[radiohead]

i'm on a diabetic support listserv. one of the members lives in canada and says they won't allow her to get an insulin pump. they say she can maintain control w/o it.

for those who don't know, an insulin pump is probably one of the best ways for a type 1 and many type 2s to maintain control. even medicare and medicaid cover the pump here.

maybe the next step is to not pay for her insulin? she can work on maintaining control w/o that too.

[jim_trent]

You should tell your friend that she needs to get a vial of Humalog and a vial of Lantus. With these two, she CAN get as good of control as with a pump with a lot less headaches.

The Humalog handles the base line. There is absolutely NO rise in the full 24 hours it is effective (unlike older insulins like NPH, Humalin, etc.). The Lantus is almost instantaneous. In fact, although it says to take it just before meals, that is sometimes too soon. It is better to wait 15 to 30 minutes after you eat to take it. Of course, carb counting rather than calorie counting is very important in figuring out how much you need.

BTW, my sister used to work in a hospital in one of the suburbs of Detroit. She often told me about the lines of people who checked in from Canada on a Friday night. A lot of them were out by Monday.