some questions please.

[Guest guest]

as you know I seen the diabetes specialist yesterday. he stopped my

Glipizide, but I still take my met Forman 1000 twice a day and now I'm on the

70, 30, mix novalog flex pen. he has me on 20 units at breakfast and 20 units at

dinner. I'm to keep track of my sugar readings 4 times a day and fax it to him

next Tuesday. I found out from my drug store that these pens only cost right at

$300 each. I don't think my insurance is going to cover them from what I'm

hearing right now. he did say with my triglycerides being 1300, he would

normally have me taking 50 units twice a day, but when he checked my sugar at

his office my sugar was 140. I've been eating better in the last 5 weeks then at

any time in my adult life and my triglycerides went up from last March of 500 to

1300 one year later. this doc said only insulin will bring the 1300 down. now, a

q I got is how long after giving my self a shot do I have until I eat? home

really isn't a problem, but what about when I go out to eat? I hope I can

continue using the flex pen because they are just so easy, but at $300 a pen and

they only hold 300 units, well if I was on 100 units a day as he said a man my

size normally will take, then this means a $300 pen would last me 3 days! I

would have to be a R N making $40 per hour to afford this cost a month. I may

have to go back to school. another q is why do I always give my self a shot in

my belly? I will admit this is where most of my fat is, but in the hospital they

always give you your insulin in the arm just like a flue shot. well yesterday I

was a blessed man because the doc gave me 3 flex pens. to me this is a $900

gift. he did ask me if I have to draw up my own shots using the bottles of

insulin how would a totally blind person do it? now you would think as long as I

have been on this list and all the times you guys have talked about doing it,

why don't I know this answer? I suppose unless it is something you need to do

your self, then you won't pay close attention to what is being said. I did tell

him you guys do it and some of you can't see a lick, so if you can then no

reason why I can't. I like the flex pen, but if I can't afford it then it is

what it is. my sister does sell insurance supplements for the older folks, so

she is looking in to finding a way I might go and get most of it payed fore.

until then I have the 3 pens that if he leaves me on 40 units a day each will

last one week. ok, now got another q. he wrote me a scrip for 360 test strips

because he wants me to test more then I have been doing, but I forgot to tell

him I use the prodigy voice. I know the information you get with the meter says

to only use there strips, but will other strips work? the date on the prodigy

are out dated the end of March of this year. sorry for so many different

questions in one post, but if I don't put it all down here I probably will

forget and make a bad decision later. I trust you guys all most as much and

maybe more then a doctor. I know with my meter to test with I will use the same

needle more then one day. I use it until it won't give me blood. what about the

needles that I use in this flex pen? the doc said throw it away after my shot

and don't use it again. he said they were cheap, but I paid $33 for 100. this

isn't a lot but when you start adding all the rest in the price for everything

does go up. I know that a high triglyceride can cause pancreatitis and I wish no

part of that. he did say if I continue eating right and being careful, then he

may not have to put me on 50 units twice a day. he did say I got some other

issues with my hormons that he needs to address but plans to do that later. I

did like the man even if he is hard to understand. I call him doc E. because no

way I can wrap my tongue around his name. ok, no more questions right now. you

know where I am at this moment and if up the road I have to do my shots by

drawing up my own units, then we will cross that bridge when we get there.

appreciate all you guys and I did tell him about you. he said it was grate that

I had a support group to help me with my questions. one good thing is for more

then a few weeks when I first woke up my reading was close to 300 and now for

more then a week it is now under 200. probably the glipizide was doing it, but

he took me off it. I do wonder why he would leave me on 1000 mg of met Forman

twice a day as well as the insulin? well suppose he knows what he is about and

from my numbers at my last blood test I have no clue or I'm just thinking bad

things happen to others and never me! what a stupid thing to think, but I've had

this attitude for at least 9 years and 5 months. to many trips to the hospital

has finally got through to my thick head that this is serious business! maybe I

should use my head to give my shots? it does seem to be the fattest part and not

my belly. thanks.