. This summer when I was frustrated with my job, I didn’t go look for another one, because I knew the benefits wouldn’t be as good.

However, I am not whining, just stating facts. And I don’t know what I would do if we did lose the insurance.

I know my husband has never been unhappy with the sacriface we’ve made so I could have the pump.