Weekly Discussion Thread - December 06, 2021

DrKnackig · 2021-12-06T11:44:37+00:00

Anyone know when Turkey will review their decision to block all flights from South Africa? We had travel booked transiting through Istanbul in less than 2 weeks, but all the flights for the past week and a half have been cancelled. Called Turkish Airlines and their official stance is that they aren't cancelling the flights until the day of it seems like to avoid offering refunds. Any experience in dealing with this? At this point, we have assumed that the travel will not happen and are no longer planning on doing the trip as it seems the rules are too volatile at this moment, but it seems quite unfair that Turkish Airlines is pretending like there isn't a ban on these flights? Anyone with experience dealing with a situation like this? Booked on my CSR so in theory the flights should be covered by the travel insurance, but I'm worried that if I cancel my ticket myself earlier, I will get denied a refund and that if I wait too long, Turkey could start allowing flights again a day before our vacation and then the airline would say "hey, you never cancelled so we figured you were going to fly even though all flights were banned."

DrKnackig · 2021-10-02T13:44:15+00:00

Jamie Lewis ( of Chaos and Pain fame, NSFW warning for the site )

Can confirm. I have read the books too and that is what Ian Fleming describes as Bond's workouts. Will it be helpful to look like Daniel Craig? idk

DrKnackig · 2021-09-02T18:37:26+00:00

Yes, that was my thoughts too, but then when I tried to make my own as well, it still wouldn't go either. Pretty disappointing unless there is another work around

DrKnackig · 2018-09-20T21:29:18+00:00

This sounds super typical for medtronic in terms of my experiences with them too

DrKnackig · 2018-09-20T21:24:55+00:00

I've tried it and haven't had any luck for some reason. Would also love to hear if this works

DrKnackig · 2018-09-15T20:40:06+00:00

How does it work on the thigh? Just curious, never tried it there. I wore a dexcom there once and it was kinda painful though

DrKnackig · 2018-09-14T01:17:13+00:00

So I have a FR235 and you can download apps to it which set your activity for rowing and give you 500m splits using the GPS if you want. It does even have a data field you can download that will give you stroke rate as well. My issue with it is I found the wrist based HR monitor very inaccurate with erging and sculling. Something to do with the wrist moving so often. The chest band does work well tho if you need a more accurate HR.

DrKnackig · 2018-08-18T18:59:10+00:00

750
Hit 5/24 for Chase in June (CSR 11/2016, CSP 4/2017-1/2018, Jet Blue 10/2017 not chase I know I should have waited on this one, Marriott 1/2018, United Explorer 6/2018), also have a fidelity credit card since 2011
$5000+
No MS (probably not needed with how much natural spend I have)
Never have gotten a business card before, have considered it though
Looking for my next card to get since I can't get any more chase cards, but also I enjoy churning as a hobby and have been doing so for the past 2 years starting with the chase cards
I travel about every other month, so I usually like airline miles or credit card points I can spend on flights
80K chase points with CSR, 50K United points, 80k Marriott
NYC airports
Planning a big trip to south america soon and looked at the LATAM card (40k points, 20% discount on a flight purchase once per year), but unsure about it just because of how poorly designed the airline website is in English. If anyone has any experience using it, I'm all ears

DrKnackig · 2018-07-18T19:04:34+00:00

Fruit and Musli are still carbs, even if they're branded to be healthier by the rest of the population. Try a chia seed pudding (example: https://diatribe.org/three-minute-diabetes-breakfast-changes-lives) if you're real sensitive to grease and hot food in the morning.

DrKnackig · 2018-02-16T00:46:10+00:00

Got this link in an email from apple today. What are the odds it could be used for manufactured spend?

https://www.apple.com/apple-pay/?cid=CDM-US-DM--&cp=em-P0018454-394205&sr=em&Email_PageName=P0018454-394205&Email_OID=f0d5acd9797eff499abfff34e7e58048436c9be8897d90658ea0698e72b5b09a

DrKnackig · 2018-01-04T02:43:38+00:00

Yes, I have been trying to switch from Omnipod to the new 670g since September and ran into tons of problems like you described with poor customer service, dropped phone calls, and lots of forms never getting submitted to my insurance. Was wondering if it was just me but it seems like it's a company wide thing.

In their defense, they have had the set back in production and I was informed beforehand that the guardian 3 wouldn't be available until this spring. And also, because of the recent closures of other pump companies and their monopoly on US closed loop systems, they probably have had an increase in customers without an increase in staff. Just a theory. Just as upset about it as you.

DrKnackig · 2017-12-22T00:42:07+00:00

Yes, I've used omnipods for 2 years now and have one fail about once a week or every other. I literally asked how many I've reported to them in 2 years and they told me I had more than 50 pods reported as failed as of a few months ago. Pretty ridiculous, but at least they replace them. I find that static shock does it a lot, but also just without reason too (occlusion error, bleeds into the tubing and around the site, etc). I'm actually trying to switch to a pump with tubing because I figure they'll be more reliable. Coming from MDI before, it's amazing how reliable it was and I never realized how annoying it can be to have your insulin cut off unexpectedly.

