[Diabetes-talk] testing difficulty

[Mike Freeman]

Veronica:

You are absolutely right.  All of us go through stages -- periods when it's
easy to get blood and periods when it isn't.  Actually, I have an additional
problem:  I have Raynaud's Syndrome which causes circulation in the hands to
be poor or to actually shut down -- I remember one period during the winter
of 2000-2001 when every two weeks my right thumb and index finger would
alternately go numb!  Didn't make for easy braille reading.

But I still say I'm better at it by far than when I started out; one
eventually kind of gets a feel for one's meter and strips -- how they act
and exactly what they like in terms of blood placement.

But we're on the same page!

Mike


-----Original Message-----
From: diabetes-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org
[mailto:diabetes-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Veronica Elsea
Sent: Friday, April 15, 2011 7:32 PM
To: Diabetes Talk for the Blind
Subject: Re: [Diabetes-talk] testing difficulty

Ah Mike! Lucky guy, you. First, I totally agree with you about alternate
testing. Not only is it hard to know where you stick yourself, but many of
the instructions require you to get blood in and stop when the clear cap is
full. Yeah right!
But over the past 23 years of testing, I still have phases when it goes
fairly easily and phases where it's frustration and a half. I'm in one of
those right now. I had one night last week when it took me ten tries before
I got a number. What's getting me now is that on some of my fingers I have
these nice great lumps where I've been sticking myself. So when I try to
miss that spot, it's really tough to get the lancing device to lie flat
against my finger to prick deep enough to get blood. I'm getting into some
pretty wild contortions trying to find a spot that works.
But the biggest area for experimentation is that of how long to milk your
finger, how long to wait before connecting finger with strip. No matter how
good we think we are, there is always an element of guessing involved. It's
so easy to not keep your hand exactly level and then the blood can run down
and not hit the strip. It's so easy to just not have any blood and waste
time trying to hold the strip to your finger. Oh believe me, I'm not saying
we can't do it. I am saying we need to be honest about things that can be a
part of this process. That's the best way to not be done in by thinking
everyone else is always perfect at it.
So if you're new at it, don't be afraid to experiment with timing, how you
milk your finger and all of that. And know that anytime you're testing,
there just might be another one of us out there struggling to get a stick
done at the same time. And yes, at the moment I'm trying to make adjustments
in my basal rates so I'm testing 6 to 8 times a day.
So hang in there and keep us posted.

Veronica
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		Veronica Elsea, Owner
Laurel Creek Music Designs
Santa Cruz, California
877-607-6407


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