Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Insulin Disaster Avoided!

FEATURE STORY....INSULIN DISASTER AVOIDED!

After running ridiculously high blood sugars yesterday Cheryl (bless her little pea-pickin' heart) allowed as how perhaps my insulin pens were possibly ineffective due to them being left various and sundry places for the last 3 weeks or so. Now don't get all excited we do keep our supply refrigerated but didja know insulin is good uncooled for 28 days after opening? "Tis true. I have of course been on the finest UCSF insulin for my entire latest stay so my personal stash has gone unused the whole time but with the imminent re-starting of my pump Cheryl has carried some around town for a while. The ones here at 2000 Post expired as well.

So began a late-evening hunt for effective medication; our main source CVS CarePlus on Castro was long-closed. Our nearest Walgreen's would not refill it since it was not their Rx and they couldn't even sell us any at Sucker Price since they did not have my type of insulin on hand. They would accept a verbal order from a Dr. so the very nice pharmacist called the on-call transplant doc for proper approval. He did not "feel comfortable" with this scenario so Cheryl phoned him up and made a beautifully eloquent pitch on my behalf that resulted in a much-appreciated approval. So it was back to Walgreen's with mere minutes to spare before the store closed. We were then able to enjoy a delicious dinner and try to chill out for the (short) evening.

WHAT WE DID (SO FAR) TODAY

This morning we had an appointment in San Leandro at Timberlake Medical Equipment to pick up my CPAP nighttime breathing apparatus. We were trained on usage and cleaning and then fitted for the mask. As you may recall this was a huge point in the hospital and my refusal to continue wearing the awful one they have over there has permanently endeared me (not!) to virtually every Respiratory Therapist at UCSF AND probably their moms as well. What else could I do at 2 am when the in-your-face RT demanded to know why I was not wearing one and I better put this suffocating monster on RIGHT NOW

We hustled out to beautiful Livermore to grab some good and correct insulin in anticipation of my visit with my own endocrinologist tomorrow morning in Concord. We also transferred from the Fit to the Odyssey to enable us to move out on Saturday. Both kids will be joining us for that and we thank Dan and Carol as well as My Brubbie for the offers of help and haulin' vehicles.

We are therefore comfortably home at 2000 Post ahead of the rain and hoping for no unexpected adventures tonight.

Bob/Irv
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1 comment:

  1. UnknownApril 17, 2010 at 10:13 AM

    I have had some trouble with my pens as well. The anti rejection drugs I take forteh heart transplant have caused my sugars to be higher but noit too dramatically. I had an episode of rejection with the last biopsy so they jumped up the predisone and that may cause havoc with the sugars. I am in my 17th week of the heart transplant. Have youi had your yet? Look at my blog and maybe we have had some similiar experiences. I got the idea for mine from yours except I can figure out hw to make it interactive like yours is. I also regret that there is no spell check...

    bob Reid @ http://bobnewheart-bob.blogspot.com

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RJ/Bob/Irv is a 61-year-old beloved husband, father, uncle, brother, motor racing fanatic, and Livermore resident who received a heart and kidney transplant in February of 2010. Bob's recent years have been defined by his health, which forced him into early retirement. Unfortunately, many of his days were spent in a dialysis center or at various medical appointments, primarily due to his living with diabetes for over 40 years. Numerous were panic visits to various Emergency Rooms all over California for treatment of chest pain. But now no more dialysis and no more late-night dashes to UCSF! The main focus of Bob's family, friends, and doctors has been a prompt transplant, so that he can get back to traveling with his Sweetie, driving fast cars, enjoying great music and laughing with his friends. This blog will function as a way to communicate with all interested parties and to keep everyone informed. And hopefully it can serve a great purpose also, in making people more aware of the importance of organ donation and how each life saved has a positive effect on dozens of related friends and relatives.