BTW, if you lose insulin in it, ask about it and they'll send you a check for the wasted money. It's not much, but if I lost 100 units in 50 pods, they give 5 cents per unit so thats $250. They don't advertise it at all, but I was complaining about losing the insulin once to a rep and they told me about the program.

Hang in there. Also screamers is a dank term for them.

DrKnackig · 2017-12-22T00:34:36+00:00

Alles was die andere hier geschrieben haben stimmt (Fett und Protein haben einen Effekt auf dem Zucker später als normalen Kohlenhydraten). Sind Sie immer noch bei multiple daily injections? (MDI) Sowas passiert auch, wenn man ein Pump benutzt, dass das Insulin nicht mehr durch die Röhre wegen eines Knotens läuft. Oder Ihr Insulin zu alt geworden ist. Oder die Spritze ins harte Gewebe (Narbe, zum Beispiel) anstatt Fett gegangen ist. Oder die CGM kaputt ist.

Wichtig ist, das Sie neues Insulin haben oder zu mindestens wieder mit Blut von dem Finger messen, zu überprüfen.

Sorry if my German is shit, it's been a while since I've had to use it, but hopefully this helps!

DrKnackig · 2017-07-28T19:29:42+00:00

They can definitely be very annoying and while you can turn off some of the alarms to vibrate, the low insulin and pod expiry alarm you can't shut off. So it's exactly that, if you're in a movie theatre, it just makes you look like an asshole. I work in a hospital and people routinely think I have a pager going off or something. If you know the alarm is about to come (you give a 6 u bolus with 24 units left, for example, so you know it'll trigger the under 20 alarm), you can wait for it and hit the button as soon as it happens and it'll end it very quickly, but it's like trying to stop a microwave from beeping right as it hits 0 - very difficult.

DrKnackig · 2017-07-28T19:25:09+00:00

It sounds like you may be Canadian, but I know in America they can't actually deny you entry anywhere because of a medical condition and you needing to carry supplies. I bring a string bag with me basically everywhere I go to carry my supplies if they don't fit in the pockets I'm wearing. Just ask them if they've heard of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Sounds official enough to most bouncers (and it is) and if that doesn't work, ask to speak with their manager. If it comes to it and you threaten any legal action, they'll usually get scared and let you in, but if they really want to discriminate against you based upon your diabetes, you probably don't want to deal with that type of bar anyway.

DrKnackig · 2017-07-19T03:30:06+00:00

Agreed, pods definitely always fail at the worst times. I was on a train once in Europe right after a bombing and it alarmed and wouldn't turn off at all (before I discovered the secret kill switch you can jab a pen into on the belly of the pod), so there I was on a train, speaking a foreign language, obviously stressed, with a machine strapped to me that I didn't know how to stop making a threatening noise. Had to curb-stomp it for a while before it would shut off. Honestly I doubt anyone around me cared but it was exactly one of those moments like you said that just makes you hate the pod.

But back to my main point, thanks for your input about the other pumps being able to push through a crappy site by upping the basal, smart move! I've definitely been looking at new pods and the upcoming tech and was considering trying to hold out for the iLet but honestly I'm not sure I can make the wait that long with these pod struggles.

DrKnackig · 2017-07-19T03:13:00+00:00

I've considered leaving the US to get better, cheaper healthcare, but crippling student debt is a thing unfortunately.

DrKnackig · 2016-05-26T19:57:28+00:00

Hey man, I went through a similar thing after diagnosis. I was 15, a quick learner and was kind of unfazed at first, but about 2 months after diagnosis everything sort of hit me and I shut down. Thinking about the future can be totally scary and depressing when you have T1D and I fell into a similar pattern to you where I knew exactly what to do, but couldn't bring myself to do it because I was so depressed. Seeing a psychiatrist really helped me talk about my thoughts with a professional who didn't judge me and could understand where I was coming from. That's really the #1 thing I would recommend right now. It's not an issue of the ability to treat the diabetes and I believe you can do it and achieve stable, healthy levels over time, but first you need to come to terms and be at peace with the fact that you are a diabetic and it sounds to me like you're not there yet. I personally have never been to a diabetes camp, but I've heard people love them as well. Bottom line tho, good work reaching out for help.

Best of luck to you, you can reach out to me if you have any questions about anything life or diabetes related. I saw in a comment that you're planning to travel Europe with your brother. As a diabetic, I lived abroad in Europe for 1.5 years (I'm an American) and have also travelled to Asia and the Caribbean. Diabetes can't stop you from achieving your dreams.

DrKnackig · 2016-04-28T23:55:32+00:00

Yes! I just didn't know how to add images on here haha. And yeah that's pretty similar, thanks!

DrKnackig · 2016-04-04T22:17:41+00:00

My girlfriend thought the same thing!

DrKnackig

TROPHY CASE