Meeting the Texas Doc...

I really didn’t know what to expect. Was this just a rubber stamp visit? Was it a glorified pay-off for signing a script? Or was this going to be a real doctor’s visit? Frankly, I didn’t much care which way the cards fell at this point. The office was a bit...hmmm....how do I want to say this? Well, it looked a bit low rent. As did the other patients. As did the staff. Never read a book by its cover. Once I was past the waiting room and into the inner sanctum I walked down a hall of certificates and awards. Phi Beta Kappa. Hmmmm....

The Doc spent a lonnnnnng time with me. More than an hour. I liked him. He was interested in my case, intelligent, insightful and through. He studied where I was before and where I was now. He inspected me up and down. His Dx: I was a good candidate for the Guardian. It would be good for both for me and for Medtronic. “...and you’ll use it,” he said. Who wouldn’t? He faxed the prescription.

The unexpected bonus: he took copious notes for a letter he was going to write to Blue Cross and Blue Shield telling them why, in his words “they should pay for it for you.” The first salvo in a battle I don’t personally expect to win. But important none the less. Eventually the avalanche of paper and the logic that healthy diabetics are cheaper for everyone one in the long run will turn the tide. Hopefully many of you will be able to get Guardians paid for by insurance. I’m OK with being of the edge of the envelope. I’m OK being a trail blazer. I benefit from this too, after all.