[Diabetes-talk] INDEPENDENCE

[Blindhands at aol.com]

Julie,
 
I hope you can stay on top of things.  I have been a brittle diabetic  for 
55 years and I have seen a lot of changes, attitudes and improvements over  
that time.  
 
I am thankful for talking blood glucose machines and the ability of testing 
 my own blood sugars.  I only have been blind for 16 years, but it has been 
 my job to handle my diabetes since my early teens.  I was diagnosed with  
diabetes at the age of 7 and have been on insulin since that time.
 
I am not at your level of AC1, but not too far off.  Since I have to  test 
and calculate insulin coverage according to food intake, blood sugar levels  
and low blood sugars that I do not have any feelings or warnings when they  
occur, I have to use what is available out there for a blind diabetic.  
 
My greatest loss 16 years ago was not the loss of my sight.  It was  the 
loss of my INDEPENDENCE.  With each adaptive device that has come out  and 
hopefully the improvements for newer and better technology, each of these  
things gives me a piece of that INDEPENDENCE back.
 
Joyce  Kane
_www.KraftersKorner.org_ (http://www.krafterskorner.org/) 
Blindhands at AOL.com   

 
In a message dated 9/2/2013 2:40:53 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
julie.kline at rochester.rr.com writes:

Hello  all,

I don't mean to sound like I am gloating here, but I'd like to  share my
thoughts of the messages I have seen over the past few days.   Reading over
these messages, this is exactly the reason why I don't do  testing for my 
own
blood glucose anymore.  I have had nothing but  trouble with both talking
meters and I'm sorry I spent the money on either  one.  Even having people
from the diabetes centers we have here  watching me, I haven't been able to
get enough blood to get enough of a  sample, while the meters at the 
diabetes
center work just fine.  I  feel that with a 20 point plus or minus accuracy
that seems to come with  the talking meters, I'm not willing to continually
sit there and poke my  fingers for the 20 minutes it takes to finally get
enough blood.  And  yes, I have done the hot water thing, massaged the
finger, held it to the  lancet on maximum setting, stayed hydrated, the
rubber band thing . but  testing with a talking meter just hasn't worked out
for me, so I don't  bother with it, and these messages just confirm to me
why.  I still do  whatever lab work or tests my doctor or diabetes center 
ask
me to do, and I  stay on top of these tests every 3 months.  However, I 
found
that I've  lost enough weight now and that weight loss that came from eating
better,  combined with exercising an hour 5 days a week walking 4 miles a
session,  and my medications, have given me 2 a1c readings of between 6  and
6.2.  When I first learned I had diabetes, I was 83 pounds heavier  and had
an a1c reading of 8.6.  I know that the approach I take won't  work for
everybody, especially for people who have to take insulin.   But for myself,
I have type 2 diabetes and am not at that point yet.   At least for myself,
it has been possible to turn things around and I'd be  willing to recommend
exercise DVDs that I use and found helpful if anyone  is interested.  I
recognize, or at least people tell me, that diabetes  is a progressive
illness.  I hope that when it does come my time where  things get worse, 
that
they will have perfected these meters more and maybe  they can work better
with people who can't generate enough blood, but for  now I have much better
use of my fingers for other things, like reading  Braille.

Just my thoughts on the whole  thing.

Julie



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