Thank You Cat_Macros community on Livejournal...

1. Not sure why they call them "macros". It's not like it's some functional part of a program or anything.

2. If you want to subject yourself to more (and you know you wanna) go here.

3. I love bringing my readers the funny stuff. Whee!

Left Me Out in the Cold Rain and Snow

Not enough snow here in Delaware for my liking. We are fairly close to the ocean, so we don't get big snowstorms often. Tonight, we've got ice. A little snow, but mostly the slippery stuff.

My mom tells me it was snowing 25 years ago today. Another year older.

For all the crap out there, I'm actually happier than I've been in a while.

It's all the little things that keep me going...the chicken teriyaki stir-fry I made for dinner, the Gnarls Barkley playing on my co-worker's radio today, my mom's story about the 40-year-old guy who comes in to flirt with her at work, and of course, my husband's contagious enthusiasm as he pulls a sled out of the storage closet with the intent to tie it to the back of his car. Yes, car sledding. Matt will drive around the parking lot tonight, doing about 10 or 15 mph, just so he can pull our friends around on a sled.

You should have seen the look on the cashier's face at Lowe's when we went down there to buy rope. She said, "You came out in this mess...to get...rope?" Well THEN you should have seen the look on her face when we told her where we were going next--to the grocery store to get ice cream.

And best of all, I found the song in the Geico commercial with the caveman walking through the airport. It's called "Remind Me (Radio Edit)", and it's by Royksopp. I think my roommate found it on iTunes. There are like 4 different versions. This particular edit is the one from the commercial. You know you want it.

Happy birthday to me.

I'm So Emo.

Yeah, I've been a downer lately. But things are just really frustrating, and I know you guys understand. So thanks for listening to my short-tempered ramblings.

On the upside of things, I had a terrific weekend in which I watched some DVDs, ate some tasty food cooked by my husband, and enjoyed at least one excellent blood sugar reading. 116. I am still working on how to get more of those, but every time it happens, I know it's possible.

Speaking of my husband, he recently got a MySpace account after resisting for something like a year and a half. He was featured on the "Cool New People" section, and Nicole from CuriousGirl happened to spot me in his picture! So now Nicole and I are MySpace friends too. Blogging about my diabetes is just one small part of my extremely busy life...if you want to see some of these people that I know, or read about the rest of my life, maybe we should be MySpace friends! Let me know where to find you. It could be fun.

Also...today is a landmark day in some small sense. It's my last day of being 24. You know what? Good riddance to this age. Bring on tomorrow. Thank goodness.

More Great News.

I hate the American insurance system. If you live in another country where there is universal healthcare, you don't know how fortunate you are.

My old insurance company never sent a letter of pre-existing condition to my new insurance company. My guess is this will only set back my referral EVEN longer, making it even longer until I get my pump supplies, and I had to re-reschedule my appointment with Nancy the NP.

At least going to see my PCP has nothing to do with my pre-existing condition, so I'm covered for the visit I'm making to them today. Kind of an icky problem, probably not fit for public consumption. Once I get a diagnosis and have a nicer name for it, I'll tell you about it.

AAAAAAAARRRRRRGH this is not a good way to start the weekend.

The Supply Saga Continues...

Dear Josh at Minimed,

Thank you for being helpful and nice to me no matter how many times we have to talk on the phone over this ridiculous referral business. Seriously, dude, you don't know how good you've been to me. Now you are sending me samples so I can get through the next week and a half, without having to bust into my emergency stash of infusion sets, so thank you. You keep me posted on the craziness my doctors are feeding you, and I appreciate it.

You will never know that I called my PCP's office today desperately searching for a referral only to be told to leave it on the referral line (which says it could take up to a week to process, even though the receptionist assures me it's "3 business days"), and that I ended up in tears because I just want this to be done with. My crying did nothing to phase the dumb girl on the phone, but I know you would have taken pity on me, Josh.

You understand that I'm a little distressed since I was supposed to be getting supplies a week ago at the latest and now this is turning into a month-long fiasco. You seem very sweet, and you are sensitive to the needs of the consumer. I should send you flowers. Or cookies. Or a letter of recommendation so you can get a promotion.

But please, don't go to the billing department. You will be wasted there. Even your helpfulness can't straighten things out in that hideously damaged world.

At the risk of sounding hideously cheesy, you are my Prince of Pump Supplies, and I really want to thank you for your hard work from the bottom of my heart.

love,
Hannah


PS--Blog-reading world...I really do think this guy has been extremely helpful. Would it be inappropriate to ask for his address so I can send him a thank you note or a kind letter to his supervisor? If it isn't, how do you propose I go about doing it?

Urge to kill...rising...

I have been giving every correction bolus and half my food boluses with needles this week, all in the hopes that Minimed, my new health insurance, and my doctor's office could come together and solve this thing called "sending Hannah new insulin pump supplies".

Once a year, Minimed requires a new prescription from your doctor saying you need insulin pump supplies. While this took a little longer than I wanted it to last year, it's generally not a surprise. I didn't think there would be a repeat.

Oh, I was so very wrong. I am about to crack open my emergency box of infusion sets, and it's frustrating as hell. Why? Because my NEW health insurance isn't a PPO, therefore I require a referral for EVERYTHING from my primary care doctor. Unfortunately, I don't think the office staff realizes what a dire thing this is for me--everything with my new insurance has cleared. Everything with my endocrinologist's office has cleared. I am thisclose to getting the stuff I need, and this close to losing my mind, but perhaps tomorrow I should call my PCP's office--give them a piece of my mind instead.

I have to say that it's upsetting that a couple of weeks ago, I told Minimed I had about 2 weeks' worth of supplies left. The customer service person took my order and told me I should have it by January 31st. This was perfectly fine. Then there were insurance problems because my old policy hadn't cancelled yet even though my new one kicked in. Then there were problems getting ahold of my PCP's office because they insisted they didn't have anyone named Hannah McD in their system. That's because they had Hannah R in their system--my maiden name. Honestly, how many Hannahs can there be at one family medicine practice with a birthday of February 13th 1982? ARGYAARGHBARGYARGY. (Oh yeah, I'll be 25 a little less than 2 weeks from now. Yipe!)

I want my supplies! Even my pharmacy can figure out my new insurance and change my name in the same night, getting me my medication--and they have horrible customer service these days. I've talked to Josh at Minimed so many times in the past couple of weeks, I have his extension memorized. I know he's working on it...I'm glad that he keeps following up. I really don't blame Minimed for any of this, but I really wish there was a way that insurance, doctor's offices and supply companies could work in synchronization.

Because if everyone who's SUPPOSED to be keeping me well could work in harmony, then maybe my own body would be a little more harmonious. We're not even going to talk about what all this added stress does to my blood sugars. Ugh.

Oh crap. Speaking of my body and such, I still need to PayPal Allison for the OC New Me Challenge. Thank goodness I got paid this week! I should probably do that while I think of it...so...um...share your thoughts. Share your insulin pump supply re-order horror stories.

And in case I don't get to blog before then...LET'S GO COLTS!

(Though it's far too fun to say, "daaah Bears" like on the old SNL skit...)