I went to CVS last night to pick up my prescriptions:  my birth control and my (sigh … old lady) blood pressure medication.  Maintenance drugs, in addition to my insulin and pump stuff.  Necessary.  One to keep my blood pressure down and the other to … well, to keep my blood pressure down.

“It’s Morrone.  M-O.  First name is Kerri.  There should be two.”

The pharmacist shot me a grin.  “Thanks for spelling it.”

She riffled though the cache of white paper bags until she came to mine.  I knew it was mine because it had a huge red piece of paper clipped to the top of it, marked “COBRA.”

Oh for crying out loud.

“Um, Ms. Morrone?  There’s a problem with your medical insurance.  Looks like your COBRA plan isn’t in effect yet.”

“I don’t understand.  My previous employer told me things were all set with continuation of insurance.  I should be good to go until my new insurance kicks in.” 

Mentally assessing the situation:    Pump supplies?  Check.  Test strips?  Always tenuous, but check for the moment.  (Did I mention that my old job’s insurance company rejected my test strip claim, stating that it’s “not medically necessary” for me to test my bloodsugar more than four times per day?)  Monthly meds? Not so check.
 
“You need to call your COBRA administrator.  They can provide you with your account information and we can process this claim.  Do you want to pay out of pocket for these today and submit the bill later?” 

The CVS pharmacy lady is so nice.  I hope she finds a bag of gold doubloons in her car when she leaves work.  She deserves treasure.

“I’m going to try and see if I can iron out this COBRA thing first.  If not, I’ll be back tomorrow.”  Out of pocket costs of more than $100 just for monthly meds? 

The night progresses into the morning.  I spend much of it online dealing with the COBRA website, the Old Insurance Job HR website, and then first thing this morning on the phone with my COBRA administrator.  Turns out that my coverage election form wasn’t received, even though I mailed it out several weeks ago.  Coverage wasn’t “elected” until this morning.  Now I have to wait 30 days before I will even have a bill from COBRA.  And my coverage won’t technically be in effect until I pay that bill.  Which may not come for 45 days.  By that time, my dLife insurance will be rolling through.  And I know that I’m “covered,” persay, if anything happens, but I’m paying out of pocket for everything, only to submit bills for reimbursement once my insurance “goes live.”

So today I will wander back over to CVS and pay out of pocket for maintenance drugs.  I’ll put them at home with my other maintenance supplies; insulin, test strips, and pump gadgets.  Maintenance drugs. 

If this is the cost of “healthy,” I should start saving.

 

(Is it normal that this clip never fails to give me goosebumps?)

Posted by Kerri. at 08:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (14) | TrackBacks (0)

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There is an interesting development in the Blogosphere:  BlogTalkRadio.  Apparently, this services lets bloggers host their own talk show online.  The website announces that you can "receive live callers, interview guests, and broadcast to an unlimited number of listeners.  Very interesting, my F.R.'s.  I'm just trying to decide on the following:  a.  What time slot I would prefer, and b.  What the hell I would talk about.  Maybe I can get the cats to holler in unison as I juggle bells.  Hmmm... details coming soon. 

(I also learned today that the phrase "abdominal pain, flatulance, and diarrhea" can be summed up simply as "gastrointestinal disturbances."  I love editorial work.  It's had me laughing like an eight year old all day long.  Apparently, I have not outgrown my love for a good fart joke.)

This weekend brings Chris and I journeying home for the first time since our Big Move.  (Yes, home is only 3 hours away.  I realize that is hardly a journey compared to the trek some people make just to go to work, but keep in mind I grew up in RI.  A drive that took more than 20 minutes?  You'd better pack a lunch.)  I'm very much looking forward to seeing my friends and going to a beach that doesn't have any portion of the words "long," "island," or "sound" in its name.  A visit to see my Grammie is also scheduled.  I'll pass on all of your kind words her way.  The appointment with Mr. Specialist is early next week, so the waiting continues.

Lastly, on the Exist Magazine front, we're in the process of launching with a brand new template.  We appreciate all the feedback from readers.  It's been a wild month, that's for damn sure.  The Firefox vs. IE war has been waging on for days in our apartment, only to be efficiently solved by the patience, hard work, and endless graciousness of a volunteer web-designer.  Without HIS help, we'd have been completely sunk.  Or forced to send out stone tablets that the Flintstone's bird had etched the August issue into.  Give us just a few more days to work out the jumbles and be sure to look for the August Issue in less than a week!

Posted by Kerri. at 09:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)

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“You need to loop the yarn over the hook and then make another loop... then pull through.”  Her hands were like birds, threatening to fly off as she worked the crochet hook in her hands.  Loop, pick up the stitch, loop, pull through.

