New Insulin System for Nate!
Donation protected
A lot of you who are close to Nate know that he is a Type 1 Diabetic. On average, Nate has to check his blood sugar levels 5-7 times a day. For those unfamiliar, this means he has to prick his finger to draw blood and make sure his levels are between 90 and 120.
Having Type 1 Diabetes means that your pancreas doesn’t produce insulin. Insulin is what keeps your body’s glucose level in the safe range I mentioned above. It converts the carbs and sugars you ingest into energy. For those of us who are not diabetic, this is naturally occurring. Nate instead has to manually monitor his blood sugar levels, take into account what carbs and sugars he’s eaten or is about to eat (and also a bunch of other factors like activity, stress, health... just a lot of math really) and then take injections of the fast acting insulin he needs to stay in those safe levels. This doesn’t include his nightly routine where he has to take a DIFFERENT kind of long lasting insulin injection.
Here’s where some cool technology comes in! The Omnipod Insulin Pump is a wearble, tubeless device that would eliminate his need to take that nightly long lasting insulin. It provides up to 3 days worth of continuous insulin delivery which would take his 3-6 daily injections down to 1 injection every 3 days! This would mean Nate wouldn’t have to carry around his kit of syringes, insulin, test strips, etc or have to find a bathroom or area to inject himself when enjoying time with people at restaurants or events or just every day life, really. It’ll generally save time, effort, and will overall make his life easier and less stressful. With the pump being wearable, he could also do more active things like going to the gym or going on a hike with a lot less worry.
Next - Dexcom! Another cool, wearble device. It’s a continuous glucose monitor that lasts 10 whole days! Remember how I mentioned the 5-7 daily finger pricks just to check his levels? This device instead would automatically monitor his glucose levels every 5 minutes and eliminate him having to check them manually. It can even recognize patterns of low blood sugar episodes. For those who don’t know, low blood sugar episodes can be life threatening and are not always easy to be aware of - even for diabetics themselves.
These devices are awesome, right? They would literally be life-changing for Nate and would make living with the disease way more manageable and stress free. Too bad we live in America, where health insurance is so utterly f*cked up, that the supplies and insulin that diabetics need to live cost unbelievably high.
Here’s a quick breakdown of the initial costs of these devices. (And these are estimates given by the companies... we could be looking at higher prices.)
Omnipod $293
Dexcom sensor $349
Dexcom Transmitter $475
Because Nate has not met his deductible on his insurance, this is all coming out of pocket. However, once that deductible is met, the supplies are covered at about 70%.
Overall, once the insurance kicks in, Nate’s monthly costs for insulin, supplies, and devices would literally stay the same amount as he is currently paying with the setup he has now. However, the life changing aspects of having this new setup with the Omnipod and Dexcom are unmatched.
Nate’s birthday is April 11th. It would mean so much to him if for his birthday you could donate any little bit you could to go towards these medical expenses. We are both kind of dumbfounded that Go Fund Me has become the way that diabetics are raising money in America.
Having Type 1 Diabetes means that your pancreas doesn’t produce insulin. Insulin is what keeps your body’s glucose level in the safe range I mentioned above. It converts the carbs and sugars you ingest into energy. For those of us who are not diabetic, this is naturally occurring. Nate instead has to manually monitor his blood sugar levels, take into account what carbs and sugars he’s eaten or is about to eat (and also a bunch of other factors like activity, stress, health... just a lot of math really) and then take injections of the fast acting insulin he needs to stay in those safe levels. This doesn’t include his nightly routine where he has to take a DIFFERENT kind of long lasting insulin injection.
Here’s where some cool technology comes in! The Omnipod Insulin Pump is a wearble, tubeless device that would eliminate his need to take that nightly long lasting insulin. It provides up to 3 days worth of continuous insulin delivery which would take his 3-6 daily injections down to 1 injection every 3 days! This would mean Nate wouldn’t have to carry around his kit of syringes, insulin, test strips, etc or have to find a bathroom or area to inject himself when enjoying time with people at restaurants or events or just every day life, really. It’ll generally save time, effort, and will overall make his life easier and less stressful. With the pump being wearable, he could also do more active things like going to the gym or going on a hike with a lot less worry.
Next - Dexcom! Another cool, wearble device. It’s a continuous glucose monitor that lasts 10 whole days! Remember how I mentioned the 5-7 daily finger pricks just to check his levels? This device instead would automatically monitor his glucose levels every 5 minutes and eliminate him having to check them manually. It can even recognize patterns of low blood sugar episodes. For those who don’t know, low blood sugar episodes can be life threatening and are not always easy to be aware of - even for diabetics themselves.
These devices are awesome, right? They would literally be life-changing for Nate and would make living with the disease way more manageable and stress free. Too bad we live in America, where health insurance is so utterly f*cked up, that the supplies and insulin that diabetics need to live cost unbelievably high.
Here’s a quick breakdown of the initial costs of these devices. (And these are estimates given by the companies... we could be looking at higher prices.)
Omnipod $293
Dexcom sensor $349
Dexcom Transmitter $475
Because Nate has not met his deductible on his insurance, this is all coming out of pocket. However, once that deductible is met, the supplies are covered at about 70%.
Overall, once the insurance kicks in, Nate’s monthly costs for insulin, supplies, and devices would literally stay the same amount as he is currently paying with the setup he has now. However, the life changing aspects of having this new setup with the Omnipod and Dexcom are unmatched.
Nate’s birthday is April 11th. It would mean so much to him if for his birthday you could donate any little bit you could to go towards these medical expenses. We are both kind of dumbfounded that Go Fund Me has become the way that diabetics are raising money in America.
Organizer and beneficiary
Maria Württele
Organizer
Winston-Salem, NC
Nate Loftin
Beneficiary
Raised $280 from 9 donations
