Ping, you qualify for a Miracle!

So, my work is changing our insurance to a high deductible plan. Yuck, that's like death to a diabetic. Luckily they gave us lots of deductible options, but still, to have to fork out $1500 before my insurance will pay for anything, well, it just sucks.

After learning this, I started to think about things to do to prepare. Work told us to save some money. And yes, we are also going to have an HSA which will help...but I need things immediately all the time. So since insurance unfortunately won't let me stockpile on insulin, test strips, and pump supplies, I started to think what

I could do.

That's when I realized that my pump's warranty is WAY expired. I called Animas (my insulin pump manufacturers) and they told me that the warranty actually expired in 2008. Holy cow! For those who know me well or have lived with me, then you would know that I have been through a few pumps (well 5) in 6 years. My first pump broke when I accidentely hit it against my bed frame. The second pump got water under the screen somehow (the pump is waterproof). The third pump had some malfunction so the screen was not working (huge freak out moment my freshman year, specially since I was away from home). My fourth pump, I think that was because the enter button stopped working. And my fifth pump, I think it had a bad crack in it. The last pump replacement was in 2008, I guess right before the warranty expired. So this last pump had lasted me for over 2 years!

And it's still going strong. Impressive for my track history.

However, with an expired warranty, that means the next time my pump breaks, I have to buy a whole new pump. And guess what, pumps aren't cheap. So that's when I decided that I needed to hurry and get a new pump before next year, when I would have to pay $1500 and then 20% (where right now I only pay 20%). So I kicked it into high gear. Problem was that I had less than 2 months to pick a pump, get authorization from my insurance, and get the pump. From previous posts, you all know how indecisive I am.

So long story short, after reading up about all these different pumps, looking at customer reviews, I decided to get the newest Anima

s pump, called the One Touch Ping. Since I got my pump 6 years ago, technology has evolved. Awesome right. So all pumps "talk" with a blood glucose meter. This means that when I check my blood sugar, my meter tells my pump what it is so my pump can automatically correct it. Cool beans. It's all to help make the pump more like what a normal working body does. Sweet, cept my insurance does not pay for the One Touch strips, but that's a different story.

So I picked a pump, insurance approved it, and I was told that I would be responsible for $1020. Well compared to the total cost of $8500 (which is more than my new Civic is worth), $1020 isn't too bad. But with our current circumstances of Christmas, Brad graduating and trying to find a job, my typical expenses, well $1020 is a lot o

f money. Then, my miracle came. I was told that Animas has a trade program, where my old pump model could qualify me for a $700 credit. So they ran the serial number, and I did! So instead of paying $1020, we only have to pay $320 for a brand new blue pump! That was the best news ever!

Well after my wonderfully long story, point is, I have a new pump, it is navy blue just like my civic, and it came with a new meter, and I am blessed to only have to pay $320. Miracles do happen. Brad and I are both very happy and now I just need to name my pump (after the first two pumps broke, I decided that naming them might help them to last longer :) I have had Alfred, Donald, and Herbert. So I dunno, Hugo sounds pretty good, but we will see.