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

Fri Feb 26 21:40:33 UTC 2016

The really annoying thing to me is that most of the sighted diabetics I know get their meters for free. A meter comes with the pump. There's a promotion at doctor's offices where they give away meters so you'll be hooked on their strips. Now granted, meters don't cost what they used to back in the eighties and nineties, but what a mess. If I were king, hahahaha, well, the wrong people are making our medical decisions and should be forced out of the way. The same division of the company that refuses to pay for enough strips should have to shoulder the cost of complications which arise from not enough testing. The part I really don't get is why doctors tolerate this. I would really hate having all those years of training, medical knowledge only to have my decisions over ridden by some bean counter chasing a Christmas bonus. How did they allow this to happen? 
I don't mind paying something for my care and my supplies. I do mind outside interference with my care decisions. Heck, yesterday I got a notice that a lab test had been ordered for me which was a urine test to check kidney function. I couldn't do it at our lab because the message didn't even identify which doctor ordered it. It just said, your clinitian. And do you think I'm running right over there? Nope! It's sad that so much of medicine is now about money and lawyers. I sure hope the pendulum swings another way soon.
Okay, rant over. 
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
Laurel Creek Music Designs
Santa Cruz, California
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: Friday, February 26, 2016 10:15 AM
To: 'Diabetes Talk for the Blind'
Cc: Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter
Subject: Re: [Diabetes-talk] New Member To The List, and alternate site testing

I do have to say that if supplemental strips are needed above and beyond what insurance will cover, $8 a box from Amazon is pretty cheap. If I paid for all my strips I currently need out of pocket this way, it would only be $40 or $50 a month. And if one were just purchasing a box or two to cover what insurance doesn't, that's only $8 or $14 a month. Cheap and worth it, if you ask me.

Bridgit

-----Original Message-----
From: Diabetes-talk [mailto:diabetes-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of William Lewis via Diabetes-talk
Sent: Friday, February 26, 2016 12:02 PM
To: Diabetes Talk for the Blind <diabetes-talk at nfbnet.org>
Cc: William Lewis <wlewis19 at cox.net>
Subject: Re: [Diabetes-talk] New Member To The List, and alternate site testing

from Bill Lewis

When I was sirt diagnosed with dieabbetes 12 years ago, I begn receiving my strips and monitor from a pharmacy where there was no co-payment and free delivery of strips.  That policy still stands.  I have Medicare A, B, C and D.  And my monitor still works fine, my second decice.

Bill

-----Original Message-----
From: Mike Freeman via Diabetes-talk
Sent: Thursday, February 25, 2016 11:08 AM
To: 'Diabetes Talk for the Blind'
Cc: Mike Freeman
Subject: Re: [Diabetes-talk] New Member To The List,and alternate site testing

Eileen:

It's pretty simple: whose money I take, his song I sing. I'm not disagreeing with you but merely pointing out that, like nearly everyone else in society these days, the insurance carriers worship the god Mammon.

Mike

-----Original Message-----
From: Diabetes-talk [mailto:diabetes-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Eileen Scrivani via Diabetes-talk
Sent: Thursday, February 25, 2016 6:50 AM
To: Diabetes Talk for the Blind
Cc: Eileen Scrivani
Subject: Re: [Diabetes-talk] New Member To The List, and alternate site testing

Ya know, this strip accounting makes me furious.  Like I’m a low-life drug pusher, out on the street selling any over-stock of test strips for the Solus V2 at a huge or any profit!  All I want and needd is a sufficient number of strips to get through the 3-month alotment to take care of my own health needs.  If these companies and the government had any intelligence they would let us adjust the quantities ordered as necessary.  Some months it might be a little less and other times a little more because as the song goes “I’m only human, born to make mistakes.”

What ever happened to our rights to privacy?  We have to submit our logs loaded with personal comments & notes about our health, but Apple can’t help open up a single phone of known murderers!

Off my soap box ... for now.

Eileen

From: Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter via Diabetes-talk
Sent: Wednesday, February 24, 2016 7:53 PM
To: 'Diabetes Talk for the Blind'
Cc: Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter
Subject: Re: [Diabetes-talk] New Member To The List, and alternate site testing

My pharmacy says I should turn in glucose records when ordering strips, but I haven't turned in a log for a year now, maybe even longer. It's suppose to demonstrate that I'm testing as much as I say I am, but the pharmacy keeps giving me the strips, and I keep forgetting to turn the logs in. Perhaps it could be a bit different for type ones, who knows. But my point being, it's technically already a thing to show "proof" of how much you test. Though, one could still make stuff up.

Bridgit

-----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 6:13 PM
To: Diabetes Talk for the Blind <diabetes-talk at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Eileen Scrivani <etscrivani at verizon.net>
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
Laurel Creek Music Designs
Santa Cruz, California
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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