ebony321 said:
ams162 said:
it does feel a long wait especially when hes suffering from violent mood swings etc but pleased to have got so far we have, as yet dont have our pump because of our situation we are being set up on the hospitals pump and then waiting for our pump to come so we are on it quicker which is nice as we get to see what a pump is like before we order it.
it does seem to me more people are getting pumps which is fantastic it shouldnt all be about the money if it improves someones life it should be worth the money it costs. good luck with ur own set up hope it works well for u
anna marie
Awwwe, poor soul! that does sound good, i hope it goes well and improves his mood swings aswell as diabetes control
I definately agree, there should never be a cost limit to improve someone's quality of life and im please that so many kids, teens and adults seem to be getting them!
Hey, I'm so pleased so many people are able to get pumps now, including perhaps myself soon!
However I just wanted to comment on your point that there should be no cost limits. I don't want to put a downer on things, but just to say something as I think that different people have different perceptions.
Whilst it would be great for everyone to have every bit of care possible, it is a sad fact that everything must be paid for. Now, whilst I have no qualms at all about diabetics being given a £3000 device and needing 1000's of ££ worth of disposables each year, money still has be discussed and reviewed to make sure that appropriate care is given to everyone by the NHS.
My wife is a Doctor and has seen examples of very difficult circumstances where a special drug is not available on the NHS due to its cost and the patient has campaigned, been in the newspaper, pushed and pushed to have it... Which in some situations, is entirely reasonable. Other times, the drug might extend that persons life by 6 months, and cost £50,000.
£50k that could have been spent on saving 5 newborn babies lives. Or helping a few people live another 10 years.
At the end of the day, there has to be an evaluation of the benefits.
If my consultant told me: "I'm sorry, but an insulin pump costs X and we have other patients who are likely to die if we don't buy them this drug..." then I wouldn't be happy about being denied the pump, but I'd have to come to accept there are other people that need medicines more than me.
It's obviously a tricky area because measuring the benefit is difficult, but clearly there are some cases where prioritising has to happen. And if that means that someone needs to accept the fact that they're only going to live another 10 months anyway, or their sugar levels are so well controlled without a pump whereas someone who gets no hypo warning signs needs one... Then sometimes sacrifices have to be made, even though it's not ideal.
Anyway, just a thought I wanted to share.
Dan