No COBRA Follow Up – Supply Inventory

It has been a very long week for me. There has been a lot of adjustments, a lot of planning and figuring out what I am going to do for all of my supplies and insulin, etc. Like I said in yesterday’s post, I just wanted to say thank you again. Honestly, I have never been in this position before and it means so much that you all would be so kind and considerate to reach out and help in times of need. It still feels weird asking for supplies when over my almost 10 years with diabetes, I have been the one who has sent supplies out to others. What comes around, goes around right?

I spent a lot of time last week figuring out what my inventory of supplies currently is and how long that current supply will last me before I have to start purchasing items out of pocket. It breaks down like this:

– OneTouch Strips – 400 strips
– MMT397 Infusion Sets – 9
– Reservoirs – a lot (stocked up on these throughout my insurance life)
– Dexcom sensors – 2 (found one in my home office where it wasn’t supposed to be)
– Things to put over my Dexcom sensor in bath or pool (I use a bunch of different items) – 2
– Insulin – I had only 1-2 weeks left, but the insulin fairy hit me and I now have a 3-4 month supply of inuslin. Greatest act of kindness I have ever seen!

So, my two biggest areas of concerns in my eyes are the test strips and the infusion sets. I think that I will be fine with the infusion set side of things because there are some very cool and awesome people out there who are willing to help out.

That leaves me with the test strips side of things. I have a decision to make, do I go with a cheaper strip, like a Walmart brand or such and deal with inaccuracies, or do I continue with one of the most expensive brands of strips and just suck it up and pay out of pocket for them? I am unfortunate to still have a job while living without insurance. I still am making a living, in fact, since I own my own business, I can have more control over how much income I do make and if I have to take on a few more lower paying tasks throughout the month to cover these additional costs, then so be it.

I’m sure that I could easily get more and more strips from my endo’s office, but I don’t want to do that. I’ve seen the community that my endo services and there are people out there far worse off than me financially and could use the strips a lot more than I can.

But, this is where I am looking to hear back from y’all. If you were in my situation, would you go with the higher cost, more accurate, or move on to the cheaper choice and deal with the inaccuracies from the cheaper meter and strips?

Your opinions and suggestions are welcomed.

Thank you once again.