(Posting this on @RivkahChaya 's behalf at her request, since she’s away from her computer today)
Is done.
done did
I’m in.
same.
Done.
I’m in.
Happy to help.
done.
Same here.
Glad to help.
Happy to help - I hope the CGM device makes a big difference for you.
Also, TIL about a rescue glucose inhaler. What an amazing thing!
Yeah, til the Rescue hangover hits like a mack truck.
Trust me, it hurts.
Yeah, yeah. I know, thankful I’m not in a coma. There are times, let me tell you.
Huge thank you to everybody!
I am way past my goal. I’m going to put the extra money in savings, because there may be months when I am short due to an emergency, or just an extra expense, and I can dip into it to pay for the CGM and inhaler that month.
This is going to change a lot.
Long story follows. Feel free to skip. TLDR: Work has new suck-ass policies that make finger-stick testing no longer an option. Insurance coverage for the CGM and the inhaler is bad, but could be worse. I’ve turned to friends for help, and am deeply touched by the way people have come forward.
We had an incident at work where someone was idiot enough to drop a prescription medication (800mg gabapentin tablet) in the toddler room, where it fell into a chair. I found it, and turned it into my supervisor, even though I knew damn well what would happen.
New protocol where anyone who wants to take a medication has to go to the clock-in room (because children are not allowed to be in that room) to take it. Doesn’t matter whether it’s Percocet or Rolaids. You have to go to the clock-in room.
And I cannot just slip into the adjacent restroom of my classroom to test my sugar. I’m supposed to do that in the clock-in room, no matter that if I feel that my sugar is low, I don’t have time to get someone to cover the room, then walk to the clock-in room, while my sugar is falling.
My doctor wants numbers, though. She doesn’t just want to know that I got shaky at 1:15pm, she wants to know just where my sugar was.
With the CGM, I can have that info for her without a finger-stick.
I’m having trouble convincing the powers that be that I need to use the inhaler immediately, and not wait until the room is covered, and I’ve walked to the clock-in room. If I have that much time, I can eat a handful of M&Ms. An inhaler that costs $49 if for emergencies when there is not even time to eat something-- and when I need to bring my sugar up not only fast but a lot-- more than 10 M&Ms can do.
I’m not sure what the protocol is for people with asthma inhalers, but I doubt someone who can’t breath would be made to walk to the clock-in room. I’m meeting with the Ex. Director tomorrow to ask about the policy, which was set by personnel, not the board, nor the Ex. Director herself.
However, it’s not really that big a deal, because times I might need a rescue inhaler will probably be when I wake up to the CGM’s alarm at night, and my sugar is dropping precipitously. I may never use it at work.
Anyway, that’s what led to me seeing the doctor to ask about all this.
Insurance will not cover the CGM, because I do not use insulin. However, the manufacturer does supply discount cards to people who want to use them for some reason-- Type II diabetics, and hypoglycemics-- instead of paying $200/month, we pay “only” $75.
The inhaler is $98/month after insurance, and I’m currently prescribed two single use inhalers/month, which cost about $700. So insurance is picking up $602. I can wish they’d pick up more like $692, but they could be awful, and pick up just 50%, which some policies do, I’ve heard.
So, I have turned to friends to help me fund this during the summer, when paychecks have already been stretched to the limit, and they have gone above and beyond.
I am touched and a little tearful.
I’m a little late apparently, but tossed a bit into the rainy-day side of the pool anyway.
SDMB - we take care of our own.
Is it not an ADA violation because it’s not diabetes?
I was wondering if the school fell short of the minimum number of employees you must have in order to be ‘bound by’ the ADA.
But … yeah … ADA definitely occurred to me, too.
Is there anyone in your community that offers free ADA advocacy/advising? From my (limited!) understanding, you may be able to request an accommodation even if your employer personally doesn’t otherwise acknowledge non-insulin using diabetic issues. I seem to recall similar discussions in the past but I can’t find any of them right now in a quick search.
I don’t want to put you, your employment, or your employer in any sort of jeopardy, but it seems you’re running some substantial risks.
Well, there’s a fine line. If you gripe too much they will either make it harder or find a way to let you go.
Trust me. Hardly anyone wants the extra responsibility, let alone , liability.
They can give it lip service til doomsday.
I hope they work with you as much as possible. Good luck.
Personally, I’d just keep the inhaler on my person, and if I ever needed it, I’d use it then and there, when and where I needed it, and if they wanted to try to raise a stink about it, then I’d go after them over it. Because it’d be really hard for them to argue agains “I used the inhaler because if I didn’t my life would be in jeopardy”.