Not too long ago, the following message appeared in the inbox of one of my social media platforms:
I’m so sorry to bother with something like this. I down to my last pod. And.. currently I’m having insurance issues.. I was wondering if there were any pods you could spare? I’m trying to search around. Or if you know anyone that does have extras? Or samples? I would hate hate to return to multiple daily injections.. I know u understand that. If not it’s ok. Sorry to bother. I don’t know where else to try apart from everything else I’ve tried
When I read it the first time, my heart immediately sank. The message was fraught with desperation, as evidenced by the typos and fragmented sentences. My gut reaction was to reach out to this person and let them know that everything would be fine, that there had to be an option out there that would help them.
My next reaction, though, was pure skepticism. I’m not proud to admit that, but here are the facts that I was facing:
- I did not know this person. I tried to look at their profile to see if I could learn more about them, only to discover that it was private. I couldn’t see any of their information, other than a minute profile picture and numbers regarding their followers/activity.
- This person said they might be forced to go back to MDI. Personally speaking, if I ran out of pods and had to go back to shots, I wouldn’t like it – but if it was my only option, then of course I’d do it. I did it for something like 17 years before ever trying a pump. It sounded like this person wouldn’t want to do it, but…
- Most importantly, I do not have any pods to spare. I’m not sure why this individual thought that I did. It seemed like they’ve been asking as many people as possible on social media for pods, which makes me believe that they’re exploring the #omnipod or #podder hashtags. Regardless, I rely on regular shipments (every three months) from Insulet in order to maintain the bare minimum of pods that I need. And I can’t exactly give up “spare pods” that I don’t even have.
As horribly as I felt for this person, I had to take into consideration the facts that were in front of me, as well as the unfortunate truth that you can’t trust everything on the Internet. I told them that they should try to reach out to Insulet for assistance, and that I would be hoping for the best for them. I know that my kind words probably brought little comfort, but it was all that I had to offer to this total stranger.
The whole exchange haunts me. That’s why I want to know…
What would you have done if you were in my shoes?
Hugging the Cactus 
I think you did the right thing- recommend insulet is the best start for them 😆
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It is sad to see this anywhere but here in USA you hear it more, running out of supplies. I’ve run out of sensors, infusion sets, even insulin. The last one is not so much running out as grabbing a bottle after eating buttery popcorn and dropping it somewhere very hard and solid. At one point I had begun wrapping bottles with duct tape and paper towels to stop the losses. Most insurance companies don’t care if you screwed up and won’t cover replacements. Back when it was cheaper, it was not much of an issue. Now that we are paying so much more for the SAME insulin, it means that paying for any such incidents is so much harder. I feel for them but because I’m not a millionaire I need to keep a close eye on my usage as well. I can’t afford to give much if any money at this time yet and actual supplies are just as hard to donate. I was laid off for a month (didn’t get any unemployment that month) and was down to just $3 in checking and only $5 in saving the day I went back to work. I was very close to being in that group of I need help people. I have a good job making good money (the whole reason not getting any unemployment didn’t cost me my house) with good insurance but it is not enough. I worry all the time about lay offs or getting fired for something small. It has happened at my current employer. We need to get a universal single payer health care system in this country to help fight all these issues. Easy to do? No but it does need to be done.
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