[Diabetes-talk] New Member To The List, and alternate site testing

Thu Feb 25 15:08:15 UTC 2016

Mike, 

I don’t know how many boxes of strips you use per month or over a 3 month period, but I use quite a lot of them.  If I only had to use 1 or 2 boxes a month perhaps I would bite the bullet and just buy out-right.  They are covered by my insurance and rightly should be.  I’m not about to pay out of pocket when I have coverage that “should” be covering the costs.  

With that said the mail order companies for not only strips, but pump supplies as well require logs from my doctor and they always ask me how many times per day I test, and before they ship I’m asked what my remaining on-hand supply is. Its stupid the way this system works.  All I want is to be able to get a supply that will get me through the 3 month re-order period without leaving me short and some extras for those times when things don’t go smoothly.  I believe that people should not have to fabricate the facts in order to get the supplies they honestly need.  

Eileen

From: Mike Freeman via Diabetes-talk 
Sent: Wednesday, February 24, 2016 11:29 PM
To: 'Diabetes Talk for the Blind' 
Cc: Mike Freeman 
Subject: Re: [Diabetes-talk] New Member To The List, and alternate site testing

If I were denied strips, I'd tell whomever denied me to go to hell! In fact, I've found the best deal for Prodigy Autocode strips (work on the Prodigy Voice also) on Amazon. So although my insurance covers strips and has never asked me for a log, I've started buying them direct from Amazon.

Mike

-----Original Message-----
From: Diabetes-talk [mailto:diabetes-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Eileen Scrivani via Diabetes-talk
Sent: Wednesday, February 24, 2016 4:13 PM
To: Diabetes Talk for the Blind
Cc: Eileen Scrivani
Subject: Re: [Diabetes-talk] New Member To The List, and alternate site testing

Mike, 

I would not like to see erroneous readings deleted out of meter memory, since even those mistaken readings add into the total number of times per day I’ve tested.  If I have to use extra strips to get a reading which I believe, then I want to show that I have truthfully tested that number of times in a day.  

Every time I call for a re-order of supplies, I am asked how many tests per day I do and the number of strips I have left in my on-hand supply.  The way the system currently works, I would not be surprised should the time come when doctors need to be able to read the memory for the purpose of determining the strip counts.  Perhaps a better way than deleting would be a marker to indicate there was a miss-read, that way the reading would not get calculated into the averages and there would still be an accounting of the numbers used.

Eileen 

From: Mike Freeman via Diabetes-talk
Sent: Wednesday, February 24, 2016 6:14 PM
To: 'Diabetes Talk for the Blind' 
Cc: Mike Freeman
Subject: Re: [Diabetes-talk] New Member To The List, and alternate site testing

Veronica:

Amen multiple times over erroneous readings staying in the meters. Had its manufacturer ever completed the 510(k) application with the FDA so that its meter could be marketed here, the SensoCardPlus allowed deleting of readings. But when I've talked to meter manufacturers, they seemed extraordinarily resistant to patients having control over which readings were kept, maintaining that this would lead to "patient noncompliance". That is, they presumed that patients would delete readings that weren't in their target bg ranges. To which I responded: "Who cares? Patients would only be hurting themselves by falsifying or leaving out valid but "bad" readings. It isn't the responsibility of meter manufacturers to see that patients do what they're supposed to!" Of course, my statement ended up floating like a lead balloon!
Which is why I only submit a written log.

Mike Freeman

-----Original Message-----
From: Diabetes-talk [mailto:diabetes-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Veronica Elsea via Diabetes-talk
Sent: Wednesday, February 24, 2016 2:32 PM
To: 'Diabetes Talk for the Blind'
Cc: Veronica Elsea
Subject: Re: [Diabetes-talk] New Member To The List, and alternate site testing

Wow! You're lucky Bridgit. I've been diabetic for almost 28 years now and my fingers are a mess. I have been blind the entire time so have done way more sticks requiring more blood than I would have sighted. But for whatever reason, my fingers have these giant callouses on the sides that are now really interfering with my ability to test as often as I'd like. This is one of the reason I'd really like getting the CGM so I could at least watch patterns and have some idea. I just haven't yet made the time to sit down and lie, making up a fake log for a month. 
And I did get crazy readings going both directions with the Prodigy. Most of the time I do know if I'm really high or low, but not always. Heck, given the current state of my fingers, if I thought I always knew my reading by intuition, I wouldn't even think of using a meter. Alas, that's not the case. What I really dislike about all meters that do a test and then say, oh wait, not enough blood is that you now have spurious readings in that log for good. I've had a couple of endos who just never seemed to grasp that they were really not enough blood and kept wanting to adjust my insulin dosages based on those way low readings, for instance. That's why I stay with the FreeStyle Lite even though it's a bit of a pain to connect it with a computer to read it. It doesn't start the test until it verifies that the strip is full. So while the final reading has the same 20 per cent variation that all meters have, at least I don't fill up the memory with junk readings. One would think more companies would be working like this in 2016.

Veronica

"Guide Dogs, First Hand", Veronica Elsea's classic album is now available on iTunes, along with other music from her and from the Guide Dog Glee Club. 
To learn more, visit:
http://www.laurelcreekmusic.com
                Veronica Elsea, Owner
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Phone: 831-429-6407

-----Original Message-----
From: Diabetes-talk [mailto:diabetes-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter via Diabetes-talk
Sent: Wednesday, February 24, 2016 6:33 AM
To: 'Diabetes Talk for the Blind'
Cc: Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter
Subject: Re: [Diabetes-talk] New Member To The List, and alternate site testing

A few years ago, my doctor suggested I consider alternate site testing just because I've been pricking my fingers for so long. Actually, my fingers are good. No loss of sensitivity because of poking, and no permanent calluses, (I moisturize frequently and alternate between all fingers and all over the
fingers) but nonetheless, they thought it worth considering. When I was a kid and sighted, they made the same suggestion so I could alternate where I test, similar to how you alternate where you inject insulin, but I never liked it. I currently use a Prodigy Voice, and my nurse educator, who has been amazing and has become a family friend in the last 13 years since I've known her, said alternate testing should work fine. I just don't like the idea of testing elsewhere than my fingers. The best I have done is start testing with my thumbs in the last 8 years or so. I've been diabetic for 30 years now, and my fingers are still going strong, grin.

Bridgit

-----Original Message-----
From: Diabetes-talk [mailto:diabetes-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Paul Magill via Diabetes-talk
Sent: Tuesday, February 23, 2016 7:31 PM
To: 'Diabetes Talk for the Blind' <diabetes-talk at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Paul Magill <magills at bigpond.com>
Subject: Re: [Diabetes-talk] New Member To The List, and alternate site testing

Hi Daniel,

The manual I sent has a brief section on alternate testing, and to me at least, it suggests that this is not practical for a blind person.

Most glucose meters don't have this feature anyway.

Regards,
Paul from Australia

-----Original Message-----
From: Diabetes-talk [mailto:diabetes-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Mike Freeman via Diabetes-talk

Right. I once encountered a certified diabetes educator who swore blind persons could do alternate site testing. But I've never met one. The very thing which makes some folks like alternate site testing -- they can't feel the stick -- is the very thing that throws blind persons for a loop. Also, the readings aren't quite as up-to-date as fingerstick readings.

Mike

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