Squeaky princess gets her software

Dear Animas,
Thank you so much for listening – finally!
Sincerely,
A formerly pissed-off princess

After months of phone call complaints and email complaints with Animas Canada (the provider of my insulin pump) and forum rants and blog postings too, regarding the company’s faulty claims that its ezManager Max software (which enables pump users to download their BG readings and insulin dosages from their glucometres and pumps) was compatible with Mac operating systems, despite NOT being compatible at all, the company finally did something about it.

A priority mail envelope was left on my desk at work today and inside was a replacement disk for the Animas ezManager Max software, as well as a letter from the company:

Dear Healthcare Professional, (apparently I’ve moved up in the world :D)

We are contacting you to make you aware that the ezManager Max software you previously received will not function with an Apple computer. DUH! I’ve been telling them that since January! … The compatibility issue has now been resolved to meet system requirements as specified …

As you can imagine, I was a little skeptical given that every time I called the company they kept telling me that their software was in fact compatible on my computer, despite me telling them that it wouldn’t load. And their only solution was to send out yet another disk, which was the same as every other disk they had already sent me that wouldn’t work in my computer.  But still, the letter was a first, it was reason for hope right?

RIGHT!

The software downloaded no problem, as did the BG readings from my glucometre. But as exciting as it was to see all the numbers listed in a log, divided up into coloured pie charts and line charts and statistics, it was also a little disheartening to see the most recent results. I’ve been really struggling to get my blood sugars back in line since I got back from New York. They were already all over the place when I was down and out with a cold two weeks ago (illness affects BG), and then when I was traveling through New York and basically guesstimating my carb counts for every meal, that didn’t help the BG range either. But now that I’m home and healthy, I really don’t have an excuse as to why they’re still all over the place. And that blood red hue filling up the pie chart really does shine a bright light onto my BG misgivings.

Nevertheless, though, I’m quite pleased I now have this tool at my fingertips. And, hey, it may just be added motivation to kick serious butt with my BG. Now I’ve just got to figure out how to download the information off of my insulin pump itself, which will chart my insulin dosages, total daily insulin and other pertinent insulin-related information. The only thing is, I have no idea how the infrared communication screen on my pump is supposed to magically connect with the infrared communication screen on my computer???

Lesson of the day: It doesn’t hurt to complain and complain and complain until the company you’re dealing with gives you what you want. Squeaky wheels do get the grease 😀