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

Tue Sep 3 01:49:11 UTC 2013

I already said this, but even in the short 28 years I've been diabetic,
changes have been vast in the thinking and treatments.

OMG, while pregers, I was testing 15 times a day! That was quite a bit.

Bridgit

-----Original Message-----
From: Diabetes-talk [mailto:diabetes-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Mike Freeman
Sent: Monday, September 02, 2013 6:37 PM
To: 'Diabetes Talk for the Blind'
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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