Hi there ...
Long story short.

My wife is a brittle diabetic (has been for nearly 30 years) and we have been trying for a while now to get a Continuous Glucose Monitoring System through the British National Health Service. But there just isn't anything suitable over here yet and it's not looking like there will be anytime soon.

I have contacted dexcom in the US who make a CGMS called the seven system, and they have said that they would be able to sell us the system providing we can get a prescription from a US physician.
We are in Florida for two weeks in November and have a number of doctors to pick from (provided by dexcom), but before I contacted anyone to make an appointment I thought I'd check in on here to see if anyone was aware of any problems someone from the UK might have in getting a prescription for a piece of medical equipment in the US?
Or if anyone had any advice / suggestions?

Waddya think?

TIA, Chris

 

Ebay doesn't have it?


Jk there are 2 docs on here. S2000raj and S2020 (although he isn't a REAL doctor).

Bump for answers.

 

Cheers Peter

S2020 ??? If I were guessing I'd have to go for... optometrist ?
Wild stab in the dark

 

Im a pharmacy tech. You shouldnt have a problem as long as you have your passport and photo id and what not.

your talking about a diabetic machine here... not a perscription for morphine or something.

as far as doctors go. Most are more then willing to write a perscription for something like that.

Everything you said in your post, say to your doctor. They will understand. The harder part will be getting in to see a doctor on such short notice.

 

Thanks for that.

Short notice? ... I was hoping three months would be plenty
I'll get working on the short list we've got.

 

I didnt realize you were contacting doctors already. I assumed you were going to once you were in florida.

Only other thing I would recomend is bring some kind of paper work from your current doctor over there showing your wife is diabetic.

I havent heard of that system..

Is it a basic blood sugar testing machine? (poke your finger, blood on the test trip, machine reads test strip, machine gives blood sugar level)

Im not sure in florida, but here in oregon, you do NOT need a perscription from the doctor for that. Unless you want to send it into your insurence to be compinsated. But I dont think it would matter for you since your out of country?

Either way. an accu-chek aviva machine is anywhere from 50-$100. Test strips are about the same depending on if it is a 50 or 100 pack. Lancets are cheap.
You can buy it at any local pharmacy or walmart.

Is your wife on oral pills for her diabetic control? or is she on insulin? if she is on insulin, some states require a perscription for the syringes. You would have to check with florida if they do. oregon doesnt, new jersey does.

 

Understood

http://www.dexcom.com/html/dexcom_products.html
This one is a Continuous monitoring system which gives a, well , continuous realtime readout of the blood sugars. For upto 7 days at a time, without the need for the constant pricking fingers for blood etc.
The wife's is a complicated case and it can sometime be very difficult to keep her blood sugar running level. We've tried all sorts
Something like this system will be able to give us a complete readout for a whole week and help to understand why her blood sugar levels can be so unpredictable.

The doctors over here are also looking at putting her on an insulin pump. When you combine this instant monitoring system with the fine controls provided by a pump, life should become a whole lot easier.

 

hehe, do I hear doctor envy


Fletch, it shouldn't be a problem for a doctor to prescribe it to a non american citizen. It may require an office visit and maybe a letter from your home physician. Those continuous systems are great. I work with a nurse that has one and it works very well. Technology is great.

 

Thanks guys.
She should get her latest hba1 test results in the next few weeks. I'll make sure we take that and any other results/letters we can come up with

This is all pretty exciting. I really hope this will be of as much help to her as I am expecting.
And we get to see Micky Mouse as well.

 

those are called crabs, you should see a physician right away!