Glucose meter - small town
I was so disgusted with this town on Sunday, Jan-Hendrik went with his sister (it was het birthday) and 10 other friends to a guest farm to picnic for the day. Lot's of swimming and lots of sun. When he swim he normally take of his pump for that period. So lot's of periods without a pump - I knew his bs was going to be wacky that night.
By 5pm they called me and told met that his glucose meter (medisence optium plus) won't work and it seemed as if his sugar is high (irritability - emotional). So I drove there to fetch him (It is about 7km out). By the time I got there, they took out his pump battery to see if it was the meter battery (they did not bother to check that the meter is using 2 batteries). When they tried putting back the battery back into the pump - the pump failed the battery... No pump again. It seemed that everything on the meter worked fine but when a strip is put in nothing happened!
Back home I took out the spare meter (accu-check active) - battery was flat and no strips. I took both meters and drove to the only pharmacy that was open on a Sunday between 5 and 6. They didn't have meters (I was looking for the same meter because we have about 9 boxes of strips and does'nt want to waste all those strips.) They didn't have that specific battery for the accucheck either - so no use buying strips!
I drove to the hospital. The receptionist told me the pharmasist is on holiday the other one lives 60km out of town and she will not come in. I asked if they didn't have spare for me - I need to check his bs through the night. So she said she's going to ask the sister (the only one on duty!!) Came back and told me I have to bring him in, pay the emergency fee then they will test him!!! You can imagine I laughed at her. I asked is that what I should do the rest of the night - regardless to say I left there furious. It just reminded me of how little people know about diabetes in this small town!
After I went out I decided to phone everyone I know who has diabetes - there are 3 children in our town with diabetes and about 3 adults - most of them lived on farms outside town. Luckily the first person I called had a medisence on standby. It turned out that her medical aid sent her another meter - also a accucheck- because the strips for the medisence was too expensive. I told her I'll give her a pack of strips on return of the meter.
Yesterday (Monday) I phone the pharmacy that works with our medical aid and ask them about another meter, and if the medical aid will pay for one. The lady phoned me back and said that the medical aid will not pay for another meter but she talked to the pharmasist and they will send me a meter for free!! But they can only do it on the 12th of January because the supplier is closed till then. So we're on a borrowed meter till then!!
This sort of thing won't happen in a city where there's lot's of phamacies and hospitals. It's really a drawback in a small town!
By 5pm they called me and told met that his glucose meter (medisence optium plus) won't work and it seemed as if his sugar is high (irritability - emotional). So I drove there to fetch him (It is about 7km out). By the time I got there, they took out his pump battery to see if it was the meter battery (they did not bother to check that the meter is using 2 batteries). When they tried putting back the battery back into the pump - the pump failed the battery... No pump again. It seemed that everything on the meter worked fine but when a strip is put in nothing happened!
Back home I took out the spare meter (accu-check active) - battery was flat and no strips. I took both meters and drove to the only pharmacy that was open on a Sunday between 5 and 6. They didn't have meters (I was looking for the same meter because we have about 9 boxes of strips and does'nt want to waste all those strips.) They didn't have that specific battery for the accucheck either - so no use buying strips!
I drove to the hospital. The receptionist told me the pharmasist is on holiday the other one lives 60km out of town and she will not come in. I asked if they didn't have spare for me - I need to check his bs through the night. So she said she's going to ask the sister (the only one on duty!!) Came back and told me I have to bring him in, pay the emergency fee then they will test him!!! You can imagine I laughed at her. I asked is that what I should do the rest of the night - regardless to say I left there furious. It just reminded me of how little people know about diabetes in this small town!
After I went out I decided to phone everyone I know who has diabetes - there are 3 children in our town with diabetes and about 3 adults - most of them lived on farms outside town. Luckily the first person I called had a medisence on standby. It turned out that her medical aid sent her another meter - also a accucheck- because the strips for the medisence was too expensive. I told her I'll give her a pack of strips on return of the meter.
Yesterday (Monday) I phone the pharmacy that works with our medical aid and ask them about another meter, and if the medical aid will pay for one. The lady phoned me back and said that the medical aid will not pay for another meter but she talked to the pharmasist and they will send me a meter for free!! But they can only do it on the 12th of January because the supplier is closed till then. So we're on a borrowed meter till then!!
This sort of thing won't happen in a city where there's lot's of phamacies and hospitals. It's really a drawback in a small town!
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Comment by Kristin on January 18, 2009 at 12:16pm -
Wow... what a day! Glad that you finally found a solution!!
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Comment by Riette on January 18, 2009 at 10:08pm -
You won't believe it but I'm still waiting for a meter - still on a loan meter and we just found out our insurance is only going to half of the price of 1 box of strips. I have to pay for the rest.
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Comment by Lois on January 18, 2009 at 11:06pm -
Riette:
From what I understand of this discussion, your son's GLUCOMETER went on the fritz??? Yeah, it's a bummer!
The very first thing you should do when businesses open up on Monday is call the manufacturer of the meter you use most often. Tell them what happened and that you really need a back-up meter and a new meter to replace the one on the fritz. I would be surprised if they didn't send you both. I had talked with AccuChek some months back about a problem that I had and they sent me a new meter (I sent the other back). When we were talking on the phone when I registered the meter for the warranty, he asked me if I had a backup. I said no and, whatta ya know!, he said he was sending me a new free meter. That is how I got the new AccuChek Compact Plus BEFORE it was released on the general market!!!
You know, they make all their money on the strips so they fall all over themselves to get you to use their meter. In the space of 1 year (just recently) I had like 6 meters sent to me. Even some when I told them I DIDN'T WANT them!!!
You may even be able to get a box or two of strips with them if you lay it on thick about your financial situation.
Good luck and God bless you and your family.
Lois La Rose
Milwaukee, WI
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Comment by Riette on January 22, 2009 at 7:20am
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I am soooo disgusted, we still waiting a a glocometer!!!! It was suppose to arrive with his normal script - but no meter!! When I phoned they found out that they never ordered one BUT the meter is not free I have to pay - not a big amount but still. I told them it's fine but I need one urgently. They said it will take a day or 2 but then they will send it. Meanwhile I tried phoning the rep - his phone is off and I think he out out of the country. So no luck there. I phoned my sister-in-law 's brother who is a radiologist (and also diabetic). I also needed a reference for a new doctor. His girlfriend a former radiographist gave me a number to call. I talked to a very nice lady who is going to send me a freestyle light free with 2 boxes of strips at cost!! So hopefully by next week everthing will be sorted out.
Lois la Rose - Unfortuanetly, we do not live is the USA. You are light years ahead of us. The manufacturers are there not here :( So we have to get hold of suppliers that import them from other countries!
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Comment by Marie B on January 22, 2009 at 7:26am -
How frustrating! Thanks for posting, because this is a reminder for us to check our supplies for fresh extra batteries for our meters. I have an accu-chek Aviva and it uses funny flat batteries that I get at the hardware store.
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Comment by Riette on January 22, 2009 at 11:09am
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Yes our other meter is also a accu-chek - Active - also using the flat battery - each has it's own number. Different products use this flat batteries that look exactly alike but the number on it is different!
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