[Diabetes-talk] newly diagnosed

Mon Aug 10 01:11:33 UTC 2015

Sandra:

All of us share your frustration. However, you've gotten good instructions
from Eileen Scrivani and Veronica Elsea about how to get around some of the
testing problems and a bit of an explanation of why things are as they are.

First, perhaps a little primmer on how bg meters work might be helpful. The
meter strips are coated with materials that, when reacting with the glucose
in your blood, generate an electrical signal. The meter analyzes this signal
over a few seconds and then tells you the reading or, if it cannot get a
good reading, either tells you you haven't enough blood on the strip or
gives an erroneous reading. Since you've already used that strip, you must
try a new one. No matter *what* meter you use, that's the drill (whether you
are blind or sighted). This is true whether you are using the Prodigy Voice,
the Solus V2 or any other meter. If you get a bum reading, you just have to
take another one.

Also, people often ask us "what's the most accurate meter"? Although the
question is understandable, it is practically meaningless because one never
really defines what "accurate" is. And even the best easily-obtained meters
for home use need only be within 20% of what a lab-standard would give you
for the same sample of blood. Personally, I consider that appalling. But
that's the way it is.

Most of the problems with meters are not due to the meters themselves but,
rather, to problems with blood sampling technique.

Aside from the Prodigy Voice, the other more-or-less accessible meter is the
Solus V2 which you can get from Advanced Diabetic Solutions in Atlanta
Georgia. A blind person can set it up. However, he/she can only review the
last ten readings in memory using the meter. That's because the Solus V2
speaks both English and Spanish and there isn't enough speech memory to hold
all the readings. The readings are all there but you must either use sight
or you must upload the readings via special software to an accessible
website. I've never gotten it to work but my windows is highly customized.

I agree with you re coding solution. However, you don't really need to know
the number on the bottle. And to put the stuff in Braille would require a
dedicated staff for blind persons.

Best bet is to try an OCR app like KNFB Reader if you have an iPhone or just
get someone to read you the number.

Incidentally, with the exception of the Prodigy Voice, nearly all meters
today (including the Solus V2) are made for a Medicare audience where it is
presumed that the individual needs a verbal reminder of the reading rather
than relying exclusively on the verbal reading.

I agree with you re the Prodigy meter software. Unfortunately, durable
medical equipment and home medical equipment is not covered by any
accessibility or civil rights or disability rights legislation. It's a
no-man's-land.

So we must currently make the best of the tools we have. Sometimes that's
cold comfort but hang in there.

Mike Freeman

-----Original Message-----
From: Diabetes-talk [mailto:diabetes-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of S
L Johnson via Diabetes-talk
Sent: Friday, August 07, 2015 4:21 PM
To: Diabetes Talk for the Blind
Cc: S L Johnson
Subject: Re: [Diabetes-talk] newly diagnosed

Hello,

I've been dealing with the testing problems for over a year now.  I never
stick my Braille reading finger.  I got too frustrated with the lancing
device because it didn't seem to go deep enough to get any blood.  I gave up
and just prick my finger with the lancet by itself.  I find testing very
frustrating at times.  Sometimes the Prodigy tells me the sample is too
small and to test again with a new strip.  Well, can't they make it so you
will get a warning but without you having to use another strip?  I've often
gone without testing for a few days when I ran out of strips too soon. 
Ocasionally my meter says low instead of giving me a number.   Sometimes 
this happens two or more times before I get a real reading and This also
uses up too many strips.  Have any of you had this happen?  Also, if they
are going to make products for the blind, then they need to put model and
serial numbers in Braille.  I had problems getting help from Prodigy
customer service when I wasn't able to tell them my serial number.  Another
problem I have is with the coding solution.  You have to match the number on
the bottle to know if your meter is correct and we can't read that number. 
With so many blind diabetics using the Prodigy, isn't there anything we can
do to convince them to make their software accessible?  Finally, I am so
frustrated with Prodigy, what other meters are accessible to someone who is
totally blind?

Sandra

-----Original Message-----
From: Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter via Diabetes-talk
Sent: Friday, August 07, 2015 4:52 PM
To: 'Diabetes Talk for the Blind'
Cc: Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter
Subject: Re: [Diabetes-talk] newly diagnosed

I use the Prodgiy Voice as well. I write my readings down in an Excel
spreadsheet though.

Bridgit

-----Original Message-----
From: Diabetes-talk [mailto:diabetes-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
Rachel Krieg via Diabetes-talk
Sent: Friday, August 07, 2015 3:39 PM
To: 'Diabetes Talk for the Blind' <diabetes-talk at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Rachel Krieg <rkrieg7583 at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Diabetes-talk] newly diagnosed

He uses the prodigy voice, and we can't, for the life of us, figure out how
to download his results. When he was using the solo, the software was
inaccessible. His doctor has no clue as to how to download his results from
either the solo or the prodigy.

Do you guys remember the acucheck with the separate box that read the level
with speech? That's what he first started using after he lost his eyesight.

I'm so glad they have the prodigy voice now.
Rachel and Lady the lovable lab

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