My clumsy ten year old fingers couldn’t quite manage as gracefully.  I kept dropping loops and the stitches would just melt away.

Posted by Kerri. at 11:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (15) | TrackBacks (0)

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My mother sent me this link, stating, "There are politicians who have the courage to stand up to Bush..."

Here's the article.

... actually, her original statement was "There are politicians who have the courage to stand up to Bush and say 'Screw you.'"

After I was done gently smiling at my mother's attempt at bad-assedness, I posted her link.  

Posted by Kerri. at 01:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

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Oh it’s chaos in my household.  Pure, unadulterated chaos.

And it’s all because of one little Sausage.

She used to be so little and cute and only attacked the catnip mice that were specifically purchased for her destruction.  To find her dancing on the hardwood floors of my old apartment was not uncommon.  

Now she has progressed to Siah Sausage of the Serengeti. 

She found a lion puppet (it wasn’t telling the truth) in one of the suitcases.  As we were trying our best to unpack all the boxes, she came stalking.  The lion was dragged by the neck from the bedroom, down the hall, to the living room, where she proceeded to vehemently attack the defenseless puppet.

Not normal.

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Almost a week since my last post?  Unacceptable.

Work is going very well.  I enjoy my job.  I enjoy working in an office where people seem to also enjoy their jobs.  Bonus:  I believe in what I’m doing here.  And there are windows.  Double bonus.

The new apartment is almost entirely unpacked.  Which is both shocking and wonderful.  The Cardboard Box Coalition 2006 has left to find another venue to hold their meetings.  Thank goodness.  They left crumbs everywhere from the cucumber sandwiches.  

Chris and I went to the Westport Fine Arts festival on Saturday.  The artwork was exquisite.  And although the sky looked mildly threatening, these people and their $8,640 pieces of artwork remained happily in their assigned kiosks.  I can’t imagine the mental monologues that must have taken place:  “My goodness.  Looks like rain could come pouring down at any moment.  Hmmmm.   Logic would dictate I should move my overpriced painting.  However, I do not concern myself with matters of money.  Oh bother, is that a thread loose on my Brooks Brother’s sportcoat?”

Exist Magazine is generating a decent buzz and I’m very happy with the feedback so far.  Not so happy with the Internet Explorer vs. Firefox issue.  Vexes me as I type this.  A solution is being created for the August issue.  On that note, I am having trouble with jpeg images across the board here.  If you see a broken image on S.U.M., please email me and let me know.  I'm knee-deep in my FTP site and may need the Outsider's Perspective to fix these issues.  I have bought an industrial size tub of Tylenol in preparation for the headache.  And some black raspberry ice cream.  It is delicious stuff.

The low bloodsugars are tapering off a small bit.  I’m very relieved.  Apparently, it’s taking me a few weeks to settle back into a schedule but now that my body is starting to adjust, bloodsugars are calming back down.  Also, it's an honor to hear that  "I Can't Believe I Ate the Whole Gym" is featured as a medal-winner on this week's Patient-Consumer Parade.  Check out this site if you haven't already! 

We saw “An Inconvenient Truth” last night at our quaint local movie theater.  This movie gave me a hybrid anxiety attack and desire to recycle.  Very frightening concept and the visual representations of the effects of global warning have been jumping into my mind all morning long.  Check out the website if you have a minute.  And buy a Civic hybrid, if you have $25,000. 

And l love Ikea.  Love it.  There was something missing from my life before.  I now realize that it was a bunch of Swedish furniture.

Update:  "McGyver Morrone" has been featured in this week's Grand Rounds, hosted by Jenni over at Chronic Babe.  Posts from fellow d-bloggers Amy, Lyrecha and Rachel are also highlighted.  Pop on over to Chronic Babe and take in the Grand Rounds, ChronicBabe-style.

Posted by Kerri. at 11:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (8) | TrackBacks (0)

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Here’s the quandary:  I hated my old job.  HATED IT.  The stress was incredible and my boss was so tightly wound that he would have benefited from at least an afternoon nap.  So I found a new gig at dLife and quit the old chaos. 

Upside:  I enjoyed a few weeks off in May and June and became accustomed to a relaxed, beach bum sort of lifestyle.  I scored a very nice tan.  I was at the gym more often than not.  And my sleeping schedule morphed from “schedule” to “haphazard, at best,” sleeping whenever I felt like it and staying up all night sometimes.  It was like college again.  I knew this was (maybe) the last chance in my life to be so loose with my schedule.  So I was all about it.

Downside:  The lack of regimentation took it’s toll on me.  I wasn’t eating at standard times.  Dinner was oftentimes served at midnight.  “Morning” became a relative term, as I missed a number of mornings entirely.  I tested very often (per usual) and kept my boluses tight, but not keeping to a decent schedule set my internal clock to cuckoo.

