Now that my work insurance has been discontinued, the HMO plan I have purchased covers very little of my insulin costs. Due to the cost of insulin pump supplies – over $400 for one month supply of infusion sets and reservoirs – I have elected to return to manual injections of Lantus (long acting) once daily and Novolog (rapid acting) for correction and with meals.

In anticipation of this transition, as well as in effort to conserve what insulin supply I have already, I have cut way back on my carbohydrate consumption, which conveniently has also lowered my blood sugars nicely.

So from my pump settings I see that I take 15.6 units of Novolog for basal daily. So after my correction bolus for my elevated blood sugar this morning, I removed the pump, made a note of all my settings and injected 16 units of Lantus to last 24 hours. I will continue my carb ratio – 1u/10 carbs, 1u/60mg/dL correction and note my acting insulin time of 3 hours.

I plan to limit my carb intake to before exercise to minimize the need to bolus. I also plan to limit the type of carbs I consume to unprocessed foods; fruit and starchy vegetables as they effect my blood sugars so much differently than pasta and bread – and more predictably.

The definite up-side to this insurance mess is that it is forcing me to be much more accountable, more aware and cautious with my diabetes which can only be a good thing!