Insurance?

I don't really understand all that is going on with this universal healthcare stuff.  I just want to vent my frustrations  for a minute or two.

Insurance is not for the sick.  It is only for the well.  When you're well, you don't shell out much money for doctor's visits and prescriptions.  You may pay an arm and a leg for your monthly premium, but that's about it.

Then there are those of us that are "sick".  We are the punishable ones.  We pay the arm, the leg, and part of the other arm for coverage for our family.  Then we have to see a specialist every other month.  That's another sky-high fee.  Then we have tons of prescriptions.  We do have co-pays for prescriptions, but it seems that each year, that fee doubles.  Multiply that co-pay by 4, and that is only part of our monthly prescription cost--it's the part that comes from the drug store pharmacy.  Then there's the crazy co-pay amounts that go to the pump company for pump supplies.  And oh yeah, they only covered 1/8 of the cost of the pump.  

That's not to mentions the Continuous Glucose Monitor that Maddie desperately needs, but guess what?  Yep, that's right.  It's not covered.  Oh well....too bad....

Ahhh....I feel much better now.  I just needed to vent a little.

Bottom line:  Some people have fancy cars, or beautiful houses, or brand new trendy clothes.  Some people go on trips to exotic places, or go to the beach every weekend.

BUT, we have an income (it's very small, but it's there--I promise) and we have insurance coverage, and a healthy child with an insulin pump.  I'll take that over shopping sprees any day!

Midnight Confessions

When Maddie was first diagnosed, she was on insulin shots, which meant I was in charge of her entire diabetes situation.  When a diabetic goes on an insulin pump, you relinquish control, and the pump takes over, deciding how much insulin to give you according to food and blood sugar, etc.  It has been difficult for me to give up this control to a tiny little purple device that runs on 1 AA battery.

One of my most favorite times of the day is when I check Maddie's blood sugar at 2am.  Everyone in the house is fast asleep, and I go into her room, sit on her bed, and check her blood.  If you've ever watched a child sleep, you know that it's the sweetest thing in the world.  Usually, Maddie isn't too low, so I don't wake her up, but she usually wakes up just enough to give me her finger and watch me as I stick her finger

But sometimes, I have to wake her up all the way to give her a few glucose tablets.  When I do this, I think it stuns her, and she gets a little crazy.  She'll finish a conversation she was having in her dreams, or she'll point to something that she was dreaming about, that in reality isn't there.  But sometimes, she wakes up all the way, and she'll say the sweetest, most random things.

Sometimes she'll tell me that she really enjoyed dinner.  Sometimes, she'll thank me for something I did months ago, or sometimes she'll tell me something really funny that she and Reilly did earlier in the evening.  And sometimes, she'll even tell me that I look beautiful, even though I know that I don't.  My mascara is under my eyes, instead of on my eyelashes, my hair is frizzy from chasing my boys around the house, and my pajamas have some sort of stain on them from whatever my 2 year old was eating before he went to bed.  But it always baffles me that even though it's probably really annoying that she gets woken up, she always seems to be the sweetest at that moment.

It is a burden to have to stay up until 2 am every night, but I am so thankful that I get to have those moments with her all by myself and get to hear her little voice, and see her sleepy little eyes.  That is my favorite part of the day.     

My MasterCard Commercial

Insurance                                                $7200/year

Insulin Pump                                            $8000

Glucose Monitor                                      $500

Testing Strips                                           $840/year

Insulin                                                      $420/year

Lab Visits                                                 $300/year

Endocrinologist Appointments                    $360/year

Glucose Tablets                                         $100/year



My sweet Maddie Belle        PRICELESS