Late Stage Capitalism

Right? I sort of agree with her, and sort of get grumpy at the way she's presenting it. I know that I have wanted to throttle the designers (really, the software designers) of insulin pumps more than once. The original one I had two decades ago was probably the best one I ever used. It didn't have the fancy auto-update communication with the 24/7 sensors that the new ones do, but it wasn't designed by a corporate boardroom to limit any whiff of liability on their part (her irritation at the wastage of units to prime the tubing is something I have definitely ranted about many times). The childproof nature of the cartridge needle for medtronic still bugs me to this day. Tandem's idiotic injection cartridge where you need to reverse suck out air that might be in there? Jesus christ, I don't know if it's patents or some other bullshit, but the original syringe like cap on (I think it was something with a D, but not disetronic like the author had) was perfectly fine. Fucking hell. And don't even get me started on the omnipod. The amount of e-waste is ridiculous. Maybe it's better than the plastic waste from the tubing and cartridges of the others, but especially with the current bullshit going on, color me slightly worried that we're going to see supply issues there.

I ALSO know that a pump failing does happen. You can't make them completely foolproof. I've had three or four over the years fail on me. One time it was because the unit couldn't handle sun on its screen, and the ink/stuff went completely wonky in the display, another time it was medtronic having a bad push rod, and I think the third time was with tandem like the author here had. Each time they got a new pump to me real quicksmart.

So I'm really trying to figure out why she was specifically mad. Reading her story sounds like a madman's account of numbers, which doesn't really inspire confidence in the account. Fourteen cartridges? At a reasonable three days (I always go longer because I can build up a safety amount if insurance/shipping fucks something), that's 42 days... for a seven day trip. Ten or 12 pump sites? Why not just match the amount to the cartridges? Who brings non-matching amounts? TWO ENTIRE VIALS?!? Okay, fine, one because you're using it, and one in case the first one 'goes bad,' but that's still insane to me. I'd rather drive back the relatively (considering it's about life quality / being alive) short distance from new mexico to los angeles than risk the second bottle (because what kills one bottle can definitely kill two). Her little summary at the end even acknowledges that in the perfect world, a failing pump would still be a failing pump.

>.>

I will say, neeeeding long acting insulin is way overblown. Keep some syringes around, and you can use your short acting just like your pump does, with mildly more bg swings because you'll only want to bolus every two hours or so. I've had to do it multiple times when the cannula fucked up (a problem with both medtronic and tandem) repeatedly. As a personal aside, I think steel should be the default, or a standard query by the doctor should be about if failures of the plastic cannula has happened to the patient.

Other small gripes: her description of the cartridge needle as 'big' and 'nasty.' Like, seriously? Her decision to "be meaner" on the phone. That can be handled with assertiveness and self-advocacy, which does not necessarily involve any degree of enmity.