Tag Archives: diabetes supplies

Error message

Error Messages When Testing Blood Sugar Levels

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Error messageNothing frustrates me more than getting an error message after applying blood to the test strip in the glucometer. These error messages seem way too frequent. Sometimes the blood stops half way. Sometimes there isn’t enough blood. Sometimes the meter has timed out, or the meter is still on the code screen. Sometimes my younger daughter doesn’t have the dexterity to line up the test strip to the blood drop on her finger. This was a particularly difficult issue when she was a toddler in the “I do it” stage. She would insist on doing it herself, but without the physical ability, a lot of test strips went to waste. The other day she got several error messages in a row and then refused to test again. I don’t blame her. I’ve gotten so many error messages over time, easily in the thousands when you think of all the blood sugar testing we’ve done over the years, and many times we’ve gotten several in a row. Grrr!

Once when we were at the endocrinologist’s office getting prescriptions at our visit, the nurse (or perhaps she was an aide) who had T1D herself asked why we tested so often after I said we tested blood sugar levels 8-10 times a day. I explained we test in the morning, before snack, before lunch, before the bus ride home from school, before sports, sometimes during sports, after sports, before dinner, before bed, if feeling low or high, and during the night. We don’t even test as much as is recommended such as at times after treating a low blood sugar: in that situation, we usually don’t test again 15 minutes later after it’s been treated (unless it’s a severe low blood sugar). Plus we need extra test strips for the nurse’s office, and for all those error messages, of course!

Disclosure: I have no financial interest in any diabetes company and have received no money or gifts to write this blog post. Please keep in mind that these are just my juicy experiences and opinions, and my experiences will vary from someone else’s.

 

A New Lancet Device

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I got excited when I saw the new Accu-Check MultiClix Lancet Device at the vendor table at the Children With Diabetes Focus on Technology conference but not because it was a one-click gizmo. I got excited because it was black and our lancet devices are blue. I didn’t know they came in different colors! Or do the new devices only come in black?

Personally I would like one with polka dots and maybe one with stripes, no make that a paisley pattern. Yes, it matters. When you have two children with diabetes and they share a bedroom, it can be hard to keep two lancet devices separate, especially in the middle of the night when I’m half asleep. I always have to be careful about this and force my eyes to open fully during the night. Yes, each lancet device is labeled with their names and decorated with different stickers for instant recognition. But even so, the stickers can peel off, and they still do look similar. So a pink one and a polka-dotted one would be great.

I love how the lancets are concealed in a drum, so there are no sharps to worry about, but I would also like it if it weren’t shaped like a pen. I need it to be half the height to fit into a smaller bag of supplies (carrying all those supplies around is its own prickly problem) AND why is this device round? Do you realize I have one that lives under the stove and one that I finally fished out from under a bureau? Yes, put some breaks on these things so they don’t ROLL!

Also, did you know that our insurance doesn’t cover the lancet devices? The explanation I was given by the pharmacist was that it is an over-the-counter item. So let’s splice the $30 cost of these things ($60 for us because we need double of everything) because that price doesn’t even include the lancets. By the way, the new lancet devices use a different type of lancet drum, so don’t think you will upgrade and use your old lancets.

Of course the ideal lancet device would have no sharps and cause no pain or calluses. Perhaps it would be a skin reader, and the only side effect would be laughs for the ticklish.

Until then, give me my polka dots!

Where Did Last Month Go?

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What do Component HD AV Cables have to do with diabetes and where did last month go (and the month before that for that matter)?

I received a damaged shipment of diabetes supplies from the medical supply company. The box was torn apart and taped back together. Inside there were ripped boxes of diabetes supplies, and most of the contents were missing. All the boxes of test strips were gone. The box also contained something else, a set of Component HD AV Cables.

About a week or so later, I received another package, and inside were the same Component HD AV Cables. A shipping company representative had returned to pick up the damaged box for an investigation and then had shipped the contents back to the medical supply company. Since the medical supply company doesn’t sell cables, they mailed them back to me. Fortunately the medical supply company did replace the shipment of diabetes supplies.

Yesterday I was on the phone in regards to a broken medical alert bracelet, which necessitated a trip to the post office to return it for repairs. From doctors’ visits, to more calls to the medical supply company (including three calls about the wrong lancets that were shipped), to training new teachers and school nurses, to writing a letter about diabetes to the bus driver (and then another letter to the new bus driver), the time has just flown by.

From filling out medical forms for school, to pharmacy visits for more insulin, to packing medical supplies for school, and buying snacks for school (and getting more juice, of course), the month has disappeared. Then there were two visits to the classroom to read Taking Diabetes to School and staying for soccer practices and games to be there to test blood sugars and treat lows.

Plus there are the usual daily activities to manage diabetes, ranging from packing lunches and counting carbs to checking blood sugars (during the day and night) and giving insulin.

Now I keep the twice sent to me box of cables sitting on my desk to remind me to keep a sense of humor about all of this!