[Diabetes-talk] why I don't test myself

Tue Sep 3 00:42:13 UTC 2013

" ... Say,
what's for lunch?" "Peanut butter soup!"
Albert Sanchez

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mike Freeman" <k7uij at panix.com>
To: "'Diabetes Talk for the Blind'" <diabetes-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, September 02, 2013 7:37 PM
Subject: Re: [Diabetes-talk] why I don't test myself

> Hey sandi! Testing four times a day ain't so bad or even more as Bridgit
> Polpeter had to do when she was pregnant. Most (though not all) people
> really do get used to it. And the less one fusses and stews about it, the
> less of a problem it becomes. Even with errant meters and flaky insurance,
> it beats the hell out of the way things were, say, in 1955, when about a
> student a semester who was in a school for the blind due to blindness from
> diabetes would shuffle off this mortal coil due to either hypoglycemia or
> hyperglycemia. I'm not kidding.
>
> "What happened to Linda Chick? She was OK before Christmas break!" "Oh,
> haven't you heard? She died of insulin shock!" "Darn, that's too bad! Say,
> what's for lunch?"
>
> It wasn't that we didn't care but it happened often enough that it wasn't
> unusual.
>
> What a difference (for *everyone*) meters and fast-acting and basal 
> insulins
> and even oral medications have been!
>
> Mike Freeman
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Diabetes-talk [mailto:diabetes-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
> Sandi Ryan
> Sent: Monday, September 02, 2013 4:20 PM
> To: Diabetes Talk for the Blind
> Subject: Re: [Diabetes-talk] why I don't test myself
>
> Diet and exercise are never ever an answer for Type 1 diabetics.  And once
> we Type 2's are diagnosed, we always have the disease, even if our A1C's 
> are
>
> great.  We just sometimes get a break!  And of course one never knows how
> long that break will be.  I actually had to beg my doctor to prescribe a
> meter for me.  With an A1C of 5.0, my doctor, a long-term Type 1, said I
> didn't need to check my blood sugar.  We'd just check the A1C every three 
> to
>
> six months.  But I won--I have the meter, and the strips, and I check my
> blood.  But I do feel fortunate that I don't need to check it several 
> times
> a day.  I've never gotten over the chill that goes down my spine when I 
> use
> the lancet, and then when there's either not enough blood or I get a 
> freaky
> response, it's really frustrating!
>
> And I'd certainly never say that people whose diabetes is not under good
> control aren't as good as me.  No, it's pure luck--that's all it is!  My
> point was just that Type 2's sometimes get a little break.
>
> Sandi
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Mike Freeman" <k7uij at panix.com>
> To: "Diabetes Talk for the Blind" <diabetes-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Monday, September 02, 2013 4:21 PM
> Subject: Re: [Diabetes-talk] why I don't test myself
>
>
>> Sandi:
>> I applaud your encouragement of Julie and all others who can control 
>> their
>
>> diabetes with diet and exercise. However, I hope you do not mean to imply
>> that you sanction not testing blood sugar. Even ballpark figures are far
>> better than nothing.
>> I also believe we should be very careful to not let our ability not to
>> need medicines to cloud our understanding into thinking that diabetics 
>> who
>
>> use or need medicines are somehow less diligent in their diabetes
>> treatment and control. Some of us don't have a choice in the matter. You
>> and I differ on this but I believe almost all diabetics would be far
>> better off to begin use of insulin upon discovery of their disease.
>> YMMV applies in spades to diabetes.
>> Mike freeman
>>
>> On Sep 2, 2013, at 13:35, "Sandi Ryan" <sjryan2 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> I'm with you, Julie.  I'm another lucky one--and glad to be!  Good job 
>>> on
>
>>> getting your A1C's down.  It's not easy, but definitely worth it.
>>>
>>> Sandi
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Julie Kline"
>>> <julie.kline at rochester.rr.com>
>>> To: <diabetes-talk at nfbnet.org>
>>> Sent: Monday, September 02, 2013 1:40 PM
>>> Subject: [Diabetes-talk] why I don't test myself
>>>
>>>
>>>> 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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> om
>>>
>>>
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>>
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