Now that the dust is finally settling here in Norwalk, I am reclaiming some semblance of schedule.  I’m at work for a definitive set of hours per day.  I am eating meals at the same times.  After work, I’m at the gym by 7 o’clock and working out until about 8 p.m. 

And I’m rocking out low bloodsugars to the tune of almost two per day, ranging from an upper 65 mg/dl to the pitfalls of 38 mg/dl.  Symptoms are all in check (unlike what I was experiencing a few months ago) and they are most certainly kicking my ass.  These lows are intense.  The trembling hands, the waves of nausea/dizziness, and that “lost” look that Chris says I have when I’m low.  I’m crying.  I’m becoming intolerably grumpy and miserable during these reactions. 

I’m a mess.

And I’m consuming juice in mass quantities at the moment.  Two reactions per day adds up to many empty calories.  Faux-Fitness Kerri does not like empty calories.  She works too hard to keep her weight in check to give in to these lows.  She even does this in third person, as she’s noted. 

After downing a sports bottle of juice last night and recovering from a 47 mg/dl, I turned to Chris, tears in my eyes and a smirk on my face and said, “I can’t believe I ate the whole gym.”  I am consuming more calories than I’m burning during my workout.  I am eating my workouts these days.

I’m actively recording bloodsugars and doing my best to keep track of boluses.  I am attempting to test my basals but these lows are thwarting my efforts some days.  Over the next few days, I’m sure things will even out after some tweaking and I’ll be back to my regularly scheduled programming.

Until then, I’m keeping a bottle of juice by the bed.  And some alka-selzter.

Posted by Kerri. at 05:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (18) | TrackBacks (0)

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A brief synopsis:  There’s this prince who is looking for a bride and he’s on the prowl.  Any woman up to snuff is a bona fide princess, and he’s not budging on that one.  He scours the countryside and finds no princesses.   

Slightly bummed – because he wanted a real princess pretty badly – he comes home and sits in his castle as a rainstorm thunders outside. 

Then, comes a knock on the door!  A woman, soaked to the skin and completely bedraggled, asks for a room for the night to wait out the storm.  She claims to be a real princess, but seeing her in such a disastrous state, the Prince’s maid scoffs. 

“Real princess, my ass.  Sleep on this bed and let’s see how you fare,”  and she puts but one pea on the boxspring and piles twenty feather mattresses on top. 

Next morning, the claimed-to-be princess doesn’t look much better for the night’s sleep.

“What’s the matter?” asks the maid.

“No offense meant, but I didn’t sleep a wink last night.  I kept tossing and turning but couldn’t get comfortable!  There was something in the bed that was so hard it has bruised my whole body!”

Everyone gasps and clasps their hands and the Prince realizes he’s got the Real Thing here because only the skin of a princess would be so fair as to notice a pea under 20 mattresses. 

So they get married.  And the pea is put on display in a museum.  And everyone lives happily every after.

Fast forward to last night:  Woke up in the middle of the night, so uncomfortable.  The skin on my back was tender to the touch.  Leaning up this morning, I reached around and felt my pump lying on the bedsheets, biting and burrowing into my back all night long.  It must have come loose from my shorts while I was sleeping.  There is already a blueish-yellow, baseball-sized sort of bruise.  The imprint of the tubing wrapped around my waist, the words “Medtronic Minimed” branded on my lower back. 

Feeling much like the princess with fragile skin.  And a little whiney, to boot.

I can't be the only one who has woken up with their pump wrapped around them like a boa constrictor.

And do boa constrictors have some sort of vendetta against princesses?

Posted by Kerri. at 09:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (12) | TrackBacks (0)

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After weeks of preparation and some long, bleary-eyed nights staring at a computer screen and praying for the WebDesign Fairy to come and design the damn thing for us, it's finally here.

Featuring articles by a staff of talented writers from around the globe and edited by Chris and me,  EXIST MAGAZINE is my foray into the world of Non-D related publishing. 

Take a read. 

Pass the link on to your friends! 

Posted by Kerri. at 06:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (16) | TrackBacks (0)

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Note from Kerri:  Here's my mom with another cameo post, writing from the wilds of RI (where I used to live).   

  "Hello again!

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I can't wait until the internet is set  up and I can go about my normal course of business instead of stealing a random wireless signal from the condo next door and hoping it doesn't crap out before my post is finished STOP 

I am very happy at my new job STOP Larry Bird was the first thing I brought to dLife and put on my desk (thank you, Scott Johnson) STOP

I am grinning like a fool and I just can't STOP

Posted by Kerri. at 01:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (14) | TrackBacks (0)

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