Re: Health fair at work today

[Guest guest]

> So what's wrong with educating them? I bet at least some diabetics would

> rather spend the $$ for testing than deal with dialysis if they

> understood how to use frequent testing as a tool and were given a

> choice.

A lot wouldn't. Some people have irrational fear of needles.

And even if the goal is to educate everyone, we know that's not about to

happen. There are so many things it would be nice to have, and we can't have

them all. When I say " we " I mean everyone, not just people with diabetes.

Gretchen

[Guest guest]

> So what's wrong with educating them? I bet at least some diabetics would

> rather spend the $$ for testing than deal with dialysis if they

> understood how to use frequent testing as a tool and were given a

> choice.

A lot wouldn't. Some people have irrational fear of needles.

And even if the goal is to educate everyone, we know that's not about to

happen. There are so many things it would be nice to have, and we can't have

them all. When I say " we " I mean everyone, not just people with diabetes.

Gretchen

[Guest guest]

> > Geez, what do they HAVE against frequent testing, anyway???

>

> The cost. Ten tests a day is about $3650 a year.

>

> For people who use those tests in an intelligent way to keep A1c down,

> that's cheaper than dialysis. But a lot of people don't know what to

do with

> the results, so it's just throwing money away.

>

> Gretchen

I figure it costs my HMO about $800 per year to keep me in test strips,

each year at most, once I pay my share. They probably pay less for

them than I could get them for on the internet, so it's probably even

less than that. I test on average 4 times a day, but some days I test

more, and some days less, depending on what's going on. In the first

year, I tested about 8 times a day, so double that amount. But as a

result, I have gotten so healthy that I was able to quit taking

Metformin, Celexa, Prevacid, Accolate and several other medications

that I was on daily, and never did have to go on cholesterol medication

(my total cholesterol was 386 at the time I was diagnosed with DM). So

they have to be saving big money on meds even if we don't count the

costs of complications down the road, which are huge. Fortunately, my

doctor sees it that way, too.

Christy

[Guest guest]

A lot wouldn't...but at least SOME would. And some is better than none,

which is virtually the situation right now.

At least they should be given the option.

Vicki

Re: Health fair at work today

>

>> So what's wrong with educating them? I bet at least some diabetics

>> would

>> rather spend the $$ for testing than deal with dialysis if they

>> understood how to use frequent testing as a tool and were given a

>> choice.

>

> A lot wouldn't. Some people have irrational fear of needles.

>

> And even if the goal is to educate everyone, we know that's not about

> to

> happen. There are so many things it would be nice to have, and we

> can't have

> them all. When I say " we " I mean everyone, not just people with

> diabetes.

>

> Gretchen

>

[Guest guest]

Uhm, but doesn't dialysis involve a BIG HORKIN NEEDLE? Or

am I clueless?

SulaBlue

> A lot wouldn't. Some people have irrational fear of needles.

>

> And even if the goal is to educate everyone, we know that's not

about to

> happen. There are so many things it would be nice to have,

and we can't have

> them all. When I say " we " I mean everyone, not just people with

diabetes.

>

> Gretchen